The Gilpin Railroad, earlier the GIlpin Tramway Company, was a narrow-gauge railway in Gilpin County, Colorado

Gilpin County, Colorado

Gilpin County is the second least extensive of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. Gilpin County was named after Colonel William Gilpin, the first Governor of the Territory of Colorado. The county population was 4,757 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Central City...

, in operation from 1887 to 1917.

Gold extraction

The story of the Gilpin Tramway starts in April 1859 when John H. Gregory started up Clear Creek from Golden

Golden, Colorado

The City of Golden is a home rule municipality that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the edge of the foothills of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Founded during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush on 16 June 1859, the mining camp was...

 searching for gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

. Gold flakes were being found in the creek, so the question was, where was the gold coming from. Working up the creek and following the north branch of Clear Creek at what is now known as Forks (for years, a station and restaurant, now a traffic light), Gregory found the richest gold dust in what is now called Gregory Gulch above Blackhawk. The Gregory Lode had been found.

The news of gold hit the nation. By September, a population of 900 in log shanties and tents had invaded the valley. By the summer of 1860, sixty ore mills and thirty arastras (a kind of ore grinding pit) were in operation and the population had risen to 15,000. Soon numerous mining camps had sprung up including Black Hawk

Black Hawk, Colorado

The historic City of Black Hawk is a Home Rule Municipality located in Gilpin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 118 at U.S. Census 2000, making Black Hawk the least populous city in Colorado...

, Central City

Central City, Colorado

Central City is a home rule municipality in Clear Creek and Gilpin counties in the U.S. state of Colorado, and the county seat of Gilpin County. The city population was 515 in the 2000 United States Census...

, Nevadaville, Russell Gulch and Apex.

But by the mid-1860s, the easy gold had been mined out. Gilpin county came on hard times. What was needed was both better technology in milling, and a means of transporting the ore from mine to mill and mill to the rest of the world. New technology did come, with the first smelter being set up in Black Hawk in 1865. As for transportation, that came in the form of the narrow-gauge Colorado Central Railroad

Colorado Central Railroad

The Colorado Central Railroad was a U.S. railroad company that operated in Colorado and southeastern Wyoming in the late 19th century. Originally founded in the Colorado Territory in the wake of the Colorado Gold Rush to ship gold from the mountains, it eventually expanded from its initial...

 (CCRR). The CCRR was formed in 1870 with construction starting in September 1871. Based in Golden, the trackage worked its way up Clear Creek, splitting at Forks with the first branch going on to Black Hawk. The train arrived in Black Hawk on December 15, 1873. The mills now had a way to get their product to Denver and the world beyond. In 1878, a switchback extension was built the one mile (1.6 km) distance from Black Hawk to Central City with four miles (6 km) of trackage, and the first train arriving on May 21, 1878.

Gilpin Tramway Company

The problem still remained on how to economically get the gold bearing quartz ore down to the mills of Central City and Black Hawk. It was a dangerous, slow and expensive process to bring the ore down in horse drawn wagons. In Summer 1886 five mining men met to solve the problem. The solution was the Gilpin Tramway Company, formed on July 29 in Central City by Henry C. Bolsinger, Bradford H. Locke, Robert A. Campbell, Andrew W. Rogers and Henry J. Hawley. The purpose of the company was to build a gauge

Rail gauge

Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...

 railroad to transport ore from the mines above Black Hawk to the mills.

Construction of the tramway

Grading was started in May 1887. A frame barn was purchased above Black Hawk as an engine house. The first rails were laid on July 1, 1887. Shay locomotive

Shay locomotive

The Shay locomotive was the most widely used geared steam locomotive. The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a geared steam locomotive...

 #1 arrived on August 26, with its first run on September 1. Trackage worked its way back down Clear Creek climbing the side of the hill and climbing up into Gregory Gulch. The maximum grade was six percent with several curves having a 50 feet (15.2 m) radius. The trackage continued on above Central City (there was an excursion train for Central City residents from where the tram crossed Eureka Gulch to Black Hawk on September 29, 1887). From there the trackage continued up to Nevadaville, Quartz Hill and Russel Gultch.

Much of the altitude gained by the Gilpin was done by the use of switchback

Zig Zag (railway)

A railway zig zag, also called a switchback, is a way of climbing hills in difficult country with a minimal need for tunnels and heavy earthworks. For a short distance , the direction of travel is reversed, before the original direction is resumed.A location on railways constructed e.g...

s. The Tram had more switchbacks than any other American railroad. At one point, seven switchbacks were used to reach a single mine.

Opposition

The railroad was not without its opponents. The Gilpin was in direct competition to the various teamster outfits. An agreement had been made with the Colorado Central to lay a third rail through Black Hawk (creating a dual gauge

Dual gauge

A dual-gauge or mixed-gauge railway has railway track that allows trains of different gauges to use the same track. Generally, a dual-gauge railway consists of three rails, rather than the standard two rails. The two outer rails give the wider gauge, while one of the outer rails and the inner rail...

 track) to allow the Gilpin to reach its various mills and smelters. Mayor William Fick, associated with many of the teamsters, fought to stop the Gilpin from coming through 'his' town. The third rail was laid after various legal actions starting in December 1887. But that was not the end of it, in April 1888, the Mayor accompanied by the marshal ordered laborers to stop laying the third rail and to start removing trackage that had already been laid. Fick declared that the tram would throw teamsters out of work, a great calamity for the city. But with a payment from the Gilpin of $450 to the city, the Mayor was advised to quit his losing fight, and none of the trackage was removed.

Tourism

Ore and supplies were not the only cargo carried on the Gilpin. On May 23, 1888, the tram received six new excursion passenger cars. As with many other railroads in the west, tourist traffic created a good supplement to the railroads income. Excursions occurred throughout each summer. A round trip from Black Hawk with lunch was 75 cents. A combined trip on the Colorado Central from Denver was $2.40.

