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Reports of the discovery of gold in what would become the Cripple Creek and Victor Gold District in October 1890 initially were greeted with skepticism, and it took nearly a year for the [[Cripple Creek Gold Rush]] to begin in earnest. Available stage and wagon roads were inadequate to move growing volumes of ore out, and goods and people into the district, and within a few years two railroads were built to remedy this problem. The [[Narrow-gauge railway|narrow gauge]] [[Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad|Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad]] (F&CC) was hastily built beginning in December 1893 from a junction with the [[Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad|Denver & Rio Grande Railroad]] (D&RG) at [[Florence, Colorado|Florence]] north along Eight Mile Cañon (now [[Phantom Canyon (Pikes Peak Area)|Phantom Cañon]]). The first F&CC train reached Victor in the gold district in May 1894, and the line was extended into the town of Cripple Creek by July 1894. From Florence to Cripple Creek on the F&CC passengers traveled a distance of 40 miles by track. The second railroad, the [[standard gauge]] [[Midland Terminal Railway]] (MT), was built from a junction with the [[Colorado Midland Railway]] (CM) at [[Divide, Colorado|Divide]] south to [[Gillette, Colorado|Gillett]] in the mining district by July 1894, into Victor in March 1895, then parallel to the F&CC into Cripple Creek in December 1895. From Colorado Springs passengers traveled 30 miles west along the CM to Divide, then 29 miles south on the MT into Cripple Creek. The availability of rail transport allowed mining operations to expand, and lower grades of gold ore could be shipped out economically for processing in existing smelters at Pueblo or Denver, and two smelters built in 1896 in Florence. By 1896 20,000 people lived and worked in the mining district.
Reports of the discovery of gold in what would become the Cripple Creek and Victor Gold District in October 1890 initially were greeted with skepticism, and it took nearly a year for the [[Cripple Creek Gold Rush]] to begin in earnest. Available stage and wagon roads were inadequate to move growing volumes of ore out, and goods and people into the district, and within a few years two railroads were built to remedy this problem. The [[Narrow-gauge railway|narrow gauge]] [[Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad|Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad]] (F&CC) was hastily built beginning in December 1893 from a junction with the [[Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad|Denver & Rio Grande Railroad]] (D&RG) at [[Florence, Colorado|Florence]] north along Eight Mile Cañon (now [[Phantom Canyon (Pikes Peak Area)|Phantom Cañon]]). The first F&CC train reached Victor in the gold district in May 1894, and the line was extended into the town of Cripple Creek by July 1894. From Florence to Cripple Creek on the F&CC passengers traveled a distance of 40 miles by track. The second railroad, the [[standard gauge]] [[Midland Terminal Railway]] (MT), was built from a junction with the [[Colorado Midland Railway]] (CM) at [[Divide, Colorado|Divide]] south to [[Gillette, Colorado|Gillett]] in the mining district by July 1894, into Victor in March 1895, then parallel to the F&CC into Cripple Creek in December 1895. From Colorado Springs passengers traveled 30 miles west along the CM to Divide, then 29 miles south on the MT into Cripple Creek. The availability of rail transport allowed mining operations to expand, and lower grades of gold ore could be shipped out economically for processing in existing smelters at Pueblo or Denver, and two smelters built in 1896 in Florence. By 1896 20,000 people lived and worked in the mining district.


By 1899 a holding company had acquired both the F&CC and MT, operated the two as a single railroad, and took advantage of its monopoly to raise its rates. Traffic was directed to Florence, Pueblo and Denver, bypassing Colorado Springs. Ninety percent of Cripple Creek's mines were owned by Colorado Springs investors, who were angered by the high rates and the lack of profit for their city. [[Irving Howbert]], one of the founders of Colorado Springs and president of the First National Bank of Colorado Springs, organized support among mine owners to build a third railroad into Cripple Creek to compete against the F&CC and MT.
By 1899 a holding company had acquired both the F&CC and MT, operated the two as a single railroad, and took advantage of its monopoly to raise its rates. Traffic was directed to Florence, Pueblo and Denver, bypassing Colorado Springs. Ninety percent of Cripple Creek's mines were owned by Colorado Springs investors, who were angered by the high rates and the lack of profit for their city. [[Irving Howbert]], one of the founders of Colorado Springs and president of the First National Bank of Colorado Springs, organized support among mine owners to build a third railroad, the Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway (CS&CCDRy), into Cripple Creek to compete against the F&CC and MT.


