A rare surviving example of a once common structure in Colorado’s railroad landscape, the tank provided water to countless steam locomotives on the Ridgway to Rico division of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad (RGS) from its construction in 1891 until the last RGS train ran the line in 1951.

The tank was a very necessary stop, especially for trains that consumed a great deal of water while working in the area’s heavy snows and difficult terrain. The RGS constructed sixteen water tanks, at approximately ten-mile increments, along its 162-mile length to service locomotives.