Extensions

Throughout 1888, track was extended to mines and mills leading to fifteen and a half miles of track by winter of that year. Once winter arrived, a new and interesting problem arrived as well. Ore comes from wet ground, and in the winter, it has a tendency to freeze solid in the cars before delivery to the mills. The tram solved this problem with a unique solution. A warming house was built near the engine house with tracks running its entire length. Steam pipes and stoves warmed the building to a high of 120 °F (48.9 °C), thus keeping the ore warm and dry.

Sale to the Colorado and Southern

Traffic continued to grow throughout the 1890s, with three Shays

Shay locomotive

The Shay locomotive was the most widely used geared steam locomotive. The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a geared steam locomotive...

 taking up the load. Accidents did happen on occasion with engines jumping the track and rolling over. By 1900, new shays were replacing the old ones.

In January 1899, the Colorado Central (then owned by the bankrupt Union Pacific Railroad

Union Pacific Railroad

The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....

) was taken over by the Colorado and Southern

Colorado and Southern Railway

The Colorado and Southern Railway was a railroad company in the western United States that operated independently from 1898 to 1908, then as part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until it was absorbed into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1981.The railway began as the...

 (C&S). The Gilpin had been showing a nice profit in the early 1900s so by 1905, the C&S was looking at the Gilpin as a likely acquisition. On June 27, 1906, the Gilpin was sold to the Colorado and Southern.

Closure of the tramway

1910 saw the Gilpin at its greatest length of 26.46 miles (42.6 km) including spurs and sidings. But unfortunately, the C&S bought the Gilpin at the height of its profitability. The profit margins on mining gold was dropping both due to increased cost to extract the gold, and fixed prices in the gold market due to government. As such, traffic was dropping. Soon the Gilpin was running in the red. The last train ran on January 17, 1917. The railroad was sold for scrap in June 1917.

Locomotives

Number	Builder	Type	Date	Works number	Notes
1	Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shops location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line...	10-ton Shay	August 1887	181	sold Silver City, Pinos Altos and Mogollon Railroad Silver City, Pinos Altos and Mogollon Railroad Silver City, Pinos Altos and Mogollon Railroad was a 2-foot narrow-gauge railway serving copper mines along the Continental Divide in the mountains of southwestern New Mexico. The communities of Silver City and Pinos Altos developed as 19th century miners recovered easily extracted gold and...  #1 1905
2	Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shops location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line...	12-ton Shay	February 1888	199	sold Silver City, Pinos Altos and Mogollon Railroad Silver City, Pinos Altos and Mogollon Railroad Silver City, Pinos Altos and Mogollon Railroad was a 2-foot narrow-gauge railway serving copper mines along the Continental Divide in the mountains of southwestern New Mexico. The communities of Silver City and Pinos Altos developed as 19th century miners recovered easily extracted gold and...  #2 1905
3	Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shops location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line...	15-ton Shay	December 1889	264	scrapped 1938
4	Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shops location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line...	17-ton Shay	January 1900	594	scrapped 1938
5	Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shops location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line...	18-ton Shay	April 1902	696	scrapped 1938

Cars

Number	Builder	Type	Date	Length	Notes
1-5		flatcar Flatcar A flatcar is a piece of railroad or railway rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck on four or six wheels or a pair of trucks or bogies . The deck of the car can be wood or steel, and the sides of the deck can include pockets for stakes or tie-down points to secure loads... s	1888	17 ft (5.2 m)	#3 rebuilt to coal car #14
6-13		coal cars	1888	17 ft
14-17		coal cars		17 ft
18-37	Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shops location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line...	ore cars	1887	17 inch	originally 1/2 cord capacity rebuilt to 3/4 cord capacity
38-87	Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shops location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line...	ore cars	1888	17 ft 7 in	one cord capacity
88-155	Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shops location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line...	ore cars	1889	17 ft 7 in	one card capacity
300	Gilpin	water car Tank car A tank car is a type of railroad rolling stock designed to transport liquid and gaseous commodities.-Timeline:...		23 ft (7 m)	2200 gallons (8,327.9 l) capacity
1st #400	Gilpin	caboose Caboose A caboose is a manned North American rail transport vehicle coupled at the end of a freight train. Although cabooses were once used on nearly every freight train, their use has declined and they are seldom seen on trains, except on locals and smaller railroads.-Function:The caboose provided the...	1904	13 inch	destroyed 1912
2nd #400	Colorado and Southern Railway Colorado and Southern Railway The Colorado and Southern Railway was a railroad company in the western United States that operated independently from 1898 to 1908, then as part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until it was absorbed into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1981.The railway began as the...	caboose Caboose A caboose is a manned North American rail transport vehicle coupled at the end of a freight train. Although cabooses were once used on nearly every freight train, their use has declined and they are seldom seen on trains, except on locals and smaller railroads.-Function:The caboose provided the...	1912	14 inch
401	Colorado and Southern Railway Colorado and Southern Railway The Colorado and Southern Railway was a railroad company in the western United States that operated independently from 1898 to 1908, then as part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until it was absorbed into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1981.The railway began as the...	caboose Caboose A caboose is a manned North American rail transport vehicle coupled at the end of a freight train. Although cabooses were once used on nearly every freight train, their use has declined and they are seldom seen on trains, except on locals and smaller railroads.-Function:The caboose provided the...	1913	14 ft 2 in
500-505		excursion cars	1888	21 ft (6.4 m)	one rebuilt to flatcar 2nd #4; one rebuilt to rail & boiler car #01 in 1906; one used as parts for caboose #401 in 1913; last one (#500) renumbered #1 in 1915