The Georgetown Loop Railroad, An Engineering Marvel
The narrow-gauge Georgetown Loop Railroad is a short, but very popular and scenic tourist railroad located in Georgetown, Colorado and operated by the Colorado Historical Society as the Georgetown Loop Historic Mining & Railroad Park. The scenic line dates as far back as 1881 (as the Georgetown, Breckenridge & Leadville Railroad, originally a Union Pacific subsidiary) when it was chartered to serve thriving silver mines near Georgetown and Silver Plume. The mines only remained in operation through the first half of 20th century and before 1940 the railroad had mostly shutdown. Interestingly, the little railroad has refused to die, in no small part due to its spectacular scenery of the canyons west of Denver and impressive engineering that requires four miles of tunnels and large cuts and trestles to connect the two towns of Georgetown and Plume that lie only two miles apart!
While the Georgetown Loop Railroad was initially constructed as a subsidiary of the Union Pacific by 1893 it had become part of the Colorado & Southern Railway’s subsidiary, the Colorado Central Railroad. While the railroad continued to operate as a functioning freight railroad under the C&S, by the 1930s all of the mines and freight traffic between Georgetown and Silver Plume had dried up and by 1938 it was shutdown.
However, the railroad proved to be a scrappy survivor and in the late 1950s efforts were in place to restore the entire railroad and its engineering marvels.
The Colorado & Southern Railway would become part of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad system. The CB&Q, better remembered as the Burlington Route, is best remembered for its Zephyr lightweight streamlined train sets which were revolutionary and very successful when they debuted in 1934. Perhaps less recognized is the company itself, which because of sound business practices throughout its history was never in financial distress. The Burlington was also quite close with the communities it served making it beloved like few other railroads. Its legend continues to live on today in its passenger trains and Chicago main line which sees hundreds of successor, BNSF Railway, freight trains daily.
For power the Georgetown Loop Railroad currently employs two diesels and one steam locomotive. More information about their locomotives can be found below:
· #12 – An ex-Kahului Railroad Baldwin Locomotive Works 2-6-2 Prairie steam locomotive.
· #21 – An ex-Rocky Mountain Steel Mills General Electric 44-ton diesel switcher.
· #1203 - A 75-ton Porter diesel locomotive, newly acquired in the spring of 2008.
Along with the Georgetown Loop Railroad’s motive power they also have several cars (from coaches to open gondolas) either in use or on display (several of which are either of Denver & Rio Grande Western or Colorado & Southern lineage). All in all, a trip aboard the railroad to see the beautiful scenery and magnificent engineering feats of this little 4-mile railroad is well worth the time and drive to Georgetown, Colorado. If you are perhaps interested in riding aboard the Georgetown Loop Railroad or would like to learn more about it please click here to visit their website.
Thanks to Shane Schabow for help with the information this page.
For more information on tourist trains like the Georgetown Loop Railroad you might want to consider the book Tourist Trains Guidebook from the editors of Kalmbach Publishing's Trains magazine. Given excellent reviews by readers this guidebook covers nearly all of the tourist railroads and museums (over 400) operating in the country in fine detail with accompanying reviews about each. So, if you’re interested in locating a tourist train or railroad near you, or simply want to know more about a particular one, you will certainly not be disappointed in Trains’ guidebook to tourist railroads and museums. In any event, if you're interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit the link below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.
