THE completion of the
Denver & Rio Grande Railway from Denver to Colorado Springs, a
distance of 76 miles, was accomplished on October 25th, 1871. As we learned last month,
the first spike was driven on July 27th of that year. The track-laying should have been
finished to Colorado Springs in June, but owing to unexpected delays in receiving rails
from Europe, it was not made ready for the movement of traffic until October 27th, when
the first train ran through. However, owing to severe weather conditions,
the railway was not considered regularly opened for business until January 1st. 1872.
The first train run over the line was a complimentary excursion tendered to the press of
Colorado by the Denver & Rio Grande Company. The following special report of this
excursion was telegraphed by a representative of the Rocky Mountain News to that paper on
the evening of October 26th, 1871, and appeared in the morning issue of October 27th:
"Villa La Font, Oct. 26th:
"The complimentary excursion tendered to the press of Colorado by the Denver &
Rio Grande Railway Company has just reached this point, after a day of rare pleasure and
enjoyment. The party consisted of N. C. Meeker of the Greeley Tribune; A. C. Todd and wife
of the Evans Journal; W. Holly of the Denver Tribune; George West and wife of the Golden
Transcript; W. N. Byers and wife of the Rocky Mountain News; S. Gilbert of the Chicago
Covenant; Miss Lottie Nichols of the Cleveland Herald. Colonel W. W. Greenwood and wife,
General Manager of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway; W. S. Jackson, Secretary Union
Contract Company; Miss Maggie B. Jackson; 0. J. Goldrick of the Denver Herald; W. W.
Borst, General Ticket and Freight Agent, Denver & Rio Grande Railway; Dr. W. A. Bell;
W. B. Taylor of New York; W. R. Thomas and wife of the Rocky Mountain News.
"The train was composed of a baggage and smoking car and two elegant passenger
coaches, Denver the name of one and El Paso the other, drawn by the engine Montezuma. The
train left Denver at 8:00 this morning. A pleasant run was made to the terminus of the
road at Colorado Springs on regular time, all the guests enjoying the magnificent scenery
along the line and being highly pleased with the excellent manner in which the road had
been constructed.
"Arriving at Colorado Springs at 1:00 o'clock, the excursionists were joined by
General W. J. Palmer, the distinguished President of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway,
and ExGovernor A. C. Hunt, and sat down to a splendid dinner, prepared by Captain R.
Sopris, which was greatly relished by all. After dinner, carriages were provided and under
lead of General Palmer the party drove over the new townsite of Colorado Springs up to the
valley of Monument Creek, across to Colorado City, through the Garden of the Gods and up
the Fountaine-Qui-Bouille to Villa La Font where the party rested for the night. Ample and
excellent accommodations have been provided. The officers of the company are unceasing in
their efforts to contribute to the pleasure of all guests. Tomorrow we visit again, Garden
of the Gods, Glen Eyre and other interesting points and will reach Denver at 6:00 o'clock
p. m."
THE running of this train was an
event of more than usual significance in Colorado history. It marked the beginning of a
new era in the progress of the Rocky Mountain country and in the railway annals of the
nation, by marking a decided step in material advancement and commercial progress for the
then New West.
To Denver the announcement of the completion of this first lap of the railway was one of
peculiar importance, opening to that city as it did an increased trade with one of the
best undeveloped portions of Colorado Territory and placing within its grasp an extensive
and productive section rich in agricultural, mining and pastoral resources, abounding with
all the varied pursuits of industry awaiting only the advent of railroad transportation to
be assured of a new growth and an increased measure of prosperity.
The importance of the event was given particular stress in a news story appearing in the
Rocky Mountain News of October 26th, 1871, following the announcement of the company that
the line had been completed to Colorado Springs. Terming the project "Our Southern
Railway," the story reads in part:
"The completion of 76 miles of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway and its opening
for business to Colorado Springs, is an event of more than usual significance in our
history. It marks an era in the progress of the Rocky Mountain country and in the railway
annals of the nation, second to none of the occurrences which have made famous the last
decade and rendered it noted for material advancement and commercial progress. To this
city, the announcement is one of peculiar importance, opening to us, as it does, an
increased trade with one of the best portions of Colorado and placing within our grasp an
extensive and productive section, rich in agricultural, mining and pastoral resources,
abounding with all the varied pursuits of industry and awaiting only the railway to be
assured of a new growth and an increased measure of prosperity."
