Colorado and Southern Railway

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Colorado and Southern Railway
standard gauge
Previous gauge3 ft (914 mm)
C&S Steam locomotive #71 1941.
C&S Engine 641, the line's last operating standard-gauge steam locomotive, used on the Climax-Leadville run until 1962. On display in Leadville; photo 2010.

The Colorado and Southern Railway (reporting marks C&S, CS) was an American Class I railroad in the western United States that operated independently from 1898 to 1908, then as part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until it was absorbed into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1981.

The railway began as the consolidation of bankrupt railroads in 1898. The

Denver, Leadville and Gunnison Railway and others, by Frank Trumbull to form the Colorado and Southern Railroad in 1898. In 1908 the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad bought control of the C&S. It would later merge into the Burlington Northern Railroad
in 1981.

At the end of 1970 it operated 692 miles of road on 1116 miles of track; that year it reported 1,365 million ton-miles (1,993 million tkm) of revenue freight. In 1980 route-miles had dropped to 678 but ton-miles had ballooned to 7,230 million ton-miles (10,560 million tkm): Powder River coal had arrived.

C&S was also the parent company of the Fort Worth and Denver Railway, which ran from a connection at Texline south and east into Texas. The FW&D was established as a separate company because Texas law required that railroads operating within its borders must be incorporated within that state.

Colorado & Southern Locomotive plows snow from rails, c. 1898-1903 (Park County Local History Digital Archive)

Narrow gauge

The Colorado and Southern

Denver to Como, the Gunnison Line from Como to Gunnison via Alpine Tunnel, Highline between Como and Leadville, and the Clear Creek rail line from Denver to Silver Plume. Major Branch lines were the Baldwin branch between Gunnison and Baldwin; the Keystone from Dickey to Keystone; the Blackhawk branch between Forks Creek and Central City; the Alma Branch from Como to Alma; and the Morrison Branch from Denver to Morrison
. The Colorado and Southern narrow gauge operations never owned a new engine, all the motive power was inherited from the former companies.

The Gilpin Railroad (earlier the Gilpin Tramway Company) was a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway in Gilpin County operating from 1887 to 1917. However, on June 27, 1906, the Gilpin had been sold to the Colorado and Southern.[1]

Downfall of the narrow gauge

Colorado and Southern railway station, Leadville, Colorado

The Colorado and Southern narrow gauge was slowly abandoned piece by piece in the 33 years between 1910 and 1943. The first line to close was part of the Gunnison Line between Hancock and Quartz. This included Alpine Tunnel, although rail was not removed until the 1940s. The isolated segments between Quartz and Gunnison and Gunnison to Baldwin were leased and later sold to the

standard gauge segment still exists today to serve the Coors Brewery.) Most of the track was removed in 1942 between Waterton and Chatfield.[2] The rest was converted to standard gauge, ending all narrow-gauge service out of Denver. The last narrow-gauge operation, between Leadville and the Climax mines, was converted to standard gauge to handle heavy traffic from World War II
. The last Colorado and Southern narrow-gauge train, pulled by engine 76, ran the 28 mile roundtrip on August 25, 1943. The next day standard-gauge locomotives began hauling the loads. The C&S narrow gauge thus became part of history.

Narrow gauge today

An excursion train of the Leadville, Colorado and Southern stops at the French Gulch tank
This photo shows Colorado & Southern Ry. #9 (which was originally Denver, South Park & Pacific RR #72) near the end of its service life in the 20th century. This engine still exists, is on display in Breckenridge, Colorado, and has been restored to its 20th-century configuration.
This photo of Denver, South Park & Pacific #71 in 1884 shows what C&S 9 (originally DSP&P 72, above) originally looked like.

Not much of the narrow gauge survives today. There are five surviving Locomotives:

Georgetown Loop
was rebuilt as a tourist railroad in the 1980s and can be ridden from April through the first week in January.

Predecessor railroads

The following lines were consolidated between 1890 and 1900 to form the C&S:

Share of the Denver, Texas and Fort Worth Railroad Company, issued 26 November 1890

See also

  • Gilpin tramway
  • Overton, Richard C. (1965). Burlington Route, a History of the Burlington Lines.
    Knopf
    .
  • Drury, George H. (1991). The Historical Guide to North American Railroads.
    ISBN 0-89024-072-8
    .

References

  1. ISBN 0-87108-045-1
    .
  2. ^ Littleton, colo (Topographic map). 1:31,650. 7.5 Minute Series. Reston, VA: United States Geological Survey. 1942. Retrieved Jan 8, 2022.

External links

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