The Leadville, Colorado & Southern got a little spotlight on the news a few weeks ago. The news spot below tells a little bit of the story of how this last stretch of the South Park Line survived after the Burlington Northern called it quits in the 1980s.
I'm sad to say I haven't had a chance to re-ride this one since I was a teen. Hopefully, on another trip out to Colorado, my family and I can travel along the old Leadville to Climax route again.
This segment was originally the end of the line from Denver of the Denver, South Park & Pacific. Later it became the Denver, Leadville & Gunnison and finally the Colorado and Southern. After all of the remaining C&Sng was abandoned in 1941-1942, the Leadville to Climax stretch held out until it was standard gauged in 1943. The C&S (under the CB&Q and later the BN) operated it through 1981 when the C&S was absorbed into the Burlington Northern completely. The line closed down in 1986 and, as the video points out was purchased by the Olsen's for $10. It has operated ever since as the Leadville, Colorado & Southern.
Above: a photo from my early 1990s visit to the LC&S. C&S standard gauge 641 is on display next to the old C&S Leadville depot. 641 was the last regularly scheduled operating (standard gauge) steam engine on a Class 1 railroad when it gave up the ghost in 1962.
This is what the C&S freight house looked like in the early 1990s. It has since been turned into an event center.
Here are some LC&S related posts
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