The Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad (F&CC) was a

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

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 ...

running northward from junctions with the

Denver & Rio Grande Railroad The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south from De ...

at the mill towns of Florence and later moved to

Cañon City A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cu ...

, Colorado, on the banks of 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 ...

, up steep and narrow Phantom Canyon to the Cripple Creek Mining District, west of

Pikes Peak Pikes Peak is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, in North America. The ultra-prominent fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, west of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. The town of Manitou S ...

. It was founded in 1893 and went out of business in 1915

History

Started in 1893, it was the first railroad to reach the new, booming mining district from the "outside world" and as a result it earned substantial profits in its first years. The railroad hauled people and goods into the mining district, and

ore concentrate Ore concentrate, dressed ore or simply concentrate is the product generally produced by metal ore mines. The raw ore is usually ground finely in various comminution operations and gangue (waste) is removed, thus concentrating the metal component. ...

s from the mines south for milling in either Florence, through a branch line to Canon City, or transfer to the D&RG for milling in

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 111,876 at the 2020 United States Census, making Pueblo the ninth most populo ...

. The F&CC's first main terminal was located in Victor, the "second city" of the district but its branch lines served many of the largest mines within the area. Ultimately, the F&CC began to struggle financially as other competing railroads, built to the standard gauge, Midland Terminal and Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek District Railroads entered the district from

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 ...

from the north or east. In addition,

flash floods A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing ...

washed out significant sections of the F&CC mainline in the narrows of Phantom Canyon several times. By the early 1900s, the railroad was in serious financial trouble and merged with other railroads of the area under the Cripple Creek Central holding company. A final, large flash flood destroyed enough of the F&CC's right-of-way to convince its new owners it was financially unwise to spend money rebuilding it; and the line was abandoned and scrapped. In 1912, the Adelaide Phantom Canyon bridge–named for the nearby settlement of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

–was abandoned. The railroad went out of business in 1915. The F&CC's well-kept motive power, twelve Consolidation freight engines, six 4-6-0 Ten-Wheelers passenger engines, and one engine to power commuter trains were quickly sold to other area gauge railroads. An F&CC subsidiary, the Golden Circle Railroad, which operated commuter routes within the district itself, continued to operate for several more years after its parent's abandonment. Today Phantom Canyon Road, which incorporates much of the original grade for this route but has fewer crossings of the creek, is part of the Gold Belt Byway and is open to traffic for most of the summer months. The Canon City branch roughly follows County Road 123 from the Phantom Canyon Road to US 50 near Canon City. The graded gravel Phantom Canyon road is suitable for regular cars and has a unique bent bridge.

Locomotives

References

External links

THE FLORENCE AND CRIPPLE CREEK RAILROAD from The Cripple Creek Times New Year 1903 (including postcard views)

The History of the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Florence Cripple Creek Railroad Former Class I railroads in the United States Defunct Colorado railroads Narrow gauge railroads in Colorado 3 ft gauge railways in the United States Closed railway lines in the United States

History

Locomotives

See also

References

Further reading

External links