== The Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway ==
== The Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway ==

Revision as of 15:57, 3 June 2020


Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek District Railway
Overview
Other name(s)The Short Line
StatusDefunct
LocaleColorado
Termini
History
Opened1901 (1901)
Closed1922 (1922)
Technical
Line length50.5 mi (81.3 km)
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Highest elevation10,200 ft (3,100 m)

The Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway (CS&CCDRy), known as the "The Short Line", was an American short-line railroad in the state of Colorado built to transport gold ore, goods and passengers between the Cripple Creek and Victor gold-mining district and the city of Colorado Springs.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] The CS&CCDRy was active from its completion in 1901, with some interruptions, until 1922.

Background

Reports of the discovery of gold in what would become the Cripple Creek and Victor Gold District in October 1890 initially were greeted with skepticism, and it took nearly a year for the Cripple Creek Gold Rush to begin in earnest. Available stage and wagon roads were inadequate to move growing volumes of ore out, and goods and people into the district, and within a few years two railroads were built to remedy this problem. The narrow gauge Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad (F&CC) was hastily built beginning in December 1893 from a junction with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG) at Florence north along Eight Mile Cañon (now Phantom Cañon). The first F&CC train reached Victor in the gold district in May 1894, and the line was extended into the town of Cripple Creek by July 1894. From Florence to Cripple Creek on the F&CC passengers traveled a distance of 40 miles by track. The second railroad, the standard gauge Midland Terminal Railway (MT), was built from a junction with the Colorado Midland Railway (CM) at Divide south to Gillett in the mining district by July 1894, into Victor in March 1895, then parallel to the F&CC into Cripple Creek in December 1895. From Colorado Springs passengers traveled 30 miles west along the CM to Divide, then 29 miles south on the MT into Cripple Creek. The availability of rail transport allowed mining operations to expand, and lower grades of gold ore could be shipped out economically for processing in existing smelters at Pueblo or Denver, and two smelters built in 1896 in Florence. By 1896 20,000 people lived and worked in the mining district.

By 1899 a holding company had acquired both the F&CC and MT, operated the two as a single railroad, and took advantage of its monopoly to raise its rates. Traffic was directed to Florence, Pueblo and Denver, bypassing Colorado Springs. Ninety percent of Cripple Creek's mines were owned by Colorado Springs investors, who were angered by the high rates and the lack of profit for their city. Irving Howbert, one of the founders of Colorado Springs and president of the First National Bank of Colorado Springs, organized support among mine owners to build a third railroad, the Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway (CS&CCDRy), into Cripple Creek to compete against the F&CC and MT.

The Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway

Engineering and Construction

Unlike most railroads which followed water courses, the CS&CCDRy was unusual in that it crossed water courses and ridges, curving sharply back and forth along ledges cut in the sides of mountains to reach Cripple Creek as directly as possible from Colorado Springs. As a result 65-1/2% of the line was curved, and only 34-1/2% was straight. This route required the construction of 34 bridges up to 500 feet long and 80 feet high, 9 tunnels up to 500 feet long, and curves as sharp as 16 and 18 degrees.The steepness of grades was compensated for curvature, reduced proportionally on curves to compensate for curve resistance, the greater effort required to pull a train around a curve. Larger curves employed railroad transition spirals to smooth the transition from straight to curved track. All curved track employed superelevation, with the outer rail raised above the inner rail to bank the track to compensate for the centrifugal force acting on railcars moving around curves. The steepest part of the route, from Colorado Springs 21 miles west to the midway point at Summit, climbed at a steep ruling grade of 3.8 percent, but taking into account the compensation for curvature the average grade or slope was actually 3.57 percent, with only short, straight stretches up to 3.8 percent. For durability 75-pound steel rail was used on the main line, and 65-pound rail on sidings, in an era when the heaviest rail in common use by even the largest railroads was only 85-pound.

