1969 C&S News - Steam returns to Central City! Reprints of DSP&P book-NO! and why

A wealth of railfan history exists in the archives of the Rocky Mountain Rail Report, the newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club started in 1939.  Here is some miscellaneous South Park Line/C&S-related news from the 1969 editions. 

Note: No C&Sng-related information was found in the 1968 editions.

1969

April

(Colorado Central Narrow Gauge Railroad starts its second, though first full, season)

A trestle on the Central City switchback

Colorado Central Narrow Gauge Railroad that began operations late in 1968 has over 1 mile of track on the old C&S roadbed at Central City using an 2-8-0 brought up from El Salvador.  More track will be placed this season, including plans for a high trestle. 

October

(Club Day at Central City)

1973 photo-by Jim Pallow

Rocky Mountain Railroad Club Day on the the Colorado Central Narrow Gauge Railroad. On Sunday, October 19, 1969, the Colorado Central Narrow Gauge Railroad at Central City will be in opera¬tion for members of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club. Send in $2.00 to the Club at Post Office Box 2391 and receive by return mail a Colorado Central Railroad Pass which will entitle you to ride the railroad as often as you wish between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 P.M. on October 19 only. Kids five and under ride free. All others must have one of the $2.00 passes. Photo runbys will be made at various times during the day for the benefit of photographers and recorders. Your officers would appreciate having a good turnout at this event. Come along and bring a friend. 

December

(Why can't the Club reprint more copies of Poor's DSP&P book?!!!)

Denver, South Park & Pacific. Twenty years ago this month, the publication, of Mac Poor's monumental history, Denver, South Park & Pacific, established the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club as one of the foremost publishers of railroad histories. In 1955, the club brought out Morris Cafky's Rails Around Gold Hill, followed by the Pictorial Supplement to Denver, South Park & Pacific in 1959. Our latest publishing venture, again authored by Morris Cafky, was the renowned Colorado Midland. All four publications have been financial successes and each has become a collector's item in spite of larger and larger printings of each successive volume. 

In the ensuing years many requests have been received from persons wanting the club to reprint the original South Park book.  For various reasons the club has deemed such a reprint impractical.  Because of this, the club has been subjected to much criticism.  The anniversary of the book’s publication seems like an excellent occasion to inform our members of the circumstances under which this first publication was accomplished.  Back in 1947, many months were spent in search of a publisher for Mac Poor's manuscript after the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society had turned it down because it was too large a work for them to handle.  We too were turned down by many publishers because of its size and in desperation our directors and officers voted to attempt the job on our own without the aid of a publisher and the services of Lou Doughty and his World Press were engaged.  A deal was made with Mr. Doughty in which he agreed to print up a two-color brochure for about $500 announcing the book for sale on a pre-publication basis, and should this sales program fail he would accept half the loss and we would owe him $250.  After a few months we had taken in around $6,000.00 which was about $3,000.00 short of what was required to print, bind, package and mail 1,000 copies.

Although they had no idea of where the required money was to come from should we fail, the four club officers and five of the six directors signed a contract for the printing, and the great project was launched.

The World Press was a relatively small company and was unable to tie up the considerable weight of type metal required for setting the very extensive text.  Thus the type set for earlier sections of the book was melted down after pages had been run, to provide type metal for the later sections of the book.  Because of this one fact, the club had to decide well in advance how many copies to have run without knowing the book would be a great success.  Also because of this, we were unable to print any additional copies when the book did sell out in the fall of 1950.  This may sound like a “shoestring” operation, and that is exactly what it was.  We were not in the publishing business then, and we are not in it today. 

With each successive publication, the club increased the quantity of books printed, without decreasing the quality.  There was much wrangling among the directors and officers before we were able to arrive at a figure of 2,750 copies of Rails Around Gold Hill, with some members stating publicly that the club would never sell that many.  The 4,000 copies of the Pictorial Supplement to Denver, South Park & Pacific was considered a very bold venture at the time.  By the time Colorado Midland came along the directors and officers dared to gamble on 6,000 copies and this book was in stock and available for the very reasonable price of $14.00 for approximately three years.  It should be pointed out that the cost of such a venture is in the neighborhood of $70,000, which is a great deal of money and responsibility for a group of amateur publishers to be confronted with. 

