American Business in History - The Colorado Narrow Gauge Railroads
By 1858 there were mining camps booming all along Cherry Creek in Colorado, an area that is now smack dab in Youcamehere center of Denver. As the miners followed the gold up the rivers and creeks, the savvy ones knew that the real source had to be high up in the mountains making up the center and western parts of the state. Up they climbed, and within a year or two mines were busily working all through that rugged region, with tons of gold-bearing ore taken out of the ground daily. But getting it to the mills was another matter, with mules first, and then wagons being the sole forms of transport, very expensive propositions that were completely impossible during the harsh winters in those mountains.
Enter the railroads. But there was a catch: the ruggedness of the terrain made standard gauge track impractical, with the cost of blasting out the gentle curves needed for those trains prohibitively expensive. The solution was the narrow gauge railroad, a gauge more than a foot narrower than standard, but one which allowed consider-ably tighter turns and tamed the challenge of those remote peaks.
FREIGHT FIRST, BUT PASSENGERS A CLOSE SECOND
The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad was the most notable of these business ventures, building track through over 1000 miles of mountains and passes, and connecting the growing cities of the Colorado plains to the sources of the gold ore high in the Rockies. The narrow gauge solved the problem, bringing the cost of transporting the ore down from $80 a ton to about $8. A side effect, but one that offered obvious promise, was the spectacular scenery that suddenly became available to passengers willing to ride the rails through to the western part of the state.
IF YOU CAN'T NEGOTIATE: BUILD YOUR OWN TOWN!
An immediate issue that came along with the new sales in passenger fares was the challenge of lodging and other accommodations. The miners were content to live in tents and dugouts, but the passengers were less amenable to rushing winds and teeth-chattering cold! So the railroad brass began negotiations with the town of Animus City to build a railroad terminus there. The talks hit a standstill however, with the result that the railroad bought land from homesteaders south of the town, and built a new city in 1880, complete with terminus, calling it Durango. Almost the entire population of Animus City pulled up stakes and moved south - leaving Animus a ghost town!
THE LEGACY: ADVENTURES STILL AVAILABLE TODAY
The really exciting outcome of all this activity is what's available to travelers today. When the mines had finally played out, the railroad pulled up all the rails and ties that had served the mountains for so long - but they left the rail beds that carried them. Those IRS lawyer through some of the most breath-taking scenery in the United States, still exist, along with many of the tunnels and roadside equipment that supported the trains that used them. buy Prozac online rugged vehicles are recommended for some of the higher parts of the roads, history buffs will find these drives through the Rockies just as beautiful as they were 100 years ago, routing them to ghost towns, mines, tramways, and water towers that excite the imagination and give a first-hand look at old time Chusenling in those mountains. In addition, the still operating railroads, the Durango & Silverton, and the Cumbres & Toltec, allow one to see jaw-dropping scenery through the smoke and steam of period locomotives, an adventure that is worth the time and price. The Durango & Silverton trip runs over the route built by entrepreneur Otto Mears, through valleys and passes considered impassable at the time, and allowing the passenger a look at two towns little changed from their original form in the late 1800's. That single section of railroad carried over $300,000,000 in gold down to Durango from the mines in the mountains around Silverton, at least one of which, the Old Hundred Mine, can still be visited today.
Looking for an adventurous trip that will give you a front row seat to business efforts in the 1800's? Take your next vacation there.
If you'd like to see more about this historical area and some of the excursions and drives available, check out the various websites for the Durango train, Cumbres & Toltec railroad, and narrowgauge.org
The author of this article, Tim Connor, is president and founder of Rodeo! Performance Group, Inc., an Ocala, Florida-based group of facilitators working with businesses and executives who want to make their businesses competitive on a global scale. You may sign up for Rodeo's monthly newsletter, the Wrangler, at this link: www.rodeopg.com/Rodeo_Upload_Site_6-2008/TOPLINK_Contact_Us.html">www.rodeopg.com/Rodeo_Upload_Site_6-2008/TOPLINK_Contact_Us.html Tim can be contacted there or by phone at 1-877-284-0009. Visit Rodeo! on the web at www.rodeopg.com">www.rodeopg.com
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