[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Colorado-Midland-Railway-Daylight-Through/dp/091358245X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1245615473&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: Colorado Midland Railway: Daylight Through the Divide: Dan Abbott: Books[/ame] I picked this book up at the NSC Convention in Portland this week, for a great price, and after paging quickly through it, it is a great book, with rare views of the Highline, Ute Pass, Hagerman and Carlton tunnels, and many other tunnels on the CM. It offers great descriptions of High Line snowfighting, constructing the line, views of the CM from all over the system, and other chapters about the graveyard Carlton Tunnel had become, modern and post-abandonment photos, plus much mre. A worthwhile volume for any CO ghost RR fan!
Does this book have any background concerning trains operated after shutdown in 1918? I know there were several specials, taking potential buyers for inspection trips. I would like to know more about those operations and specific dates. Boxcab E50
Doesn't seem to be any after abandonment information, short of when it was pulled up. Loads of snowfighting stories, and a few tunnel chapters, too!
Darn! The period post-shutdown, when they were shopping the property around, seems to have historic gaps. And a few disagreements about what actually was ongoing into 1919. Even the best, most highly regarded compilations leave a few questions unanswered. So am always hoping some new info will surface. Boxcab E50
The book does not detail Leadville, in the sense of what may still exist. It boasted a huge Midland depot--does it still exist? is it the same as used by the LC&S?
Post-CM Leadville This is a reply to a five-year-old posting and thread but perhaps there is still interest out there. I'm currently (ha! last five years) working on a book about the railroads of Leadville, the CM, the D&RG, and the DSP&P and it's many offspring. Hopefully done and out this fall (2014) but a few stumbling blocks along the way need to be un-stumbled. If not this fall, then next spring, I hope. I am not on a schedule and I'm not taking any shortcuts to get it out at a certain time. When it's done, it's done. I'll address the questions and comments below: Post-shutdown: The Midland was ordered by the courts to shut down in 1918 and other than an inspection trip or two no trains ran, as a far as I can tell, after that except for Midland Terminal between Colorado Springs and Divide, then up to Cripple Creek (which lasted until 1949). While WW I was still raging in Europe, Carlton succeeded in convincing the Colorado Supreme Court to overturn the district court order to immediately abandon and dismantle. During the remainder of the war, minimal tack maintenance was done in case the railroad reopened. Maintenance ended following the armistice and the dissolution of the USRA. Carlton tried to interest both the Rock Island and the C&S in road, but to avail. There were rumors that the Santa Fe might try to repurchase the line it had once sold but in November 1920, the SF management nixed the idea. After the Great Pueblo Flood of June 1921, there was an attempt by Leadville Chamber of Commerce to restore the line as far as Leadville because there was no access to the east: The D&RG along the lower Arkansas and the C&S in Platte Canyon were both washed out. The D&RG looked at the line and decided it was too unsafe for operation. The C&S was reopened several days later and the CMs fate was sealed. Carlton ordered the scrapping to begin. All the track west of the Midland Terminal at Divide was gone by the Fall of 1921. A. C. Carlton deeded most the r-o-w to the state for roads, including the two approaches to the Busk-Ivanhoe tunnel. He kept the tunnel and opened it as a toll route, $1 per trip or $5 for a "season pass." Since it was one lane, traffic was controlled by clocks at each portal: Westbound on the hour, eastbound on the half-hour with a 20-minute break to let slow traffic exist the opposite portal. The railroad yard in Leadville became the civic ball field, a function it still performs today. Leadville today: Very little evidence of the CM exists around Leadville today. The magnificant depot was torn down not long after the departure of the Midland and the scrapping of the yard. The LC&S uses the old C&S depot on East Seventh St. There is some grade and cut still visible on the Colorado Mountain College campus and a paved road west of town follows the r-o-w all the way to the Arkansas River when the CMs Arkansas Junction once stood. West of there you can pick up the old grade about halfway down the south side of Turquoise Lake and follow it all the way to the mouth of the Busk-Ivanhoe (now Carlton) tunnel in a passenger car. Beyond that a good truck or FWD is needed to continue following the grade over Hagerman Pass, although a lot of the grade is not on the road and you need to walk it. And in places it's pretty rough. I hiked out to the site of the Hagerman Trestle a couple years ago. No trace to the huge trestle is left except a few timbers here and there. Worth the trip, though. Small portions of the grade are also used by the Mineral Belt Trail, a hiking/biking trail that circles Leadville and follows, in places, pieces of the CM, D&RG, and C&S grades. Beyond that (and unlike the D&RG and C&S) the Midland is almost invisible in Leadville. One thing that is fun is to go to Google Maps and, if you know the route, you can trace the CM grade south of Leadville (the original climb into town from Snowden, along the Arkansas River). Hope that helps!
cj_in_nm- Scroll down the page, to the scans shown under Manitou. This is why I was asking, hoping for any additional information: http://www.train-orders.com/TOUR/MIDT/MIDT.html
Hi Ken - "No 8 Eng 57 meet No. 3 Eng 59 at Divide and wait at Woodland until ten-thirty 10:30 am for Spl 49 West." Right? If they are waiting in Woodland then it sounds to me as if Spl 49 could be headed anywhere west of Woodland, but not necessarily west of Divide. Or am I interpreting this incorrectly (good thing I was never a conductor or engineman). I do believe that there was more than one "inspection train" during the CM shutdown and some limited maintenance, prior to scrapping. But by 1921 the D&RG thought that bringing even a "light" (according June 13, 1921 Carbonate Chronicle) train over the line to deliver mail and needed provisions to Leadville and beyond (or eastbound mail) was, apparently, too risky for the minimally-maintained r-o-w. Sure wish I could get my H. G. Wells time machine working. Sorry I can't clear up any questions there.
