Living tracks of history: Locomotives that built Colorado mining towns continue to steam after 150-years - Colorado Community Media

Inside the mechanic shop of the Colorado Railroad Museum, the air is thick with smoke and the smell of burning wood and diesel fuel as locomotive #20 prepares to fire up its steam engine to burn coal as it first did in 1899.

The #20 was named “Portland ” after a profitable mine in the Cripple Creek District and was built to haul passengers and freight. It was sold to Rio Grande Southern in 1916, according to historians.

It was eventually donated to the Railroad Museum and returned to operation in 2020 following a $2 million,14-year restoration, according to CRRM Chief Mechanic Jeff Taylor.

Taylor was the first of several working mechanics/historians Colorado Community Media spoke with who made it clear: railroading and its history is not a job or hobby, it’s a passion.

“I like to say I get to play trains and it’s true,” Taylor said. “It sounds like a cliche but people say, ‘Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.’ Well, it’s mostly true. I still have hard days at work but I love what I do. It’s been a passion for all of my life. As far back as I remember, I’ve always liked trains. I never grew out of it.”

In 1943, the 43-ton #20 locomotive rolled over and off the tracks on a hill outside Durango. According to historians, it landed on a rock that dented the thick steel plate of the boiler. The plate was eventually replaced as part of its restoration.

“All of these locomotives and all of these pieces of equipment and cars all have terribly fascinating stories and backgrounds. Almost all of them have been in some sort of derailment or wreck,” Taylor said.

Engine #20 is just one of the meticulously restored locomotives on the 15 acres of the Colorado Railroad Museum at 17155 W 44 Ave. in Golden. The living museum maintains more than 100 narrow and standard-gauge steam and diesel locomotives, passenger cars, freight cars and cabooses, according to the museum.

Also on-site is locomotive #191, the largest operating narrow gauge steam locomotive in the western hemisphere, according to CRRM historians. Locomotive #191 is truly a “Colorado original,” having been built entirely in Colorado during the spring of 1928.

The largest steam engine at the museum, originally a Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad locomotive #5629, was built in 1940 and was used for fast freight and passenger service. It remained in operation until the early 1960s. No. 5629 is one of only four Burlington locomotives of its type still in existence, according to CRRM historians.

Enthusiasts can still board restored passenger cars for an authentic ride through on the rails powered by coal-fire steam locomotives, including #20.

“The story of Colorado being transformed in the 19th and 20th centuries is pretty much inseparable from the story of the railroad, so it’s hard to imagine Colorado without railroads,” CRRM Executive Director Paul Hammond said.

The history is well documented in the CRRM library and resource center that spans well over 100 years of historical documents, maps and photographs. It was visited by more than 100,000 people from around the world last year, according to Hammond.

Gold and silver were discovered in Clear Creek County and Idaho Springs in 1859. Railroads didn’t arrive until 1876, according to historian Bob Bowland whose family settled in the mountain area in 1873.

“The railroads were critical,” Bowland said.

Bowland and his wife Jan operate and maintain the Visitors Center and Historical Society at 2060 Miner St. in Idaho Springs.

“A lot of ore had to go to Denver to be treated after being milled up here and we certainly had mills but the final smelting and refining needed to be hauled to Denver,” Bowland said. ”Railroad transportation compared to the old ore wagons, there was really no comparison.”

The Argo Mill, 2350 Riverside Drive in Idaho Springs, would routinely ship up to 300 tons of gold and silver of high-grade ore to Denver smelters for final processing, according to historical records.

“It’s so common to see mining towns and railroads together; they’re industries that need each other,” Bowland said with a laugh. “I would say, at least in this case, the mining needed the railroad more than the railroad needed the mines.”

Historical black-and-white photos of train cars filled with gold and silver ore heading to Denver ordain the walls of the historical society.

Well-dressed passengers from well over a century ago are also pictured boarding the steam-driven locomotive trains.

“Anytime a railroad arrived in town back in those days it was a big deal and so it was truly critical,” Bowland said.

The Devil’s Gate High Bridge in Georgetown was considered to be an engineering feat when it was built in 1883, according to historical documents reviewed by Colorado Community Media.

It allowed trains climbing over steep mountains to switch back as the railroad rose from Georgetown to Silver Plume, according to the National and State Register.

“When it was built there were very few bridges that were curved and on a grade,” Brakeman and Conductor of the Georgetown Loop Railroad Caleb Murphy said. “It was thought that bridges had to be straight and level to be structurally sound but we did it and it was one of four or five in the world at the time.”

The High Bridge is approximately 300 feet long and built with an 18.5 degree left hand curve. It’s 100 feet above the Clear Creek bed and was originally constructed of cast and wrought iron, according to Murphy.

“The old-time railroaders used to say that the bridge would tend to sway from side-to-side and sag in the middle as trains crossed over, thankfully our bridge does not do that,” Murphy said.

The original iron bridge was dismantled in 1939 and rebuilt in the 1970s.

It’s currently in use as the Georgetown Loop passenger train attracting more than 100,000 locals and visitors each year for historical trips with one of several restored coal-fired steam locomotives, according to Murphy.

The historians, engineers, mechanics and volunteers at the CRRM are passionate about the history of railroading in Colorado.

“This job?” Murphy asked, “It’s just a dream come true.”

The public’s attraction and passion for these historically accurate refurbished coal-fired steam locomotives and cars was evident during CRRM’s recent “Colorado Crossings: Making History Today” event.

Locomotives #491 and #20 pulled passengers in original rail cars along the tracks surrounding the museum.

Hundreds of train enthusiasts, many dressed in vintage railroad overalls and hats with children in tow, snapped family pictures with living history as a background.

The existing parking lot overflowed across the road, where it tripled in size.