Following this, the article reviews the history of the enterprise up to that time, all
of which was mentioned in preceding installments of this series. Speaking of the gauge,
cost of construction, equipment, etc., the story had this to say:
"As is well known, the Denver & Rio Grande road has been constructed on the
narrow, or three foot gauge. To enter into any discussion as to the merits of the system,
or to explain it in length, the reasons which induced the company to adopt it, is not
necessary in the present article. The practical operation of the road, now begun, will in
a few months set the question at rest and substitute facts for present estimates and
speculations. We have no hesitation in commending the action of the company and believe
that the workings of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway will not only vindicate the
wisdom of their decision but demonstrate as well the excellence of the narrow gauge
system.
"As near as the figures can now be ascertained, the cost of constructing the Denver
& Rio Grande has been about threefifths of the cost per mile, as the construction of
the Denver extension of the Kansas Pacific, which would make it about $14,000 per mile.
"The rolling stock now in use consists of three engines I one passenger and two
freights-two first-class passenger coaches, two smoking cars, two baggage cars, ten box
cars and ninety freight cars. There are now already constructed and en route two engines
and three eight-wheeled freight cars-one box and two flats. The machine shops are being
rapidly put in order, and are even now engaged in manufacturing a train of gravel cars. It
is the intention to build all their own freight cars and work on this kind of rolling
stock will soon be begun. The equipment of the road will thus be rendered ample for
present and future business requirements.
"Thus far in the operations of the company all that was claimed for the narrow gauge
system has been demonstrated in relation to the cost of construction, the practical
working of the rolling stock, and the ease with which difficulties attendant upon the
broad gauges are made and overcome. Other points are yet to be made evident by the
operations of the section of the road now completed. As it is extended southward toward El
Paso they will gradually be made known, and cannot fail to interest all who are watching
the present experiment with a degree of interest which has never been guaranteed to any
similar enterprise on the continent. How great this interest is, and how strong the faith
of capitalists is in i t s success may be indicated by the fact that since work was begun
on t h c Denver & R i o Grande Railway, 112 narrow gauge railways have been projected
and practical work on many of them begun. In this new system of railways, a Color a d o
organization can justly claim the honor of being a pioneer."
WITH this brief review of the history
of the organization, we pass naturally to a more fertile topic -the country opened up by
the road on which it is to depend for traffic and for business. Running southward from
Denver, the road passes by the rich and productive valley of the Platte-one of the
choicest farming regions of Colorado--to, the mouth of Plum Creek, up that stream to the
base of the Divide, and thence down Monument Creek to Colorado Springs at the base of
Pikes Peak, making a section of 76 miles of railway, whose route is through one of the
best portions of the territory; one adapted to agriculture, dairy and pastoral pursuits,
abundantly watered, with heavy timbered tracts adjacent, and capable of giving a local
business to the road which will be highly remunerative at the present and which will
rapidly grow as the country thrives under the beneficial influence of railway
communication, extends southward toward El Paso, on whatever route may be adopted by the
company, it will pass all the way through a country possessed of similar resources and
abounding in all the requisites for maintaining an industrious and prosperous people.
