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29-582: Constructed in 1887 by the Colorado Midland Railroad and named for Midland officer James John Hagerman, it was replaced by the Busk-Ivanhoe Tunnel in 1893. There was a 1,084 ft (330 m) wooden trestle built on the eastern approach to the tunnel. At the time of its construction it was one of the highest tunnels ever built. Following Colorado Midland's 1897 bankruptcy, the tunnel saw use again, but traffic returned to

58-654: A 222-mile line from Colorado City (now Old Colorado City ), through Ute Pass and across the Continental Divide , to the coal-mining town of New Castle and Grand Junction . It was the first standard gauge railroad through the Rocky Mountains . Travelers heading for Cripple Creek would get off the train at Divide and take the Hundley Stage along the toll road to the town. In 1892, passengers could also travel to Cripple Creek from Canon City via

87-473: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This United States rail–related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about transportation in Colorado is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Colorado Midland The Colorado Midland Railway ( reporting mark CM ), incorporated in 1883, was the first standard gauge railroad built over

116-609: The Continental Divide in Colorado . It ran from Colorado Springs to Leadville and through the divide at Hagerman Pass to Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction . John J. Hagerman gained control of the Colorado Midland Railway Company in June 1885. In September 1890, Hagerman sold the railroad to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , which operated the railroad as a subsidiary and changed

145-776: The Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad , a narrow gauge line. When gold was discovered in Cripple Creek and Victor in 1890, some of the Colorado Midland owners formed the Midland Terminal Railroad, a standard gauge spur line from Divide to Cripple Creek. This allowed for passenger travel to and from Cripple Creek, shipment of equipment into the area, and the transport of ore to processing mills in Colorado City beginning in 1895. It

174-585: The United States Railroad Administration began shipping materials to supply World War I troops through the Colorado Midland Railway lines, across railroad tracks and beds not able to accommodate the additional trains and tonnage. By August 1918 the railway ceased operations. In 1919, the terminal facilities at Old Colorado City and the abandoned tracks between Old Colorado City and Divide were sold to

203-679: The Busk-Ivanhoe tunnel a few years later. The railroad grade on the east side of the Hagerman Tunnel is now open to the public for hiking or biking in the summer. The 5.5 mile round-trip provides views of the eastern portals of both the Busk-Ivanhoe and Hagerman tunnels, as well as the trestle leading to the Hagerman tunnel. 39°15′14″N 106°29′13″W  /  39.25389°N 106.48694°W  / 39.25389; -106.48694 This United States tunnel–related article

232-586: The Colorado Midland Railway, it was nicknamed the "Short Line" and offered freight and passenger service. Transportation across the Short Line reduced the cost of shipment as compared to what had been paid to the Colorado Midland Railway. Colorado Midland Railway went into foreclosure in 1917 and Albert E. Carlton bought the company and ore began to be shipped through the Midland Terminal Railway to Old Colorado City. Expenses mounted after

261-520: The Midland Terminal Railway, owned by Carlton and Spencer Penrose . The following year the line through Victor was extended to La Bella Junction. Passengers, mail, and ore was transported along the now Midland Terminal Railway tracks from Cripple Creek to Old Colorado City, but scheduled passenger service ended in 1931. After 1934, 90% of the railroad's business was transporting ore to the Golden Cycle Mining and Reduction Company , which

290-554: The Midland Terminal connection at Divide, was abandoned. The line was scrapped in the early 1920s. Much of the line’s grade was incorporated into the modern day U.S. Route 24 in Colorado , in particular the section from Colorado Springs to Buena Vista. The Midland (as it was colloquially known) was an extraordinarily difficult railroad to operate, in large part because it had very little level track. In crossing Colorado,

319-602: The Midland served. When A.E. Carleton bought the CM, he planned to remedy this situation by extending the railroad across Utah to Salt Lake City, but he was unable to do so, relying instead on his business connections to obtain cars consigned for shipment east at Grand Junction. Ironically, the situation reversed itself abruptly after the government took control of the railroads, and the USRA decided to route all trans-Colorado traffic onto

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348-483: The Midland was incapable of dealing with the volume of business, the government redirected all of it elsewhere. Business dropped off precipitately, and Carleton was forced to apply for permission to abandon operations. He received it, and the Colorado Midland Railway ceased operations in 1918. Segments of the railroad were then sold to the Midland Terminal Railway ; the rest of the line, mostly west of

377-493: The Midland. The railroad suddenly found itself handling a swelling volume of interchange traffic at Colorado Springs and Grand Junction. The line had neither the motive power nor the physical facilities to deal with this sudden change, and yards and even on-line sidings rapidly filled with cars waiting movement to one of the terminals. After an investigation, the government reversed its decision, redirecting through traffic to neighboring lines that were more capable of handling it; this

406-494: The bankruptcy court on May 4, 1897, a new company known as the Colorado Midland Railway took over operation of the railroad. It then came under the joint control of the Colorado and Southern Railway and the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad in 1900. It again declared bankruptcy April 21, 1917, and was sold at auction to Albert E. Carlton of Colorado Springs. Carlton attempted to revive the railroad's fortunes, but his stewardship of

