The Greeley, Salt Lake and Pacific Railway was a railroad that operated in northern Colorado in the United States during the 1880s. Founded with heavy backing with the Union Pacific Railroad, it was controlled by the Union Pacific from its inception, but was incorporated into the new

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 1898, becoming part of the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

in 1908.

History

The railroad company was organized by investors in northern Colorado on January 17, 1881, with the intention of starting a southern branch of the transcontinental railroad that would pass through northern Colorado, connecting westward from the former

Denver Pacific Railroad The Denver Pacific Railway was a historic railroad that operated in the western United States during the late 19th century. Formed in 1867 in the Colorado Territory, the company operated lines in Colorado and present-day southeastern Wyoming in t ...

line at Greeley, as well as a narrow gauge line west of

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

to the gold mining area above that city. The railroad received financial backing from the Union Pacific, which was concerned about plans by its rival, the

, to extend its line westward from the South Platte River valley over the Rocky Mountains to Salt Lake City. The GSLPRR constructed a line between Greeley and Fort Collins, as well as several spurs, one which went up into the foothills to the stone quarries at

Stout Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout. The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscript ...

at the present site of

Horsetooth Reservoir Horsetooth Reservoir (often known locally as Horsetooth) is a large reservoir in southern Larimer County, Colorado, in the foothills just west of the city of Fort Collins, Colorado. The reservoir runs north-south for approximately 6.5 miles (1 ...

. The GSLPRR was the second railroad to arrive in Fort Collins, coming five years after the arrival of the Colorado Central Railroad. The line skirted the Cache la Poudre River in Fort Collins, along the current Willow Street. Eminent domain was used by the (then) Town of Fort Collins to obtain property for the line. The line is still part of the Union Pacific system. The narrow gauge line penetrated the foothills west of Boulder by following Boulder Canyon to Four Mile Canyon to the town of Sunset. a line was surveyed further westward, but no track was ever laid by this company. The GSLPRR owned no narrow gauge equipment, and the line was actually operated by the Colorado Central Railroad using their own narrow gauge equipment and later by 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 ...

. The line was badly damaged by flooding in the spring of 1894, and was subsequently abandoned. The Colorado and Northwestern Railway was built along this same route, starting in 1897. The towns of Timnath and Windsor were both founded in the early 1880s along the line between Greeley and Fort Collins. Although the Union Pacific sponsored

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

expeditions up the Poudre Canyon, with the intention of possibly extending the line over Cameron Pass into North Park, the parent railroad lost interest in the project after the abandonment of the similar plans by its rival, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Greeley Salt Lake Pacific Railway Defunct Colorado railroads Transportation in Fort Collins, Colorado Predecessors of the Colorado and Southern Railway Railway companies established in 1881 Railway companies disestablished in 1890 Narrow gauge railroads in Colorado 3 ft gauge railways in the United States 1881 establishments in Colorado