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Railroads come and go, with only about a dozen major railroads
remaining, where even 30 years ago over a hundred could be counted, one needs to
understand who really built these rail lines. I will try to keep the
confusion factor low.
Come about 1870 the rail lines from back east were in a
building frenzy but out west many areas were bypassed, such as Denver and the
mountains of Colorado. Beginning with the Peace Treaties with the Mountain
Indian Tribes mineral exploration began in earnest, also a massive influx of
people from Eastern U.S. and Europe were coming west to find their fortune.
Mule Trains carrying goods in and ore out would not come close to satisfying the
new demands. Wm. Jackson Palmer and others founded rail lines to cater to
these demands. Palmer's "Denver & Rio Grande Railway" was formed with
plans to connect Southern Colorado, Mew Mexico and on to Mexico City.
First stop was into the Ore Rich San Juan Mountains that lay across the south
western portion of Colorado. South to Colorado Springs, Pueblo, on to
Walsenburg, up and over La Veta Pass into San Luis Valley. San Luis Valley
( SLV ) was the first areas of Colorado to be utilized by the Spanish with
expeditions starting in the 1590's and ranches in the 1700's..
Towns quickly sprang up and grew at Alamosa, Monte Vista,
Chama & South Fork when the railroads came through. Existing towns such as
Fort Garland, Del Norte and Creede grew rapidly as the train loads of immigrants
came in.
History
of the Wagon Wheel Gap Route
With the United States entering the 1870's there was a great demand for
raw materials to fuel the industrial growth in the post civil war era.
Not only can Colorado supply cattle, farm crops, and timber, it can also
supply an in-exhaustible supply of silver from the mines of the San Juan
Mountains located in the south west corner of the Colorado Rockies..
Early attempts of building toll roads, by pioneers such as Otto Meyers,
could mot carry the large amount of ore that is being produced in towns
such as Silverton, Telluride and Creede. Mountain Passes at over 12,000
ft. and severe cold winters were too much for mule trains. A better
way had to be found. Industrialists such as Col Wm. J. Palmer pioneered
a better way to remove these much needed ores through the use of narrow
gauge steam trains
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The
rugged Rocky Mountains could not be tamed with the standard size
engines and cars that were in use through out the rest of the
country, smaller gauge trains were needed that would take the
tight turns and narrow roadbeds that were required. Trains that
were about 2/3rds the size of the standard gauge ( 4ft. 3 1/2
inch ) track were needed. In the decade of 1870 to 1880 many
hundreds of miles of narrow gauge track ( 3ft. ) were laid
into the Rockies, mainly west and south west out of Denver. New
railroad companies were incorporated almost monthly. As time
progressed many were combined into larger rail lines. The
largest of these was the Denver & Rio Grande ( Western )
Railroad. As it's name implies it's starting point was Denver
and it's initial direction was into the headwaters of the Rio
Grande River. This was to supply transportation of materials
into the mining towns of Creede and Silverton and remove the
vital ores of their silver mines. The growth of the mining
towns brought tens of thousands support people that manned the
farms, timber mills, steel factories and stores. The railroads
were needed to support their needs also. New towns sprung up
along these roads of steel, some in the most unlikely areas.
Many are now remembered just by the few photographs left or as
dots on old faded maps. Also some are now large cities such as
Pueblo or towns such as Durango or Alamosa. As the silver lodes
faded and the construction of highways progressed the need for
the thousands of miles of railroads decreased and most of the
narrow gauge track was removed and the lines that were still
needed by the mines & industry was converted to standard gauge.
By the 1950's all the narrow gauge but several Tourist Lines
were gone.
The line
feeding into the San Luis Valley and on to Creede was, as most,
built in Narrow Gauge. But as the main lines were converted
into standard gauge so was the mountain pass into Alamosa. The
feeder line that linked Durango stayed narrow gauge because the
mountain passes would not allow conversion. But the valley
line to South fork and on to Creede was converted to dual track
( 3 rails allowing both standard and narrow gauge to operate on
it ) at the turn of the century. ( 1900 ). Within a decade the
third rail was removed. The last mine closed in Creede in 1985
and the line between South Fork and Creede became quiet.
