Bio - Goodell, Darla, Minturn, Eagle County, Colorado By: Jean Winthers Darla Goodell Printed in Vail Daily, Local's Corner, February 28, 2000 Darla Goodell is a collector of railroad, Elvis Presley and Coca- Cola memorabilia, and the manager for 27 years of the Turntable restaurant in Minturn. The evidence of her collecting zeal decorates The Turntable with a miniature train that really runs around the restaurant wall against a painted background of the local scenery. In the "new" addition, added about seven years ago, there are more trains, and a whole wall behind a counter filled with Elvis and Coca-Cola signs, old photos and posters. And that's not all. In her apartment, in the motel attached to the restaurant, she has a "Coca-Cola kitchen," and a living room full of mementos and collectibles, including railroad lanterns, disco lights and Elvis souvenirs. "People say I should open a gift shop," she joked, half-seriously. Goodell comes by her passion for railroads honestly. She has lived all her life "except for two weeks in Rifle,"in the railroading town of the valley, Minturn. Her grandfather, Paul Cavalt, came during the depression from Salt Lake City to work on the railroad. He planned to stay only two weeks, but spent the rest of his life here. Goodell's grandmother, Daima, worked for 35 years at Williams Cafe in Minturn. The Cavalts built a large white house, where Goodell's mother Betty Sanders, 77, still lives with Goodell's brother, Frank Sanders, Jr. Goodell's father, Frank Sanders, also was a railroad man. "I miss the trains. I've got cinders in my blood," Goodell said. "All the walls of the houses here have cinders in the walls from the train days." The trains no longer run in Minturn, but Goodell hopes they will come back someday, even if it is just to haul skiers to the ski areas. "I always wanted to work on the railroad," Goodell, said. "My brother didn't want to, but I did. They didn't allow women to work on the railroad in the early days, and when they did, I was already established. "My father never would take me on the trains, as it was against the rules, but one time I stowed away on a train to Pueblo. I had my daughter and two little cousins with me, and a man I knew sneaked us aboard the caboose. We had to lie down on the floor whenever we came to a stop, but it was fun." Divorced for many years, Goodell has a daughter, 34, who lives in Bismarck, North Dakota. Goodell loves to visit with her daughter and two granddaughters, six and four. "We dress up and pretend we are at a disco dance with the flickering lights going. My daughter always said she should be the mother and me the daughter," the lively grandnmother said. Goodell was born in the Gilman hospital and attended Minturn elementary school. She was a freshman in Red Cliff high school until they built the high school in Minturn. "I was in the first class in Minturn High. We graduated in 1965," Goodell said. Goodell worked at the Williams Cafe for awhile, and then went to work at the Whistle Stop. "I hired on at the cafe as a cashier," Goodell said. "Railroaders are hard to deal with but I got along with them o.k. I cooked, waited tables and cleaned rooms. At that time the graveyard shifts at the restaurant were open to the public as well as the railroad crews, but that got to be too much to handle so we closed it to the public." Under Goodell's influence, The Whistle Stop soon became The Turntable, and managing the restaurant has been a major part of her life. "I never planned on being a career woman, but that's how it turned out," Goodell said. The Turntable was named for the railroad turntable building nearby, which was used to turn the trains around. The building was demolished in 1951, but a piece of the concrete from it is underneath its namesake restaurant. "We had 40 rooms for the railroaders. The trains came from Pueblo and Grand Junction and changed crews here. There was a train every half hour," Goodell said. "We also had public rooms. We used to be totally booked for Christmas before the motels came in." The Turntable still rents rooms out, the best deal in the valley for skiers and construction workers. The small but very clean rooms, each with its own bath, rent from $39.95 to $49.95 per night, with special rates for longer stays. There is a community television room and laundry facilities. The restaurant serves excellent American style food from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Still, Goodell misses the excitement and bustle of the railroading days. "We had passenger trains in the early days," Goodell reminisced. "That lasted from 1919 to 1963. We used to go on the Zephyr to Salt Lake. The trains used to be coal fired, of course, and they were dirty. The laundry women hung out used to get dirty, so they would find out when the trains were coming, and when they heard the whistle, they would run out and get the laundry off the line." "I miss Minturn the way it used to be, with the small town atmosphere and all the community things we used to have. We had fire department picnics and our own basketball team. But it still is a small town in many ways, not like the rest of the valley, and I hope it stays that way. I know we have to have progress," she added philosophically. Meanwhile Goodell lives the good life in Minturn, with her mother and brother close by. "I like to walk, and enjoy the mountains, "she said. "Mom and I go to the swimming pool at Glenwood a lot, and I go to the movies and read. It's a quiet life, but I like it. I like Minturn. I don't know if I could get used to another place." =================================================== Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Archive Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archive Project USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access.