One of our recent club presidents was most anxious to reprint the original South Park book using the photo copy offset process, thinking that such a reprinting would take the heat off the club.  Samples had previously been obtained using this process and the quality of the reprint came nowhere near that of the original.  On a cost-per-page figure added to present day binding costs, the club would have to pay from $20 to $22 per copy.  It was decided at a board meeting that our reputation as an organization that issues only quality railroad histories would be lost and that once the buying public saw what they were paying $25 to $27 for, the club would end up with a large number of low quality books (we would have to print around 5,000 to obtain this price), a damaged reputation and a big printing bill.

None of the people involved in the original printing have any books they are holding for later sale at a price even higher than those quoted today (around $400).  The club is not interested in what the price goes to since there are no books to sell.  Those involved in the original publication are admittedly proud that the book was such a success.  We only wish that at the time the club had been sufficiently affluent to have printed 5,000 copies.  As it was, we were extremely fortunate in being able to put out 1,000.

R. H. Kindig 

E. J. Haley 

Editors 

1967 C&S News - Plans to rebuild the Loop, Alpine Tunnel marker stone placed, 1898 complaints about the South Park Line

A wealth of railfan history exists in the archives of the Rocky Mountain Rail Report, the newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club started in 1939.  Here is some miscellaneous South Park Line/C&S-related news from the 1967 editions. 

1967

January

Union Pacific Donates $10,000 to aid Georgetown Loop Rebuilding Project

The Union Pacific late last month presented a $10,000 check to the Colorado State Historical Society to further the organization’s plans to rebuild the famous old Georgetown Loop. UP president Ed H. Bailey made the presentation to the Society, saying he hoped the donation would "aid in the study of the part railroads have played in the opening and development of the west." 

The move was actually history repeating itself since the railroad was involved in financing the original line, which lifted tracks in a spectacular combination of curves and trestles from Georgetown to Silver Plume. The most famous portion of the construction, a spot where rails crossed themselves several hundred feet up the mountain on a high curving trestle, was the most publicized piece of rail construction in the country during the time it was in operation. 

The loop line between the two high mountain towns was constructed as soon as it became apparent that rich mineral deposits in the Silver Plume area would require rail service if they were to be fully exploited. The Colorado Central finished its line into Georgetown in August, 1877. With the boom up the hill in Silver Plume, UP's fast-dealing Jay Gould purchased the CC and began construction on the precipitous extension. The line operated variously under UP, Burlington and C&S heralds until 1939 when a mining decline combined with the threat of a U.S. involvement in World War II brought its abandonment. 

A gash on the side of the mountain and a Historical Society marker are all that remain today of the spectacular construction.  (Ed. We would all do well to remember and give thanks for how far things have come!) The Society, under the leadership of Stephen H. Hart, president, and James G. Rogers, chairman of the board, has been talking reconstruction of the loop for several years. Interstate 70, which now stretches westward from Denver to the Silver Plume town limits, was planned to by-pass the railroad's construction area in the event the dream would see reality. 

The depot has been saved (see Rail Report #88, December, 1966) and will eventually become part of the project. The old building is now being used as headquarters by the Loveland Basin Ski Patrol. Patrol leader Ed Schroeder reports that the move has been completed, and that restoration work will start just as soon as manpower is available. 

Georgetown, in the meantime, is enjoying a mild boom, with several near-by ski areas to attract business to refurbished hotels and restaurants during the winter, and a well planned round of summer activities -- plus a variety of mountain grandeur that attracts local people as well as visitors to Colorado. An enlightened town council controls all building and remodeling to make certain that the entire town will present itself to the public much as it did on that bright summer day 90 years ago when the railroad arrived. 

The Rocky Mountain Railroad Club has given its full support to this venture and we hope to be on the first train to chuff into Silver Plume, recreating the time, the spirit and the atmosphere that must have accompanied the first, first train these many years past. 

