The Denver and New Orleans Railroad (D&NO) was a railroad in

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 ...

started by Colorado Governor John Evans, along with railroad entrepreneur

David Moffat David Halliday Moffat (July 22, 1839 – March 18, 1911) was an American financier and industrialist. Moffat was one of Denver's most important financiers and industrialists in late 19th and early 20th century Colorado, and he was responsible fo ...

and other associates in 1881. Originally chartered to build a railroad from

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

, the charter was later changed instead connect southward to the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway which was building northwest from

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. After the "completion of the Denver and New Orleans Railroad in July, 1882" from Denver to

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, Pueblo County, Colorado ...

—the Denver, Texas and Fort Worth Railroad was organized to build south from the D&NO at

. In 1888 it linked with the FW&DC, and in central Colorado it had a branch to Franceville, Colorado, for coal from the Franceville Mine, and the branch into Colorado Springs from Jimmy Camp station in September 1882 "was renamed Manitou Junction site nownear where US24 and

Colorado 94 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 th ...

meet" north of Peterson Air Force Base. The three railroads came under control of General Grenville Dodge and the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

. The southern lines were merged into the Colorado Central Railroad and the

Cheyenne and Northern Railway The Cheyenne and Northern Railway was a railroad in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The railroad was incorporated in 1886 to build a line from Cheyenne, Wyoming into northern Wyoming and Montana. The line extended to Wendover on the North Platte Riv ...

to form the

Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf Railway The Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf Railway was a subsidiary of Union Pacific Railroad created from what was the Colorado Central Railroad in 1890. It operated lines from Denver, Colorado through Cheyenne, Wyoming to Wendover, Wyoming and a route f ...

. Following the UPRR bankruptcy in 1893, the system was separated from UPRR and merged into the

Denver, Leadville and Gunnison Railway The Denver, South Park, and Pacific Railroad (later called the Denver, Leadville and Gunnison Railway) was a historic narrow gauge railroad that operated in Colorado in the western United States in the late 19th century. The railroad opened up the ...

by Frank Trumbull to form 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 ...

in 1899. The original D&NO line between South Denver and Manitou Junction/Colorado Springs remained active after 1899, as this became a secondary route-- with most C&S traffic now using the more direct Santa Fe mainline to the west. The tracks south of Manitou Junction were unused-- save a short stretch from Overton oil refinery to Pueblo after 1899. By 1913, the northernmost portion of the 123 miles route was downgraded multiple times. Service was cut south of Falcon in 1917, and a 1935 flood washed the tracks away south of Elizabeth at Mile post 39. The railroad rebuilt to Elbert, Mile post 52, only to abandon the bulk of the route a year later. Salvagers removed the rails from Sullivan (mile post 10) to Elbert that year. Another mile came up in 1938, with an 8.5 mile Connors spur serving local industry until 1981. The last piece of actual D&NO line to close was the Erie Street "Wann Spur" in Pueblo, during 1999. All abandonment of the railroad occurred under Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and Burlington Northern, BNSF control.

References

* * Denver & New Orleans: In The Shadow of The Rockies, by James R. "Jim" Jones, Sundance Publications, Denver, CO. 1997 Colorado & Southern Railway's D&NO Route, by James R. "Jim" Jones, Tell-Tale Publications, Colchester, VT. 2022 Defunct Colorado railroads Predecessors of the Colorado and Southern Railway Railway companies established in 1881 Railway companies disestablished in 1886 1881 establishments in Colorado {{Colorado-transport-stub