Reaching the Rio Grande, it will pass down that stream to its proposed terminus, through a
valley which is better described as a garden, and whose productive capacities will be
increased one hundred fold by the coming of this iron road. What the great valley of the
Mississippi is to the nation, the valley of the Rio Grande is to New Mexico. Its trade an
commerce must ever remain tributary to the Denver & Rio Grande Railway. In the
prosecution of this enterprise, therefore, it will be seen at a glance that the Denver
& Rio Grande Company are building a great north and south line of road which runs its
entire length through the rich and fertile country along the eastern slope of the
mountains; connecting the Texas Pacific Railway with the Kansas Pacific, and the Denver
Pacific, and by the latter road with the Union Pacific; developing a stretch of country
850 miles in length, which is unsurpassed in all the resources which make a nation wealthy
and a people prosperous; and grasping a trade, now immense, but which, under the influence
of a railway era, will become a traffic which will surpass even the most sanguine friends
of the enterprise. What scheme can be more magnificent than this? What enterprise is of
more vital i in p o r t a n c e to the growth and progress of the Rocky Mount a i n
country? Does Denver understand its meaning? Do o u r merchants appreciate the advantage
which it gives them? C e r t a i n I y let honor be rendered to the genius which conceived
the plan and to the financial energy and daring which is driving it to a successful
termination. It is clear that the wisdom of the company in adopting the three-foot gauge
is made most apparent. The main trunk line of 850 miles will pass through a country
alternately plains and mountains without a change of gaguge, will thus be enabled to send
out branches into various portions of the mountains, which it would be impracticable, if
not impossible to reach by the ordinary broad gauge roads. Every mountain and other
producing section can thus be reached by branches and put in railway communication with
the business centers of the territory. The narrow gauge will not only become a great
north. and south line but will also be a vast network of roads and branches, reaching in
every direction across southern and southwestern Colorado and northern and western New
Mexico, facilitating the trade and stimulating the progress of each town and section which
it seizes in its iron embrace. In considering the present and especially the future
traffic of the Denver & Rio Grande, this fact must be kept permanently in view.
PRESENT SOURCE OF REVENUE
THAT the Denver & Rio Grande
Railway will always enjoy a large and growing traffic need not be asserted in view of the
brief description of the country to be opened by it, just given. It may be well, however,
to recount in concise form, some of the sources from which the 76 miles-now completed will
derive its revenue. The local freight and passenger business is already large and will
constantly increase as the agricultural and dairy region through which the road passes,
becomes more populous. The freight and passenger business between Denver and the Arkansas
Valley in southern Colorado, the transportation of cattle, of the Canon City coal, the
best in the territory of the United States, could express well the source of large and
profitable revenue. The great through trade between Santa Fe and the state is tapped by
the road which now opens to all New Mexico the quickest and best route for reaching
Denver. The transportation of lumber from the vast pineries on the Divide and the
competition for freight and passengers between the Kansas and Union Pacific roads, will be
one of the largest items in the business of the road and a neverfailing source of revenue
and profit. The construction of the wagon road through the Ute Pass by the aid of bonds
issued by El Paso County, renders Colorado Springs a natural point of outlet for all the
South Park, Upper Arkansas and Blue River mines and gives to the road the carrying trade
of all the rich placers and gold and silver lode-mines of Park, Lake and Summit counties.
This business, especially the transportation of silver ores, from the new discoveries now
being made, will be of large profit to the company. The Denver & Rio Grande cannot
fail to take a place at once among the paying roads of the country, and with its
capacities for doing a large freight and passenger traffic at a greatly reduced cost, its
financial standard must be rendered second to that of no corporation in the country. The
demands for business during the past three days have been largely in excess of the
estimates and the indications are that the present equipment of the road will even thus
early be taxed to its full capacity.
THE IMPORTANCE TO DENVER
TO point out the importance of this road
to the commercial interests of this city is scarcely necessary. The Denver & Rio
Grande is our fifth railway and secures to us communication with the whole vast and
populous country south of this city. It opens to us a new commercial area, and renders us
forever the great metropolis of the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountain country, the
center of the great system of rail ways which must stretch their iron arms over this
section of the West, hastening its growth, stimulating its prosperity and opening a new
future in material and social advancement of the nation. Such is the meaning of this new
enterprise. Do our citizens apprehend it and see the splendid distinction which it secures
to the City of the Plains? This topic we will elaborate more fully in the future. The
managers of the road have tendered for this day a complimentary excursion to the press of
the territory. In the history of this event, so full of pleasure and interest, may be an
opportunity to notice more fully some points on which the length of this article have
prevented from dwelling.
|
A. C. Hunt
1871
Building the D&RG
railway 1871
Diagram showing the center of gravity of the narrow
gauge coaches in use on the D. & R. G. W. in 1872. They were built with seats back to
back and arranged for two passengers on one Bide and a single seat on the other,
zigzagging in this manner throughout the length of the coach. Two full seats could not be
built. They were arranged In this way so that the load would be distributed evenly. If too
many passengers happened to get on one side, the brakeman would cause them to move to the
other for the sake of balance. |
