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La Veta, CO At the base of the Spanish Peaks, La Veta lies quietly at the edge of the eastern plains of Colorado. The Cucharas River flows through the valley and is the main source of surface water in the area. The name La Veta is Spanish for "the vein". In 1876 the Denver and Rio Grande Railway (D&RG) built tracks into La Veta as part of the railroad's expansion to the west. La Veta was a helper station at the base of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. Additional motive power was stationed there to "help" the trains over the steep grades to the west. Furthermore, this was a division point for the railroad and crews stayed over night when making the long journey from Denver. La Veta is a major shipping point for livestock and agriculture goods originating in the surrounding areas. It is also a quiet rest area for travelers and point of reflection for artist types. The original narrow gauge tracks were converted to standard gauge in 1890. In 1906 the first turntable was enlarged to 65 feet diameter. The original roundhouse had 6 stalls and two additional stalls were constructed for larger standard gauge locomotives in 1909. A 150 ton coaling tower with chutes for 2 tracks, one on each side of the tipple, once fed the mighty steam locomotives. The depot was replaced in 1916 and enlarged again in 1918. In 1938, the turntable and roundhouse were removed because the locomotives became so large the existing facilities could no longer handle them and it just was not practical to expand in La Veta. Times had changed and most of the railroad freight no longer traveled over the La Veta Pass Route
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