April 

Rebirth of the Georgetown Loop?

Representatives of the State Historical Society of Colorado met with the Denver Federal Executive Board on February 7, 1967, and discussed the establishment of a State Historical Park in the valley between Georgetown and Silver Plume, to be known as the Georgetown Loop Mining Area Restoration Project. It is planned to build a state park from the city limits of Georgetown to the city limits of Silver Plume, and from Interstate 70 across Clear Creek to Sunrise Mountain. It is the plan to open the most suitable of the old mines. The tracks into some mines are still in place and people will be able to ride a mine car into the mine. The narrow gauge railroad loop will be restored and will provide about a 4-1/2 mile ride for tourists.  The Historical Society hopes to get matching funds from the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, the Historic Preservation Act and the Highway Beautification Act to build the picnic areas, trails and high way rest areas. 

It is anticipated the cost will amount to one million dollars.  As reported in a previous newsletter, the Union Pacific Railroad has presented a $10,000 check to the State Historical Society of Colorado to further the organization’s plans to rebuild the famous old Georgetown Loop . 

September

(Alpine Tunnel Days and placement of the Mac Poor Informational Marker)

from Historic Alpine Tunnel (L: Dow Helmers, R: M.C. Poor)

On Saturday and Sunday, August 26 and 27, the Annual Alpine Tunnel Days celebration was held at Pitkin, Colorado. A most impressive program was planned, with Dow Helmers , Art Pearson, Mac Poor, Don Smith, F. B. Trudgeon, and Charlie Webb presenting the programs for the two days. The number of people attending exceeded all expectations and it was necessary to move the meetings in Pitkin to larger quarters to accommodate all those present. Bad weather, unfortunately, forced cancellation of quite a bit of the activities planned. 

A marker has been placed at the West Portal of the Alpine Tunnel (Ed. on August 27th, 1967). The marker, approximately 20” x 40", is of Colorado Rose-red granite, and was quarried near Lyons, Colorado, by the G & L Granite Co.  The sketch on the marker, a train emerging from the West Portal, was drawn by W. T. Harks.  The marker was made by the Erickson Memorial Company.

 The marker was named the "Mac C . Poor Informational Marker. " Mr . F. B. Trudgeon, Tunnel Days Chairman tells us, “The purpose in naming it after Mac C. Poor, author of the book, D. S. P.& P., was to publicly recognize him for his many years of research and effort in publishing his book on this historic narrow-gauge railroad. By his initiative he leaves for this and future generations, an authentic story on the struggles, triumphs and demise of this fascinating railroad that faithfully served many early day Colorado Mining camps." 

(Ed. "The marker was conceived and sponsored by Francis B. Trudgeon"-Historic Alpine Tunnel)

Source

(Ed. At some point the marker sustained damage as seen in the above photo.  I have never found an explanation for the reason for the crack at the top right of the historical marker.  Most attribute it to vandalism, but it begs the question who would have hauled such a large instrument which could do this type of damage up to this remote place, unless it was done with a rock or happened naturally through a rock/snow slide)

Comments on the South Park

In reading some old newspapers from a by-gone era, some interesting comments were discovered in "The Whooper", an independent paper published in Kokomo, Colorado  Vol. I., No. 34, Friday, October 21, 1898:

"Kokomo needs a vigilance committee, needs one badly too, The South Park train leaving Leadville takes baggage for this place but does not deliver it until 5:27 that day, carries it to Como and back. This will break the people who patronize this road of sucking eggs and add to the passenger business of the D. & R.G., also their express business.  A vigilance committee would have work to do to compel the Park to live up to its common carrier contracts, you can’t do it, that is, not easily by law." 