50.5 miles from the railway's Colorado Springs Yard to its station at Cripple Creek.

Operation

Largely as a result of the opening of the CS&CCDRy, by November 1901 the F&CC reduced it's freight rate to $1 per ton from Cripple Creek to smelters in Florence and Colorado City.[9] Due to competition between the CS&CCDRy and the CM, in early December 1901 a passenger rate of 80 cents per mile was set. The freight rate to ship flour also was reduced from 32 cents per 100 pounds, and on grain from 22.5 cents per hundred pounds, to a flat rate of 5 cents on grain, flour, seed, lumber, brick, cement, plaster, and lime.[10] By January 1902 the CM refused to move cars over its tracks between the CS&CCDRy and Colorado Southern and Santa Fe Railroads.[11] The rate war between the CS&CCDRy and the MT continued until 1 July 1902, when the dispute was submitted to arbitration and rates were restored to the rates of the preceding November.[12]

https://books.google.com/books?id=09ZLAAAAYAAJ&dq=Colorado%20Springs%20%26%20Cripple%20Creek%20District%20Railway&pg=PA196#v=onepage&q=Colorado%20Springs%20&%20Cripple%20Creek%20District%20Railway&f=false

Scenery and Tourism

Postcard view of St. Peter's Dome along the CS&CCDRy, 1910s
View of Cathedral Park and CS&CCDRy Bridge 30-A across Bison Creek, 1901

Vice President Teddy Roosevelt visit August 1901, "The Trip That Bankrupts the English Language" Point Sublime, Silver Cascade Falls, Cheyenne Mountain, Bruin Inn, St. Peter's Dome (image available), Observation Point, Duffield's, Devil's Slide, Double Horseshoe, Summit Wye, Summit, Clyde Loop, Cathedral Park (image already available), Victor Pass, Goldfield, Victor, Elkton, Anaconda, Cripple Creek.Tourism, tourist gravity cars from Summit.

Louis Charles McClure, A.J. Harlan photos

Production mills branch in (Old) Colorado City, Golden Cycle Mining and Reduction Company

The Blue Book https://books.google.com/books?id=npg1AQAAMAAJ&dq=Colorado%20Springs%20%26%20Cripple%20Creek%20District%20Railway&pg=PA14#v=onepage&q=Colorado%20Springs%20&%20Cripple%20Creek%20District%20Railway&f=false

  • Colorado Springs
  • The Start
  • Colorado City and Manitou
  • Bear Creek Canon
  • The Ascent
  • Point Sublime
  • Silver Cascade Falls
  • Fairview
  • South Cheyenne Canon
  • St. Peter's Dome
  • Duffield's
  • Devil's Slide
  • Summit
  • Rosemont
  • Saderlind
  • Clyde
  • Cathedral Park
  • Entering the Gold District
  • Cameron
  • Hoosier Pass
  • Cripple Creek
  • Victor
  • The Electric Railway
  • The Great Gold Camp

Locomotives and Rolling Stock

Eight Consolidation-type 2-8-0 steam freight locomotives, #1 through #8, used to haul trains on the main line, built by the Schenectady Locomotive Works

Four Prairie-type 2-6-2 steam switching locomotives, #101 throuhg #104, used to make up trains in railyards, built by the Schenectady Locomotive Works

freight cars

passenger cars

MOW

Corley Mountain Highway

Gold Camp Road and the Gold Belt Byway

National Register of Historic Places #99000400 Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway--Corley Mountain Highway

Denver Public Library Digital Collections


Category:Historic sites in the United States Category:Defunct Colorado railroads Category:Transportation in El Paso County, Colorado Category:Transportation in Colorado Springs, Colorado Category:Transportation in Teller County, Colorado Category:Railway-related listings on the National Register of Historic Places Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado Category:Interurban railways in Colorado Category:History of Colorado Springs, Colorado Category:National Register of Historic Places in Teller County, Colorado


Maurice Alvin Long, usually known as M. A. Long, was an American architect, civil engineer, and construction contractor.

