A major fire occurred in Salida's Denver & Rio Grande Railroad facilities in December 1892, destroying fourteen stalls in the roundhouse, seventeen locomotives, and the machine shops. Railroad employees and citizens managed to save twenty locomotives, but damages were estimated at $400,000.
In 1900, nearly $350,000 in improvements were completed, including work on the roundhouse and other facilities of the D & R G and construction of a new D & R G hospital.