October

More on the South Park

Another item discovered in"The Whooper”, an independent paper published in Kokomo, Colorado, Vol 1 , No. 34, Friday, October 21, 1898:

"O Lord, how long, how long? are we to suffer with this railroad called the South Park.  Kokomo is very unluckily situated on a side track a few hundred yards from the main track and every morning for the past week the train en route from Leadville to Denver has stopped on the main track and compelled passengers, agent and everyone who patronizes it, to wade out through the snow to meet it.  We say train but we are in a quandary as to what to call it for it is composed of a passenger coach, a mail coach, an ore car, a hog car, a box car or any dilapidated thing that happens to have wheels, It is neither passenger freight and by no means an accommodation but it calls forth the damnation of all who are compelled to patronize it.  Como, Breckenridge and Kokomo are the three towns between Leadville and Denver on this line that have aught else than a section house and a barn.  Here, we very happily state, we have another railroad and several houses and being one of the principal points of interest on this railroad, they at least might condescend to deliver the mail for we gladly welcome any communications from the outside world even if all we do get is exchanges and several letters which on opening are found to contain a bill and on the bottom “Please remit.  This our third notification, we do not wish to press you but etc.”

“The people of Kokomo will gladly welcome a change at the first of the year just for variety’s sake not that they expect a better service, it has always given the best of satisfaction – to the officials.

“A subscription is being taken up for the engraving of an epitaph on the tomb of the passing management which will read ‘Just Behind the Times’.”

1966 C&S News - Ski Patrol saves Silver Plume depot from bulldozers in the nick of time

A wealth of railfan history exists in the archives of the Rocky Mountain Rail Report, the newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club started in 1939.  Here is some miscellaneous South Park Line/C&S-related news from the 1966 editions. 

1966 

November

SKI GROUP MOVES-TO SAVE ORIGINAL SILVER PLUME  STATION; POSSIBLE USE ON GEORGETOWN LOOP PROJECT 

A group of Loveland Basin Ski Patrol members, led by a Lakewood, Colo. man, have launched a move to acquire the old Silver Plume railroad depot for use as a clubhouse. The patrol has the backing of the State Highway Department, which will soon push Interstate 70 practically right through the station, and the State Historical Society, which has plans on the drawing board to reconstruct the famed Georgetown Loop. 

Silver Plume depot and caboose 1006, 1941-Otto Perry photo

Interstate 70 has already been relocated to another part of the mountain between Georgetown and Silver Plume to preserve the original railroad right-of- way, as a result of the Historical Society plan. Highway department officials have several times extended the deadline for moving the historic building, but the final, final deadline is rapidly approaching. James G. Rogers, chairman of the board of the State Historical Society, has urged Silver Plume mayor George Rowe to preserve the structure. 

The basic plan now is to sell the station to the Ski Patrol who will then move it to a new site within the town, refurbish it completely and use it as a headquarters building. The state group would then buy it from the patrol when plans for rebuilding the Loop have been finalized. Agreement seems to have been reached among the various groups and it now appears that the old station will be saved. The building has been inspected and declared in "good shape," 

December

SILVER PLUME COUNCIL VOTES TO SAVE OLD RAILROAD DEPOT; BUILDING MOVED TO NEW SITE ON NOVEMBER 26 

2018

The Silver Plume town council has voted to give control of the town's historic old railroad depot to the Loveland Basin Ski Patrol for use as a headquarters building (see story, page one, November, 1966 "Rail Report").  The group hired a professional house mover and the old building's move to its new location near Silver Plume's school was started on Saturday, November 26. A hard-working crew of Club members turned out on what proved to be a frosty day in the hills to lend what assistance and muscle power they could in order to accomplish the move in as short a time as possible. 

Construction workers have been dozing, grading and clearing on all four sides of the old depot in recent weeks and for a while it appeared that the building faced demolition. However, according to patrol captain Ed Schroeder, the town council has given his group nine months in which to work out a contract covering use and preservation of the depot. 

2018

But, as Mr. Schroeder pointed out, snow will create additional problems for the patrol for it means that its members must postpone restoration work on the station and take to the slopes. A few patrolmen will do what they can on weekends during the winter but the work will go far more slowly than it should. 

Perhaps we could turn out more work parties to help the patrol in the job of preserving this valuable structure. It needs a new roof and lots of inside work. We would be delighted to have Club members participate and any who would like to work a few weekends over the next several months are invited to contact Mr. Schroeder at 10240 W. Eighth Place, Lakewood, Colorado. 