He was born October 25, 1875, near Middletown, Ohio. He was educated in public schools at Dayton and Middletown. He later took a course in architecture and railroad engineering at the Scranton schools, worked for an architect in Dayton, and attended night school.

He went to work for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at Cincinnati on June 5, 1899, as an architect and assistant engineer. He was promoted to architect of the Baltimore & Ohio System and moved to Baltimore, Maryland, in 1904. He supervised construction of the B&O office building at Baltimore and Charles Streets, designed by architects Parker & Thomas and completed in 1906. He was appointed to be assistant to the chief engineer of the Baltimore & Ohio and Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton System in 1913. He was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Institute of Architects, and was vice-chairman of the building committee of the American Railway Engineering Association.

He left the B&O and formed the M.A. Long Company, a construction firm, in 1919. The firm was responsible for construction of the McCormick Spice Company Building on Light Street in Baltimore. He was the founder in 1927 and first President of the Baltimore Builders Chapter, which became the Maryland Chapter of Associated General Contractors.

He was married to Anne M. Long.

Works

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Freight Terminal (Longworth Hall), Cincinnati, Ohio, 1904, NRHP 86003521

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Passenger Station, Wheeling, West Virginia, 1908, Beaux Arts style, NRHP 79002596

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Depot, Barnesville, Ohio, 1916, Mission-Spanish Revival style, NRHP 85001694


Richmond, Virginia’s Triple Crossing is the only place in North America where three Class I railroads cross over each other at different levels on the same spot. At ground level the line was originally built by the Richmond and York River Railroad in 1859, and was extended after the Civil War to connect with the Richmond and Danville Railroad. It later became part of the Southern Railway System, currently is part of Norfolk Southern, and runs east to West Point, Virginia. The middle level was constructed as part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) main line in 1900 running south from Richmond's Main Street Station, crossing above the Southern tracks and the James River. It is now part of CSX Transportation known as the “S Line”. The top level is a 3-mile long viaduct parallel to the north bank of the James River built by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in 1901 over both the SAL and Southern tracks in order to link the former Richmond and Allegheny Railroad with C&O's Peninsula Subdivision and export coal piers at Newport News, Virginia. It is now owned by CSX Transportation.[13][14]

The Triple Crossing is located in Shockoe Bottom, along East Byrd Street, east of South 14th Street, two blocks south of Richmond’s Main Street Station, between the James River and the Richmond City Canal. It can be reached on foot by crossing the Canal Walk pedestrian bridge near Dock Street between South 15th and South 17th Streets. A marker set in the Canal Walk pavement reads:

TRIPLE CROSSING: SOON AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, RAILROADS WERE BUILT OVER THE OLD CANAL TOWPATHS. THREE RAIL LINES CROSSING OVER EACH OTHER GIVE THIS PART OF THE CITY ITS NAME. ACROSS THE CANAL IS THE ONLY TRIPLE MAIN-LINE RAILROAD CROSSING IN THE WORLD. THE BOTTOM LINE WAS BUILT BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR. IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY, THE OTHER TWO WERE ADDED, CONTRIBUTING TO RICHMOND’S DEVELOPMENT AS AN IMPORTANT TRANSPORTATION HUB.

The triple crossing has been a Richmond attraction for railfans for over 100 years. The railroads operating each level have agreed to stage triple crossings, three locomotives (listed below from top level to bottom level) posed crossing over the three levels simultaneously for publicity photographs, seven times.[15] The number of photographic angles decreased in the 1990s due to construction of a new flood wall along the James River.[16]

1. 1911[15]

  • Chesapeake & Ohio steam locomotive #175
  • Seaboard steam locomotive #633
  • Southern steam locomotive #1504

2. 1926[15]

  • Chesapeake & Ohio 2-8-0 Consolidation steam locomotive #433
  • Seaboard steam locomotive #267
  • Southern 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive #1204

