84 Years Ago
The April 10, 1941 Colorado Transcript announced that the Colorado & Southern Railroad planned to start removing the tracks between Golden and Black Hawk.
Originally known as the Colorado Central Railroad, the line between Golden and Black Hawk opened in December of 1872. In later years, the line reached Idaho Springs and Georgetown (1877), Central City (1878), Silver Plume, Graymont, and Bakerville (1884). The railroad provided essential passenger and freight service for the mining towns in the mountains.
In the 20th Century, automobiles cut into the railroad’s passenger business and trucks siphoned away freight traffic. The railroad began petitioning the Interstate Commerce Commission for permission to abandon the lines, and by 1941, the permission was finally granted.
The final engine through the canyon moved slowly, with a crew removing the rails behind the train, and loading them on a flatbed car.