2018

1965 C&S News - Clear Creek clerk dies, last man in Alpine Tunnel, life in St. Elmo

A wealth of railfan history exists in the archives of the Rocky Mountain Rail Report, the newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club started in 1939.  Here is some miscellaneous South Park Line/C&S-related news from the 1965 editions.

 1965

February

(Former RPO clerk on Clear Creek line dies)

It is with a sad and heavy heart that we bring to our membership the news of the loss of a dear friend -- our old-timer Bert Fullman. Bert devoted his time these last years with unfailing loyalty and diligence to the monthly mailings of these newsletters and to his participation in the affairs of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club as an active member of the Club and its Board of Directors. The old gentleman passed away in Denver General Hospital Thursday evening, January 21.

Bert, the youngest of 11 children, and the last of a family of 13, was born August 6, 1879, in Omaha, and proudly proclaimed himself a "Nebraska bug-eater" who had never been farther east than North Platte after he came west. The house at 527 Josephine Street in Denver, where he lived alone, is the one into which his family moved in 1881 when they came west. His tales of the town when he was a boy have been the subject of interesting conversation among his friends on numerous occasions.

Bert started railroading as an RPO clerk in 1902 on the C&S between Denver-Greeley, Denver-Silver Plume over the Georgetown Loop, and Denver-Clarendon, Texas. In 1908 he transferred to the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific run from Denver to Yampa, Colorado, when Dave Moffat's road was still building west to Steamboat Springs. He told us of a trip made during one summer long ago when his consignment of mail sacks contained somewhere a brick of limburger cheese. The combination of heat, cheese and confinement was overpowering, according to Bert, and he finally had to resort to tracking down the offensive package, which he proceeded to wrap securely with post office twine and hang outside the car. But the mail was delivered!

Perhaps this harrowing experience brought about his departure from the Postal service. In any event he went to work for the Moffat Road as engine watchman at Hot Sulphur Springs in 1911, then worked as a fireman out of Tabernash, and was promoted to engineer west of that terminal in July, 1917. His first trip as a hogger, however, was on mallet engine 214 in helper service east from Tabernash to Corona. On this particular trip he also fired the engine on portions of the run since his fireman had just been released from the hospital. They dropped down the hill light to Arrow, where they took coal and water, then worked back up the hillon a drag. And it was six weeks of this steady, back­ breaking work before he finally had time to make his "student" trip as engineer over the line from Tabernash west to Phippsburg.

During his days as fireman he also worked on trains 1-2 using the little ex-Chesapeake Beach 4-4-0 engines 390 and 391 between Phippsburg and Craig -- the feebleminded run" he termed it.

Bert gave us all this information during the course of a Thanksgiving celebration last November. Bright, alert, cheerful, humorous and loyal to the end, this old fellow will be cherished in the memories of many of us as a genuine friend and true gentleman.

May 

(Life in St. Elmo)

St. Elmo 2018

The meeting held in April was highlighted by the interesting and amusing illustrated story of the life of Chalk Creek Canon and St. Elmo, prepared and related by Club member Don Smith. With appropriate tape-recorded music as background, Don introduced to us the present and recent occupants of the valley, then led us into the story of the Stark family of St. Elmo, and the eccentricities of the last survivors -- Annabelle and Tony -- whose confidences and friendship he came to value and enjoy during the last few years of their lives. Don's scenes of the living conditions of this remarkable pair in their "Home Comfort Hotel" and Stark Bros. General Store cannot be described, but their impact upon the large audience was noticeable.

June

(Dow Helmers-last man in Alpine Tunnel?)