3. September 1, 1949, Thursday, at 12:01 pm[13][15]

  • Chesapeake & Ohio Alco Richmond K-3A 2-8-2 steam locomotive #2327, a standard freight engine on the James River line, a steam locomotive capable of hauling about 160 coal cars.
  • Seaboard Air Line EMD E7A Diesel-electric locomotive #3048, a 3,000-horsepower unit like the ones used to pull the Silver Meteor, Orange Blossom Special and other streamliners.
  • Southern Alco RS3 Diesel-electric locomotive #2106, a 1500-horsepower, multi-purpose roadswitcher.

4. October 12, 1958 - Posed for a National Technical Honor Society Washington Chapter excursion.

  • Chesapeake & Ohio EMD GP9 Diesel-electric locomotive #6086, GP9 #5980
  • Seaboard EMD GP9 Diesel-electric locomotive #1913
  • Southern Alco RS3 Diesel-electric locomotive #2032

5. September 1, 1966[15]

  • Chesapeake & Ohio EMD GP7 locomotive #5874 manufactured in 1953
  • Seaboard EMD GP40 locomotive #622 manufactured in 1966
  • Southern EMD GP35 locomotive #2678

6. July 19, 1983 – Staged for a National Railway Historical Society pre-Convention night photo session hosted by NRHP's Old Dominion Chapter.[15]

  • Chessie System C&O GE B30-7 locomotive #8295
  • Seaboard (Norfolk Southern) EMD GP40 locomotive #6719
  • Southern EMD FP7 locomotives #6143 and #6141

7. October, 1994 – To mark the completion of the James River flood wall, which now blocks the best photographic views of the triple crossing.

  • CSX GE C40-9W locomotive #9044
  • CSX GE C40-9W locomotive #9045
  • Norfolk Southern EMD GP50 locomotive #7027

References

  1. ^ Wilkins, Tivis E. (1983). Short Line to Cripple Creek: The Story of the Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek District Railway. Golden, Colorado: Colorado Railroad Museum, Colorado Rail Annual No. 16. ISBN 0918654165.
  2. ^ Cafky, Morris (1955). Rails Around Gold Hill. Denver, Colorado: Rocky Mountain Railroad Club.
  3. ^ Wolfe, Doris. The Gold Camp Road: The Short Line to Cripple Creek and Victor, a Photo-Guide Book. Doris Wolfe.
  4. ^ Lewis, Allan C. (2006). Railroads of the Pike's Peak Region 1900-1930. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0738531251.
  5. ^ Sladek, Ron (4 September 1998). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 99000400" (PDF). NPGallery. National Park Service. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  6. ^ Colorado Historical Society (30 September 2008). "Directory of Railroad Properties in the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties" (PDF). History Colorado. History Colorado. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  7. ^ The Railway Age. 1901-08-16. pp. 126–130.
  8. ^ Fraser, Clayton B., and Jennifer H. Strand (1997). Railroads in Colorado 1858 - 1948: The Historical and Technological Evolution of Colorado's Railroads 1858 - 1948. http://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/crforms_edumat/pdfs/625.pdf: United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service. {{cite book}}: External link in |location= (help)CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ The Railway Age. Vol. v.32. 1901-11-29. p. 641.
  10. ^ The Railway Age. Vol. v.32. 1901-12-13. p. 707.
  11. ^ The Railway Age. Vol. v.33. 1902-01-24. p. 121.
  12. ^ The Railway Age. Vol. v.34. 1902-07-11. p. 45.
  13. ^ a b "Railroading on Three levels (Richmond, Va.)". southern.railfan.net. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
  14. ^ "The Only Triple Decker Train Crossing in the World". www.historyreplaystoday.com. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
  15. ^ a b c d e f "The Triple Crossing". American-Rails.com. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
  16. ^ Hawkins, Jeff (March 2008). "The Bridges of Richmond". Railpace Newsmagazine: 47. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

37°31′55″N 77°25′54″W / 37.532012°N 77.431641°W / 37.532012; -77.431641

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