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This 21 mile stretch that connected these two towns
snakes along the upper Rio Grande River and passes
through a narrow pass known as Wagon Wheel Gap about 10
miles below Creede, then enters a long broad valley.
This line follows one of the most scenic areas on the
Denver & Rio Grande railroad. Wm J. Palmer the
president of the rail line built the line to the Gap in
18XX to both load ore from Creede 10 miles north and to
bring the top brass of the rail line and their friends &
families to a hot springs resort ( 4UR ) built several
miles west of the Gap. This get-a-way from the warm
summers in Denver hosted many famous people of that
era. This resort is still in operation. Wm. J. Palmer
and investors completed the line into Creede in 18XX..
The Rio Grande end of the rail line was completed.
It is worthy to note there are still many hand cut ties,
also watch for ones with spike holes from the third rail
on this stretch of the line. Rail that dates from the
1880's to the 1920's still make up the majority of the
line. The silver steel framed bridge at 10 miles up
the line from South Fork is an original narrow gauge
unit but is large enough to allow standard gauge trains
to pass. The Wagon Wheel Gap Bridge is also original
but has added pillars to strengthen it. The bridge at
the Wasson crossing of the Rio Grande is still in narrow
gauge configuration, only with standard gauge ties
added. Both the original stations at Wagon Wheel Gap
and Creede are there and in excellent repair. The
station at Wagon Wheel Gap is now a private residence,
and the Creede Station is now owned by Mineral County
and is operated as a museum. This rail line is on both
the Federal and State Historical Registers.
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The Names and
Places...
Wagon Wheel Gap -
An early miner
was passing through the area when he was perused
by Indians, his wagon got stuck in mud at the
gap, he took to his horse and escaped. Later
passers through saw all that was left of his
wagon, a wheel still stick in the mud, and they
named it "Wagon Wheel Gap", just as the now
famous wheel, the name stuck...
Creede -
Originally the
town along the river north of the present
Creede. The present city of Creede went through
several names, Amethyst, Jimtown and the hills
to the west was Bachelorville.
South Fork -
Started as a
Trading Post and took the name of Baxterville,
when the railroad came to the area the train
stop was named South fork because it was located
next to the south fork of the Rio Grande River.
Although still on many maps the use of the name
Baxterville has been lost to time.
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This listing is arranged by the parent railroad, if one
exists. If a railroad has purchased another it will still remain in it's
own section.
Denver & Rio Grande (Western Railroad)
Railway ( D&RGW RR )
- General Palmers creation has been split into:
---Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad
------ A section of the D&RGW RR between Chama, New Mexico and Antonito,
Colorado.
--- Denver &
Rio Grande Railway (
Re-organized )
----- Operates the Creede Branch between South Fork and Creede,
Colorado
----- Durango & Silverton Railroad
--- Operates the old D&RGW RR narrow
gauge line from Durango to Silverton Colorado
---San Luis &
Rio Grande Railroad ( Parent Company - Rail
America )
----- Operates the line from Walsenburg, over La Veta Pass into
San Luis Valley, across to South Fork and from Alamosa south to Antonito
Co.
---- Purchased in 2003 from the Southern Pacific
---- Known affectionately by the locals as the San Luis
Utility Train
Rio Grande Southern Railroad ( RGS )
- Otto Myers founded this line utilizing the toll roads he had
built and controlled.
- Although considered separate it was controlled throughout most
of its life by the D&RGW RR. Abandoned and removed in the 1950's
San Luis Central Railroad
--- Connects the farm town of Center to the interconnect at Sugar Junction on
the east side of Monte Vista. Still a very active rail line.
San Luis Southern Railroad
--- Built to link Fort Garland to Taos New Mexico its usefulness dropped
until it was abandoned in 198X. Some buildings and about a mile of its
track still remains on the south-west corner of Blanca, Co.
Southern Pacific Rail Road
--- Purchased the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad in 198X, the D&RGW RR
name disappeared.
Union Pacific Railroad
---- Purchased the Southern Pacific Rail Road in 199X, the SP RR name
disappeared
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