Club member Dow Helmers of Pueblo, author of HISTORIC ALPINE TUNNEL -- the detailed story of the construction and life of the first tunnel to pierce the Continental Divide in Colorado -- will present his intriguing slide show of the early and recent happenings at this shrine of railfans. Mr. Helmers was among the last to gain access to the interior of Alpine Tunnel; his flash pictures and the fascinating story resulting from his research into this last remaining monument to the old South Park Line provide both a remarkable tribute to the courageous pioneers who built and operated this facility, and a program which will be long remembered.  (Ed. It seems a number of people have claimed the title of the last person inside the Alpine Tunnel.  Another, quoted in one of Daniel Edwards' books, said he was the last, 21 years after Dow Helmers, in 1986.  In 1992 a production team released yet another inside visit that they filmed on a VHS tape titled "Alpine Tunnel: The Inside Story." Here is some background of this production.  Here is a post exploring whether or not the Alpine Tunnel has been sealed)

(Poor shares how he came to write his book DSP&P)

At our May meeting a large audience gave undivided attention to an engaging talk by Club member M. C. "Mac" Poor. After a flowing and flattering introduction by member Charles S. Ryland, Mac read to us a paper which he had prepared discussing the origin of his famous history, DENVER, SOUTH PARK & PACIFIC, published in a 1,000-copy edition by the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club in 1949, in the group's first venture into the field. 

Mac's first interest in the little railroad developed in the summer of 1937 when he paid his initial visit to Colorado as a railfan. Upon returning to his home in Chicago, his curiosity about the abandoned roadbeds he had seen and photographed prompted an investigation into their background. As is sometimes the case, the notes started for the pleasant purpose of learning something about the road never seemed to stop accumulating -- ten years later they had turned into a 1,100 page typewritten manuscript!

The good intentions of the organization which originally intended publication subsided in proportion to the quantity of material Mac assembled, and the search turned then to someone who would undertake publication of the story in its entirety. Happily, our organization, in which Mac holds membership card #9, after much consideration and soul-searching into the financial risk involved in a venture of such unknown quantity, agreed to back his work, with financing guaranteed by promissory notes signed by several individual Club members.

The contract with the printer, our faithful and loyal friend Louis Doughty and his World Press, was signed in August, 1948. The job was so large it was necessary, after setting about half the text in type, to proceed with the printing so that the metal could be melted and reset for the second half of the book, Finally, in December, 1949, the finished book was ready for distribution to those who had sent in their money 15 months before at the pre-publication price of $10,00 per copy. To the delight of all (and the relief of those who had guaranteed the financing) the book found an enthusiastic market, and all copies were sold by the end of April, 1960.

In thus recounting the experiences involved in publishing the first of the Club's historical works, Mac revived many memories among old-time members, and acquainted all of us with the tremendous amount of digging and persevering effort required to search out historical information of authenticity.  (Ed. Here is a link to an article Poor wrote covering similar territory and published in this same year in 1965 in the Denver Westerner's newsletter)

July

(Dow Helmers shares Charles Webb photos of Alpine Tunnel)

After a hearty meal, which included an enormous serving of excellent prime rib of beef at the well-known Hochlandhof, those in attendance were treated to an inspiring program covering "Historic Alpine Tunnel," presented by Club member Dow Helmers of Pueblo,

Author of the detailed volume of the same title published by Sage Books of Denver in 1963, Mr. Helmers has acquired an intimate knowledge of his subject. His slides range from scenes of the days of construction of the historic shrine through its periods of operation, and end with fascinating views of the interior of the tunnel made with flash by Pueblo photographer Charles Webb in recent years before the west portal was blocked entirely by Nature's relent­less forces, the entire show being accompanied by a beautifully prepared text narrated in just the proper and appropriate style.

September

(1881 description of Como)

"COMO -- Park County, population 500, situated on the South Park Division, Union Pacific Railway, eighty-eight miles from Denver. It is an eating station and the junction of the Breckenridge Branch, now building, which makes the town a lively one. Extensive coal mines are located near the town; also some rich quartz mines a few miles to the westward. The coal vein is from seven to ten feet in thickness, of good coking quality, owned by the Railroad Company, who use large quantities of it, and ship much more. Como is reached by daily trains; fare $7.35." -- Crofutt's Grip-Sack Guide of Colorado; Overland Publishing

Company, Omaha, 1881.