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The Trip to Denver 7/6/2016



by Chris Guenzler



Robin and I left Salida and headed north to Buena Vista and our first stop of the morning.





St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern caboose 157 built by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in 1890 which became Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 14634 in 1904 then Burlington Northern 11086 in 1970. The current rendition is in honor of a local railroad, the Colorado Midland, although they never owned it.





Denver, Leadville and Gunnison station, which became Denver, South Park and Pacific and was moved to this location in 2003. From here we drove to Breckenridge to the Highline Railroad Park.





Colorado & Southern caboose replica 1012.





Colorado & Southern box car 8323 built by the Colorado and Southern in 1910.







Denver, Leadville & Gunnison Railroad rotary snowplough 1 built as a coal-burner by Cooke Locomotive Works in Paterson, New Jersey for the White Pass and Yukon Railway in 1901. It was converted to an oil-burner sometime between 1953 and 1956 and moved to Denver in 1988, where in underwent repairs. Six months later, it was relocated to Breckenridge. It is one of only five known narrow-gauge rotaries still in existence.







Colorado & Southern 2-6-0 9 built by Cooke Locomotive & Machine Works in 1884 as Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad 72. In 1885, it was re-numbered 114 then in a corporate sale, became Denver, Leadville & Gunnison Railway Company 114 in 1889. That railway was consolidated ten years later to become Colorado & Southern Railway Company 9. In 1957, it was Leased to Black Hills Central Railroad Company at Hill City, South Dakota until purchased by the Colorado Historical Society in 1988. Uhrich Locomotive of Strasburg, Colrado restored 9 in time for the 2006 Georgetown Loop operating season. However, it proved too small for that operation and, after two seasons it was moved to Breckinridge, where it is on static display at the Rotary Snowplow Park.





Denver and Rio Grande Western flat car 6212 built by the railroad in 1918.





Highline Railroad Park scene. From here we went back to Fairplay and the South Park City Museum where we paid $10 and it was well worth it.





There is a mine up on the hill.





The ore is dumped into this gondola.





Denver and Rio Grande Western side dump gondola 794 built by American Car and Foundry in 1904 as 734.





Denver and Rio Grande Western stock car 5525 built by American Car and Foundry in 1904.





The station building.







Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad narrow gauge 2-6-0 22, built by H.K. Porter in 1914 for International Railways of Central America's subsidiary the Compania de Agricola de Guatemala, recently taken over by the United States-owned United Fruit Company. Trackage rights were granted to CAG to operate its banana trains over International Railways of Central America lines and 39 was probably transferred to the line at this time. IRCA also undertook to operate CAG's trains and maintain its locomotives and rolling stock with CAG reimbursing IRCA for the costs.

In 1955, the US Supreme Court, in a lawsuit filed by minority IRCA shareholders, declared the arrangements illegal and forced the fruit company to sell its shares in the railroad and compensate the shareholders. In 1965, United sold its Guatemalan interests to Del Monte. That year, 39 was sold to the South Park Historical Foundation, brought back to the United States and restored as Denver, South Park & Pacific 22 for display at the South Park City Museum in Fairplay.





The water tower.





Denver and Rio Grande Western box car 3555 built by American Car and Foundry in 1904.





Denver and Rio Grande Western stock car 5785 built by American Car and Foundry in 1904 as Denver and Rio Grande Western 5765.





Denver and Rio Grande Western caboose 0517 built by the railroad in 1920.





The display train.





Park City main road.





A steam tractor.





Denver and Rio Grande Western stock car 5785.





Denver and Rio Grande Western caboose 0517





Denver and Rio Grande Western box car 3555.





The train display.





Alma Queen Mine.





The track for loading the railroad cars.





Beautiful views can be seen here.





One last look at the main road of South Park City. We filled the car with petrol and drove to Cripple Creek.





The Midland Terminal station built in 1894 which was moved from Anaconda.





Hanseatische Kieswerke 0-4-0T 2 built by Henschel and Son in 1948. In 1967, it was sold to Arthur Seifert in Hilliard, Florida and then to Joe Pettingill in Estes Park, Colorado. It was bought by the Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad in 1970. This engine would pull the 11:00 AM train today. We set up for pictures and first the 10:30 train come to the wye track.







That train had engine 3 on it.

















The 11:00 train left for Victor.





The list with the history of the Cripple Creek & Victor Railroad.





Compania de Minerales & Metales SA 0-4-4-0 compound Mallet built by Orenstein & Koppel in Germany in 1902 for Guillermo Purcell in La Terminal, Mexico. It stayed with the company through various mergers and consolidations until 1964, when it was sold to John Birmingham in Boulder, Colorado, then becoming Cripple Creek & Victor 1.





Reynolds Brothers Sugar Company 0-4-4-0 4 built by Bagnall in 1953. It is one of only two surviving Bagnall locomotives in the country, both of which were built for Tongaat Hulett Sugar in Natal, South Africa and neither of which actually operated for an American railroad. Named "Nonoti", 4 later became Darnell Sugar Estates "Mbozana" and then Reynolds Brothers Sugar Company 13 in Sezala, South Africa in 1967.

The two of us departed Cripple Creek and drove to the Royal Gorge Park.



Click here for Part 2 of this story!