Sunday, October 1, 2017

Great 1968 shots of the Central City Narrow Gauge

The construction, operation, abandonment, reconstruction, "new" operation, and reabandonment of the tourist railroads in Central City has always fascinated me.  Where else can you find a tourist route that was a rebuilding that was rebuilt and abandoned twice?

I happened across a group of photos I had not seen before of the construction and first year of operation of the Central City Narrow Gauge at the following site.  This was the RR operated by Lindsey Ashby who later moved to run the Georgetown Loop railroad until the early 2000s.

Because the photos are for sale I didn't want to post them here, but they are great to look at.  Several photos show the grade being prepared in 1968 in Central City and track being laid.  There are wonderful shots of engine 44 in operation as well.

The site also includes a 1988 photo of a DSP&P bridge abutment north of Nathrop.

Enjoy!

Photo of No. 44 at the Georgetown Loop RR.  No. 44, originally from the International Railways of Central America, formerly ran on the Central City Narrow Gauge.  Photo from steamlocomotive.com


2 comments:

ngtrains said...

we rode the CC line in 1971

Denver said...

I missed the 2nd reincarnation by a month in 1990. On our first trip to Colorado our family made a trip to Central City ride the Black Hawk and Central City Narrow Gauge Railroad only to find the train just sitting there during what should have been excursion time according a brochure for that summer. Unbeknownst to me the railroad had already closed up.