The Laramie, North Park and Western Railroad was a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

s of

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

and

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 ...

between

Laramie, Wyoming Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was estimated 32,711 in 2019, making it the third-largest city in Wyoming after Cheyenne and Casper. Located on the Laramie River in southeastern ...

and

Coalmont, Colorado Coalmont is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and United States Postal Service, U.S. Post Office in Jackson County, Colorado, Jackson County, Colorado, United States. The town is named for the open-pit Lignite, lignite coal mine ...

. It operated under several different names between 1901 and 1951 prior to absorption by 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 ...

History

The railroad was established in 1901 as the Laramie, Hahns Peak and Pacific Railway Company by Issac Van Horn, who planned to construct the line to the mining camps near Gold Hill in the

Snowy Range The Medicine Bow Mountains are a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains that extend from northern Colorado into southern Wyoming. The northern extent of this range is the sub-range the Snowy Range. From the northern end of Colorado's Never Summer ...

west of Laramie. Van Horn and his partners also invested in the mining camp of

Centennial {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at a ...

west of Laramie at the base of the mountains. Under the auspices of the Acme Consolidated Gold & Mining Company the partners constructed a sawmill, lumber yard, newspaper and other improvements. Fighting financial issues, the railroad did not arrive in Centennial until 1907 after mining operations in the Snowy Range had mostly died out. The company opted to go south to North Park in

. The company bought part of a coal deposit near

Walden, Colorado The Town of Walden is the Statutory Town that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only incorporated municipality in Jackson County, Colorado, United States. It is situated in the center of a large open valley called North ...

and named it Coalmont. The first train reached Walden in October, 1911 and Coalmont in December. The line was very difficult and expensive to operate during winter. In 1914 the company was unable to pay its mortgage and the Colorado, Wyoming and Eastern Railroad took control of the line. In April 1924 the line was sold to new owners that renamed it the Northern Colorado and Eastern Railroad Company. The citizens in Laramie requested the name of the town be in the line, so in June it was renamed again as Laramie, North Park and Western Railroad. David Webster Adamson retired as general superintendent of the Laramie, North Park and Western railroad on June 1, 1941. The line continued to struggle through the 1930s, and the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...

urged Union Pacific to take over. In 1935 the UP acquired control of the LNP&W, and Union Pacific ran the line under the LNP&W name until 1951 when the companies merged, the line becoming the Coalmont Branch of the Union Pacific, and the LNP&W depot in Laramie was closed. Shortline Wyoming Colorado Railroad bought the line in 1987, and subsequently abandoned it in Summer of 1999.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laramie North Park Western Railroad Defunct Wyoming railroads Historic American Engineering Record in Wyoming Predecessors of the Union Pacific Railroad Railway companies established in 1924 Railway companies disestablished in 1951 Defunct Colorado railroads American companies disestablished in 1951 American companies established in 1924

History

See also

References

External links