The Alpine Tunnel Route - RR Magazine June 1941

In June 1941, just over three decades after the abandonment of the Alpine Tunnel, Railroad Magazine published an article titled "The Alpine Tunnel Route." The author, Lewis R. Lathrop, was a D&RG fireman who knew South Park trainmen who ran trains over the "hill" through the famous tunnel and swapped stories with them in a cigar store. In fact, he started work with the Rio Grande just two years after the arrival of the DSP&P into Gunnison.

There are some epic stories in here including one in which a crew of trainmen and snow shovelers managed to turn an engine around with hydraulic jacks. I admit, I still don't understand how they did it. Essentially, a snow blockade kept them from getting through the east portal of Alpine Tunnel, but snow had drifted back behind them. They decided they had a better chance at plowing through the line westward back to Pitkin, but...they needed to turn an engine around with a plow on the front.

While discussing some epic snowbucking skills the South Park railroaders possessed, Lathrop, the D&RG man, admitted that the DSP&P had superior equipment to theirs and that the DSP&P railroaders were better skilled at fighting snow. As evidence he tells of a blockade of Marshall Pass where two South Park "hoggers" opened the Rio Grande line themselves.

Lewis A. Lathrop actually, as the article puts it, "crossed the great divide" a few months before publication of this article. His son Gilbert assisted with its completion.

*A few notes: the story of a stalled circus train being pushed by elephants on the Alpine Tunnel route is likely legend. 

Also, the article concludes by stating the rails over the pass were pulled in 1917. They were actually pulled in 1923 and 1924.

The day the South Park Line had "Gone to Glory"

 In the December 1943 edition of Railroad Magazine the publication reported the sad occasion of the final Colorado & Southern Railway narrow gauge run. Many of us are familiar with the well-publicized event (Even Life Magazine photographed it). I thought it was interesting to see an article from the time period itself. As the author wrote, on August 25th, 1943 the South Park Line had at last "Gone to Glory."

An eyewitness tale of riding the "Graveyard Run" in Clear Creek

In the June 1939 issue of Railroad Magazine a Burlington employee from South Dakota wrote an article describing a sad but historic ride he took on the Clear Creek Line. M.L. Hart saw a notice that the Colorado & Southern was going to abandon its narrow gauge line west of Idaho Springs including the Georgetown Loop. He asked and received permission to ride what he called the "Graveyard Run" on January 30th, 1939. 

Along the way, riding in the caboose and later a gondola of gravel, he chats with conductor Billy Maas who later pushes a caboose with his bare hands, interacts with famed railroad photographer Richard Kindig, watches the switching at Forks Creek, witnesses construction of Highway 6 in the canyon, and hears the annoyance of a workman in Empire complaining about the railroad's choice to cut the line farther east. Lastly, he takes a trip by car up to Georgetown just two months before the tracks will be torn up.

In the page below the author claims that the high bridge of the Georgetown Loop was originally built of wood. I've never heard that before. My guess is this is incorrect.

Thank you to Jim Reisdorff, publisher at South Platte Press, who graciously sent me any C&Sng articles that he came across while sifting through his old collection of Railroad Magazine. Jim is presently editing a book I wrote on C&Sng restorations.

The Heroic Tale of Billy Westall, South Park engineer

Billy Westall, a South Park engineer, gave his life to save the passengers on his eastbound train in Platte Canyon. He stayed at his post as it hit a slide in Platte Canyon on August 28, 1898, saving every life on the train. The monument to his sacrifice still stands in the canyon. 

Tommy Allen shares Westall's story in the video below. Allen enjoys sharing historical tales through his podcasts and videos entitled "Stories from the Midland." I was quite impressed at his effective storytelling and this video is a good introduction to his other work.

Enjoy!

Kurt

Related content:

Read about early restoration work to the monument in 1962.

Learn of vandalism to the Westall Monument in 1964.

Watch a video following the C&S roadbed today ending at the site of the monument.

Read a summary of the Billy Westall's sacrifice, the creation of the monument, and a move to restore it in the 1990s, 100 years after the accident.