In 1924, three nearly identical coal tipples were built along the Denver & Rio Grande rail lines, and only this one survives because the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad shored up its foundation, replaced rotting timbers, and salvaged its motor and pulley system in 2014. Coal tipples move coal from railcars to the tender just behind the locomotive by using a diesel motor in the base to hoist coal-filled buckets up fifty feet by cable to an inclined ramp, where the coal slides down into the waiting tender. Although it is now easier and cheaper to refill locomotive tenders with a front-loader on a ramp, the railroad today uses the once more fully functioning tipple for demonstrations.