Denver & Rio Grande builds a 3' narrow gauge line
south from Denver to the new town of Colorado Springs.
It was completed to Colorado Springs on 21 October 1871, and
on the 26 October a special train for newsmen marked the
official opening.
Regular service began on the 1st of January 1872, which was
the date of acceptance from the construction company.
Length of track was 75,5 miles
D&RG continues from Colorado Springs to Pueblo and
then to Labran (later Florence)
Pueblo was reached 15 June, and Labran/Florence had it's
tracks completed on the 15th of October. There where also
tracks from south of Labran/Florence to coal banks in a place
called Coal Creek.
Length of this was 44,1 + 32,8 + 2,6 miles -> 79,5 miles.
Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe seams to somehow have
manage to get to Canon City (I never found a record of it) because
this year they build a 3' NG line from Canon City through Royal
Gorge to a point near Texas Creek.
Construction was by two subsidiary companies - the Canon
City & San Juan, who started the construction work, and
the Pueblo & Arkansas Valley. The later absorbed the
former company and completed the line on 16th of June.
Later the track was conveyed over to the D&RG in
settlement of a dispute over the route through the Royal
Gorge. (often called the "Royal Gorge
War" - short accounts can be found in "Santa Fe: The
Railroad that Built an Empire by James Marshall 1945",
"Rebel of the Rockies by Robert G. Athearn 1962" and
"Kansas West by George L. Anderson 1963")
Length of track was 22,3 miles.
This 3' NG is built from Chandler Junction on the main line
west of Florence, and south to the end of track.
This short stub was opened for traffic on 20th of November.
Length of track was 0,4 miles.
Denver & Rio Grande builds the Oak Creek Branch.
This 3' NG is built from Oak Creek Junction on the main line
west of Florence, and south to the mines.
Track laying was completed on 20th of November, and line open
for coal trains on 1st of December.
Length of track was 2,6 miles.
Denver & Rio Grande changes from 3' NG to dual gauge
on the line from Denver to Pueblo.
The track was completed to a temporary depot about 5th of December,
and on the 10th a large crowd of Colorado Springs citizens saw
the arrival of the first passenger train on that branch.
This is the start of the first standard gauge line to
penetrate the mountains of Colorado, and they did it by
building a line from the Denver & Rio Grande interchange
at Colorado Springs to a point 1,7 miles west of Colorado City.
Length of track was 3 miles.
Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe builts a line from Pueblo
to Denver.
Constructed under the title Denver & Santa Fe Railway
Company, and leased to it's parent company upon completion -
and from 1st of january 1900 merged into the corporate
structure of AT&SF.
Length of track was 116,4 miles.
Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe also builds a branch from
Clelland to Canon City (finely...)
On 28th of october was the tracklayers at Canon City
Length of track was 6,8 miles.
Denver & Rio Grande changes from 3' NG to dual gauge
on the line from Pueblo to Florence, which also includes the Coal
Creek Branch.
Colorado Midland is continuing building.
Starting from the railhead 1,7 miles west of Colorado City
they ran the line westward up Ute Pass, bypassing a route
already made out by another company.
By last day of august the rails reached Leadville with
operation to that point inaugurated by September 3.
Length of track was 216,5 miles.
Chicago Rock Island & Pacific completed a line from
the border with Kansas to a connection with D&RG at Roswell
-just north of Colorado Springs and by october the 15th there
where a daily train between Colorado Springs and Goodland, Kansas
- using the D&RG station in Colorado Springs.
Length of track was 177 miles.
Denver & Rio Grande changes from 3' NG to dual gauge
on the line from Florence to Canon City, and the Colorado Springs
to Manitou Branch.
Colorado Springs Rapid Transit (Colorado Springs &
Suburban from 1901 and Colorado Springs & Interurban from
1902) starts to build an standard gauge electric line.
From Tejon Street in Colorado Springs it went west on
Colorado Avenue through Colorado City and then over a private
right of way to the D&RG depot in Manitou.
Length of track was 5,2 miles.
The line went over a 42-inch horse car railway to Colorado
City which was completed by the Colorado Springs & Manitou
Railway Company in 1888. In early 1890 that company was consolidated
with the El Paso Rapid Transit Company to form the Colorado
Springs Rapid Transit Company, which dimantled the horse car
line and replaced it with the standard gauge electric line and
extended it to Manitou.
(In total the company and it's successors
operated a street railway system that in addition to the
Manitou line also extended beyond the city bounderies in other
directions - although they where not strictly interurban in
character.
The lines includes:
- A line to Stratton Park, southwest of the city, via Cheyenne
Boulevard with a branch to Broadmoor.
