Full Moon, Food, and Funiculars

*Golden Eye Candy – Joyce Davell – Moonrise and Sunset – enlarge*

What’s Happening in Golden Today?

1:28AM Full Moon
10AM-noon Breakfast Burritos @ The Golden Mill

10AM-1PM Brunch with DJ Eva – Yacht Rock @ Buffalo Rose (Sky Bar Stage)
2-3PM Make Something: Hot Cocoa Bombs @ Golden Library

2PM The Great American Trailer Park Musical @ Miners Alley Playhouse

Live Music

12PM School of Rock (Golden/Lakewood) @ Buffalo Rose

3-6PM Facebagel @ Golden Mill

3PM Hornbuckle & Fletcher Duo @ Dirty Dogs Roadhouse
4-7PM Jonny Sterling @ Buffalo Rose (Sky Bar Stage)
4PM The Tony Fire Show @ Over Yonder
8PM Karaoke @ Ace Hi Tavern

Golden History Moment

*Downtown Depot, Castle Rock and Lookout Mountain Funiculars, along with the route for the proposed electric line – enlarge*

109 Years Ago
The February 5, 1914 Colorado Transcript announced, “It now seems to be an assured fact that an electric railway will soon be in operation to connect Golden with the funicular railway running to the summit of Lookout mountain.”

At that time, Golden had two scenic incline railways (also called “funiculars”). One went from East & 13th Streets up to Castle Rock, while the other went from a point near Beverly Heights Park to the top of Lookout Mountain. The two railways were fierce competitors. While the Lookout Mountain line went higher, and had arguably better views, the Castle Rock line was much more convenient to reach from downtown.

Most Golden visitors arrived on one of the two “electric lines.” One came from Denver through Lakewood, while the other came from Denver through Arvada. Both terminated at 13th and Washington.

Rees Vidler owned the Lookout Mountain Funicular, and he was desperate to get a streetcar line to bring tourists all the way to his attraction. His plan was to run a line from 13th & Washington to 14th & Washington, then west to Illinois, then south on 17th and thence past the city limits to the base of the funicular. It was an expensive proposition.

*Downtown depot with automobiles standing by to provide passenger service – click to enlarge*

Despite the Transcript’s certainty, the new electric line was never built. Automobiles were fast gaining popularity. For a brief span, people hired a car to take them to the Lookout Mountain Funicular. Soon, they skipped the funiculars entirely and drove autos into the mountains. The funiculars went out of business.

Thanks to the Golden History Museum for providing the online cache of historic Transcripts, and to the Golden Transcript for documenting our history since 1866!