The Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway was a railroad operating in the U.S. state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

around the turn of the 20th century.

History

On April 13, 1897, Lucian D. Ross, Thomas Burk, James L. Lindsay, W.T. Doubt and Kurnel R. Babbitt organized the Cripple Creek District Railway Company to operate a railway with an

overhead line An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipmen ...

between Cripple Creek and

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

. The "Pikes Peak gold rush" of 1859 brought many would-be gold miners to the eastern base of Pikes Peak but only those that went north to Cherry Creek found any minerals that were valuable. The rest went home empty handed and the Pikes Peak region gained a poor reputation as a potential gold area. Finally in 1890, rocks from Bob Womack's persistent digging were assayed in Colorado Springs showing that the rock actually contained gold. This led to the formation of the Cripple Creek Mining District on April 5, 1891. Better transportation than wagons was urgently needed to access the newly formed mining district. During 1894 a narrow-gauge line, known as the

Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad The Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad (F&CC) was a narrow-gauge railroad running northward from junctions with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad at the mill towns of Florence and later moved to Cañon City, Colorado, on the banks of the Arkansas ...

was built at a cost of $500,000. The Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad extended and reached the district from the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

to the south in 1894. This was quickly followed by the

Midland Terminal Railway The Midland Terminal Railway was a short line terminal railroad running from the Colorado Midland Railway near Divide to Cripple Creek, Colorado. The railroad made its last run in February 1949. Background From 1887 to 1918, Colorado Midland Ra ...

coming from a connection with the

Colorado Midland Railway The Colorado Midland Railway , Railway Equipment and Publication CompanyThe Official Railway Equipment Register June 1917, p. 786 incorporated in 1883, was the first standard gauge railroad built over the Continental Divide in Colorado. It ran fr ...

to the north. This one was long and cost $25,000 per mile to construct. The two railroads, competitive at first, joined forces forming a monopoly. Mine owners with mills in Colorado City adjacent to Colorado Springs organized and built The Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek Railroad or "Short Line" traversing the south slope of

Pikes Peak Pikes Peak is the List of mountain ranges of Colorado#Mountain ranges, highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, in North America. The Ultra-prominent peak, ultra-prominent fourteener is located in Pike National Forest ...

. The new railroad was able to force freight rates downward accelerating production. At peak capacity, the Midland Terminal Railway operated ten trains a day. One train carried

parlor car A parlor car (or parlour car outside the United States of America) is a type of passenger coach that provides superior comforts and amenities compared to a standard coach. History Parlor cars came about on United States railroads to address the ...

s and sleepers and offered champagne dinners on overnight excursions from Denver. Freight cars hauled coal, lumber, explosives, machinery, fruit and other luxuries. Outbound, the same cars carried ore for delivery to reduction mills, such as the Golden Cycle, Standard, Telluride, and Portland mills at the western edge of Colorado Springs. The name was changed to Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway on November 17, 1899. An extension to

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

opened in April 1901. The

Colorado and Southern Railway The Colorado and Southern Railway 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 Burli ...

directed operations from 1904 to 1911. Losing money due to competition from the

Florence and Cripple Creek Railway The Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad (F&CC) was a narrow-gauge railroad running northward from junctions with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad at the mill towns of Florence and later moved to Cañon City, Colorado, on the banks of the Arkansas ...

and the

, the

leased the Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway to the Florence and Cripple Creek in 1911. In 1915 this lease was transferred to the Cripple Creek Central Railway, which also controlled the

. By 1917 most rail traffic in the area was directed to the

. The loss of the Bear Creek Bridge in May 1918 cut off all direct traffic from Colorado Springs.

Bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...

cy was declared in 1919, at which time it went into receivership. All operations ceased in 1920 and the line was sold for scrap. A signboard posted on Gold Camp Road near the one of the three remaining tunnels that are still used on the road, (#1, #2 and #9), reads as follows: The Midland Terminal Railway, (which wound its way from Colorado Springs to Cripple creek by way of Divide) dominated the shipment of freight and Ore, forcing the CS&CCD out of business by 1920. W.D. Corley, a Colorado Springs coal mine owner and cattle breeder, bought the bankrupt RR for $370,000. It was renamed the Corley Mountain Highway at that time. Corley removed all the tracks, installed toll booths at both ends and opened the Corley mountain highway in 1926. This breath-taking mountain highway became a popular tourist attraction and Corley made $400 per day from the $1 per car toll that he charged. Corley operated his toll road on a Special use permit from the Pike national forest. When this permit expired in 1939, the road was turned over to the federal government. That year the Federal Government changed the name to the Gold Camp Road.

Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway--Corley Mountain Highway

Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway—Corley Mountain Highway is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

that was put on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1999. This is the railroad that was converted to the Corley Mountain Highway. After it was taken over in 1939 by the

US Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

, it has been called Gold Camp Road.

References

Short Line to Cripple Creek Author: Tivis E Wilkins Publisher: Golden, Colo. :

Colorado Railroad Museum The Colorado Railroad Museum is a non-profit railroad museum. The museum is located on at a point where Clear Creek flows between North and South Table Mountains in Golden, Colorado. The museum was established in 1959 to preserve a record of C ...

External links

Map of the Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway
at the

Old Colorado City Old Colorado City, formerly Colorado City, was once a town, but it is now a neighborhood within the city of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Its commercial district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It was founded during ...

Historical Society {{DEFAULTSORT:Colorado Springs Cripple Creek District Railway Defunct Colorado railroads Transportation in El Paso County, Colorado Transportation in Colorado Springs, Colorado Transportation in Teller County, Colorado Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado Interurban railways in Colorado History of Colorado Springs, Colorado National Register of Historic Places in Teller County, Colorado Railway lines on the National Register of Historic Places Rail infrastructure on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado

History

Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway--Corley Mountain Highway

See also

References

External links