- A spur from the Broadmoor branch also extended south and
east to the Myron Stratton Home.
- A line to Roswell, north of Colorado Springs
- A line ran east and northeast to Austin Bluffs via Nob Hill.
- A line to Prospect Lake and Evergreen Cemetery, east of the
city limits.
The line to Austin Bluffs was cut back to Nob Hill in 1894,
and further reduced in 1917.
That part of the Roswell line outside of Colorado Springs city
limits was abandoned in 1925. In early 1930 the line to
Stratton Park was reduced and service to the park was
transferred to the extended Broadmoor line
(source; Colorado Springs Gazette, various issues
1887-1932 The Book of Colorado Springs, M.D. and E.R. Ormes 1933 Electric Railway Journal, Vol. 34, October 1909 p.509))
Denver & Rio Grande changes from 3' NG to dual gauge
on the line from Canon City to Salida.
Manitou & Pikes Peak builds a standard gauge line to top of
Pikes Peak.
This is a cog road, starting at the depot in Manitou this
rack and pinion railroad climbed more then 7500 feet so it
could reach the 14109 foot high summit of the peak.
The last spike was driven on the 22 of october, but regular
schedule trains did not run until the spring of 1891.
The standard gauge line get extended from the Denver &
Rio Grande depot in Manitou and west to a new terminal in
Manitou's business district
Length of track was 0,7 miles.
Midland Terminal (finally a Cripple Creek railroad... J)
A standard gauge line that was to be built from a connection
with Colorado Midland at Divide and south to the Cripple Creek
gold mining district. The first part was completed to Midland
on the 9th of December.
Length of track was 7,1 miles.
Florence & Cripple Creek builds a 3' narrow gauge line
between the two towns.
This was the first of 3 railroads to reach the town of
Cripple Creek. The route of the line made the rails cross the
Arkansas River a short distance north of Florence and then
continue north along an arroyo to the mouth of the Phantom
Canon. The line then followed the main water course for some
19 miles before taking a slight detour around a loop and
crossing back on the other before climbing up a hill/mountain
and looping that again before ending up at the water course
again much higher up (the famous Wilbur Loop) and continue on
it's route north towards the Cripple Creek District.
The track to Cripple Creek was completed by 30th of june, and
on the same date an engine with eight construction cars pulled
into the town.
Next day saw the start of the passenger service, and soon the
first accident...
(It was then less then 24 hours after the
operation began, when the south-bound passenger train derailed
at a trestle on the approach to Anaconda - time was then 10
o'clock in the morning on the 2 of july 1894.)
Length of track was 40,3 miles.
Midland Terminal reaches the District.
The standard gauge line completes the track from Midland to
the town of Gillette on the 4th of july - and for the next 4,5
months this was the transfer point for the Cripple Creek
traffic.
Length of track was 7,3 miles.
By december the 16 (source The Morning
Journal, Cripple Creek Dec 16 1894 page 1) had the
track reached the Portland Mine a little north of Victor and a
temporary station was established for the accommodation of
passenger to Victor and freight, just below the Portland Mine
shaft house. This date saw also the arrival of the first
passenger train, and it marked the date when the transfer
point for Cripple Creek passengers and freight got shifted
from Gillette to Grassy (later Cameron).
Length of track was 8,9 miles.
A spur was built south from Gillette to the El Paso
Reduction Company plant some south west for the town.
Length of track was 0,7 miles.
Length of track comes to a total of 16,9 miles.
Midland Terminal continues to build in the District.
The standard gauge lines is extended from the Portland Mine
to Victor Junction about the middle of january after a delay
due to the completion of a large cut.
Length of track was 0,8 miles.
Victor Branch, from Victor Junction there where a so called
switchback so trains could leave the mainline here and go down
the hill into the town of Victor.
No specific date for it's completion is reported, but must
have been after the 10th of march as between the 31 of january
and through march 10 the Cripple Creek Morning Journal had
short news items intermittently reporting about the progress
and the problems of construction this switchback.
Length of track was 0,6 miles.
Victor Branch gets extended to a point near the Independence
Mine
Length of track was 0,6 miles.
The mainline has been extended from Victor Jct to Anaconda
by 9th of october, as by this date there are 3 daily passenger
trains operating in and out of this town. One of them was met
by a stage from Cripple Creek, but Grassy remains as a
transfer point for passengers on the two other trains.
Length of track was 2,8 miles.
Cripple Creek corporate limits is reached by december 19,
and a temporary station was built, where a special passenger
train arrived on the december 22.
The permanent station at the east end of Bennett Avenue is
used by trains early the following year.
Length of track was 1,9 miles.
Length of track comes to a total of 6,7 miles.
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