435-529: The climb from Basalt to the western portal of the tunnel at Ivanhoe; westbound trains climbing out of the Arkansas River Valley faced a shorter but still difficult climb of 3.24%. The ascent from Colorado Springs to Divide was also severe, with several stretches of 4% grade and significant curvature. The portion of the line from Leadville to Hagerman Pass provided the setting for some of the finest railroad imagery ever taken. Especially noteworthy

464-480: The company's priority list, and was postponed in part because of concerns about the ability of the roadbed and track to support heavier equipment. At the outbreak of the First World War, the road's chief mechanical officer proposed the immediate construction of a new class of engines to handle the surging traffic, but the state of the road's physical plant (which urgently needed both maintenance and upgrading)

493-536: The former railroad's right of way is currently used by the Cripple Creek and Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad . Another segment is being converted to a multi-use trail connecting the Pikes Peak Greenway to Manitou Springs. Portions of the roadbed and right of way from Divide, Colorado, to Cripple Creek, Colorado, are in use as Highway 67. A former wood-shored Midland Terminal tunnel was used as

522-554: The largest and most powerful of their type in the United States. Unfortunately, the Midland's cash situation militated against capital replacement, and most of the locomotives purchased in the road's first decade were still on the property when it closed in 1918. The Midland purchased its last locomotives, the Class 175 2-8-0s, in 1907; after that, the purchase of new power fell behind ordinary operations and maintenance expenses on

551-614: The line had been extended to Salt Lake City it would have had access to connections with the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific at Ogden , but at Grand Junction, it connected only with the Denver & Rio Grande , its principal competitor for traffic at Leadville and Colorado Springs. While the Midland had no choice but to turn over westbound traffic to the D&;RGW at Grand Junction, the competing line had no such incentive; it could move eastbound traffic over its own line to any spot

580-528: The line made three summits – at Hayden Divide , west of Colorado Springs, at Trout Creek Pass , and at Hagerman Pass on the Continental Divide. The Hagerman Tunnel was completed in 1887. In 1891, it was replaced by the Busk-Ivanhoe Tunnel which was at a lower altitude. This shortened the line and made the grade easier, but the approaches to these summits were severe: eastbound trains faced an ascent of about twenty miles of three percent grades in

609-665: The name to the Colorado Midland Railroad. For a short time the railroad was consolidated with the Aspen Short Line (1893-1897). Following the Panic of 1893 , the Santa Fe railroad failed and both it and the Colorado Midland went into receivership. During this time, a crash in the price of silver also led to economic decline in the mining towns served by the railway. After the company was sold through

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638-503: The road coincided with the entry of the United States into the First World War . After the inauguration of the United States Railroad Administration in late 1917, the government managers redirected much of the trans-Colorado traffic that was previously carried by other railroads onto the Midland, which was ill-equipped to deal with the sudden upturn in business. The traffic overwhelmed the railroad, and when it became apparent that

667-684: The spur in Old Colorado City to the Golden Cycle Mining and Reduction Company. Some of the old buildings at the Midland Terminal headquarters in Colorado Springs are in use today, notably the old roundhouse, which was purchased by Van Briggle Pottery in 1955, and the machine shop, which is now the Ghost Town Museum. U.S. Route 24 follows the former railroad's route over Ute Pass . Two miles of

696-438: Was a wise decision, but the business generated by the road's on-line customers was not sufficient to keep it profitable without through traffic, and Carleton was compelled to seek permission from a court to abandon service in the summer of 1918. At the time of its construction, the Midland was among the best-appointed roads in the United States. Ten of the locomotives it purchased in 1886 and 1887 (the Class 115 2-8-0s) were among

725-418: Was often nearly impossible: the 1899 blizzard closed the line over Hagerman Pass for 77 days and cost the company more than $ 73,000 (approx $ 2 million in 2013). As great a problem as topography was, the route and terminals posed a still greater one. The line was originally projected to connect Colorado Springs , Leadville , and Salt Lake City , Utah, but it eventually stopped at Grand Junction , Colorado. If

754-607: Was such that he limited his proposal to a copy of the D&RGW's C-48 class locomotives, a design that was thirteen years old and approaching obsolescence. 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. From 1887 to 1918, Colorado Midland Railroad operated rail service along

783-552: Was the only remaining ore processing facility in Old Colorado City. There was some freight and ore shipped across the rails during World War II , but business dropped off thereafter. The railway had abandoned the Taylor Switchback to the Independence Mine in 1930 and in 1948 a total of 64.5 miles (103.8 km) of track from Old Colorado Springs to Cripple Creek, within the Cripple Creek mining district, and

812-523: Was the only standard gauge railroad into Cripple Creek and Victor, which made for easy transfer of material at the Divide junction with the Colorado Midland Railway. The Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway was built by 1911 to transport ore from the Cripple Creek mining district through the mountains—on what is now Gold Camp Road or Teller County 8—directly to the processing facilities in Old Colorado City. Eleven miles shorter distance than

841-491: Was the work of W. H. Jackson , particularly the photos circa 1890 showing the rise over five levels and the massive wood trestle leading to the final tier. Even after the boring of the Busk-Ivanhoe Tunnel, much of this trackage was above nine thousand feet, in a district of Colorado where the snow often does not melt entirely until June. The railroad was difficult to operate at the best of times, and in winter it

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