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Denver South Park & Pacific Memorial Edition By Poor with Dust jacket & MAPS
Denver South Park and Pacific Memorial Edition By M C Poor
493 Pages Indexed
Hard cover with Dust Jacket (Dust jacket has damage, included photos without dust jacket)
Copyright 1976
Map pocket combines 4 maps and 1 timetable
PREFACE
A man should have an avocation to keep him from growing old when the twilight years draw nigh, lest he have no pleasure in them. In this respect, my principal interest is the history of early Colorado railroads, and heading the list is the great old Denver South Park & Pacific, more commonly known as the "South Park."
I have spent ten years gathering and arranging the material used in writing this history of the narrow gauge divisions of the Colorado & Southern Railway.
Most worthwhile railroad history contains much matter not only tiresome, but difficult to read and rather mischievous to remember. It is often the unprofitable task of the historian to busy himself in searching out and saving from oblivion some uninteresting but vital pieces of knowledge necessary to present a well-rounded treatise.
It is possible that some criticism of this book may be offered because of the amount of additional Colorado history, not directly related to the principal subject itself, which is incorporated within these pages. This criticism I will accept for the reason that when this project was first begun it was my intention to limit the work to the history of the Denver South Park & Pacific exclusively. However, the search for material which was required to write a few opening paragraphs relative to the underlying causes that brought about the organization of the South Park road, disclosed so much additional interesting information pertaining to this subject that I finally concluded it was impossible to incorporate it all in a few opening paragraphs. Consequently, I could not reconcile myself to eliminating so much vitally important early Colorado history, both directly and indirectly related to the organization and construction of the South Park.
Therefore, I retained a considerable proportion of this material and developed it into a complete section, calling it Part I. This section includes a brief geographical outline of the early Territory of Colorado wherein our story lies, along with a description of the physical, economic and political conditions existing in Colorado in the early '70's, especially those conditions which concerned the railroad situation; followed by a resume of early Colorado railroad history preliminary to the date of the organization of the Denver South Park & Pacific Railway.
By the same token, more material than was anticipated came to light concerning both the narrow gauge
Clear Creek Canon line of the Colorado Central, and the Denver, Georgetown & Utah, a forerunner of the South Park. I have set up these two sections independently of the South Park, and called them Parts II and III, respectively.
The last section, Part IV, deals with the history proper of the Denver South Park & Pacific, which, together with the Clear Creek section of the Colorado Central, eventually became a part of the Colorado & Southern Railway.
The difficulty of compiling and presenting a complete and well-rounded manuscript on the origin, construction, and management of a railroad should be recognized. To produce such a history, one needs the services of a Philadelphia lawyer to interpret the legal aspects of the road's corporate history; a Certified Public Accountant to untangle and explain all the financial ramifications; a statistician to count tics, spikes, telegraph poles, bridges, etc.; an engineer to report on curvature, grades, and weight of rail; a motive power man who never looks at equipment behind the locomotive and tender; a rolling stock addict who never looks at a train until the engine has passed; a draftsman to draw fine maps; a combination detective and photographer to ferret out old photographs and take new ones; a "boomer" who has worked himself up from brakeman to Night Yardmaster at Como (apologies to Pocatello) to season it with a few old timer's talcs; not to mention a college professor with a degree as long as a whistle cord to assemble the material properly, correct misspelling, and put all the periods, commas, hyphens, and paragraphs in their proper places. Not being able to afford such a retinue of assistants, amateur railroad historians, as well as many professional writers, are handicapped in their efforts. As a result, it is not surprising that the general concept of railroad history is replete with inaccuracies, incomplete or partially explained details, misunderstandings, and in many cases, unjustifiable bias.
It must be frankly admitted that this situation is not altogether the fault of the historian, as many railroads have been (and, in a few cases, continue to be) reluctant to permit the use of their old records, even by qualified historians. On the other hand, most railroads have neither the inclination, the time, nor the help to dig into musty, dust-covered boxes of ancient records to assist some distant struggling amateur historian who cannot afford the time nor the money to journey hither and yon in search of material. Thus, to a great extent, the historical student is forced to rely on old newspapers, magazines, publicly recorded reports and documents, the oft-time unreliable memory of mortals, and other similar sources, for his information.
Quite often the writer becomes either a critic or an advocate of his subject. In this respect I must admit that I am an advocate of the South Park railroad. Furthermore, I am of that school which has a definite dislike for diesels and trucks, and I sincerely believe that, with few exceptions, good old American railroading lost its interest and died between the turn of the century and World War I.
Table Of Contents
Map And Chart List Xi
Preface Xiii
Part I
Review Of Early Colorado Railroad History Up To The Time Of The
Organization Of The Denver South Park & Pacific
Railway Company
Chapter I Chapter H Chapter Iii
Chapter Iv Chapter V
Early Settlement 3
Introduction Of Prominent Characters 6
The Transcontinental Railroad Route And Preliminary
Attempts By Various Factions To Gain The Initiative 9
Colorado's First Railroads 17
Period Of Rivalry And Friction In Colorado 23
Part Ii
The History Of The Colorado Central R. R. Co.
Chapter I Chapter Ii Chapter Iii Chapter Iv
Chapter V
Chapter Vi Chapter Vii
Chapter Viii Chapter Ix Chapter X Chapter Xi Chapter Xii
Introduction 31
Organization Of The First Transportation Companies 33
Early Financing Plans 37
First Construction 39
Brief History Of The Standard Gauge Division
Of The Colorado Central Railroad 44
The Period Following The Completion Of The
Golden-Jersey Junction Line 46
The Fight For The Mountains 49
Construction Of The Narrow Gauge Line
Up Clear Creek Canon 53
The Fight For Colorado Central Control 63
Final Completion Of All Colorado Central Construction 67
The Georgetown Breckenridge & Leadville Railway 72
Consolidation And The Third Rail 83
Description Of The Clear Creek Line 87
Part Iii
History Of The Denver Georgetown & Utah Railway
Company
Chapter I Chapter Ii Chapter Iii
Background And Organization 95
Friction And Finance101
Fade Out Of The Denver Georgetown & Utah105
Part Iv
History Of The Denver South Park & Pacific Railroad
Company
Chapter IEarly History And Organization111
Chapter IiFirst Construction-Denver To Kenosha122
Chapter IiiThe Leadville Boom And Its Effect On The Colorado
Railroad Situation 155
Chapter IvConstruction From Kenosha Summit To Trout Creek Pass
And The King Mines165
Chapter VThe Joint Operating Agreement173
Chapter ViConstruction From Trout Creek Pass To Buena Vista176
Chapter ViiWho Reached Buena Vista First? 180
Chapter Viii"Our Little Road Is Full Of Business"182
Chapter IxFinal Consolidation189
Chapter XConstruction-Buena Vista West Up Chalk Creek200
Chapter XiThe Construction Of Alpine Tunnel210
Chapter XiiConstruction-West Portal To Baldwin218
Chapter XiiiThe High Line To Leadville238
Chapter XivEarly Branch Line Construction266
Chapter XvMismanagement And Receivership274
Chapter XviThe Denver Leadville & Gunnison Railway Company280
Chapter XviiThe Colorado & Southern Railway Company293
Chapter XviiiPotpourri 309
Chapter XixThe Competitive Snowplow Trials At Hancock353
Chapter XxPersonal Reminiscences 363
Chapter XxiAbandonment 386
Chapter XxiiStation List415
Chapter XxiiiThe Locomotive Roster456
Bibliography 478
Index 479
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