RE: [CBQ] Abandonment of Original C&S Denver-Colo Springs Line

[HOL WAGNER <holpennywagner@msn.com>]

I grew up quite near the line in South Denver, too, and for a number of years spent my summer weekdays watching and riding the line with a crew that was very kind to a young boy interested in trains.  At first I was restricted to riding int he caboose, then later I was able to ride in the cab of the 600-series 2-8-0 (most often the 632 and thus my online moniker fhw632), and later in a 150-series diesel switcher.
 
If you don't have it, Jim Jones' book on the line, Denver & New Orleans: In the Shadow of the Rockies (James R. Jones, Sundance, 1997) is well worth acquiring and has numerous photos of the aftermath of the 1935 flood.  There are currently copies 34 listed on www.bookfinder.com from $79. 
 
Hol
 

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To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
From: sjl_prodigynet@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2013 07:10:08 -0700
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Abandonment of Original C&S Denver-Colo Springs Line

 

Appreciative.

I first heard the story of the Elbert flood at a campfire at the Jewish Community Centers of Denver J-CC Ranch camp in 1960 or 1961.  The counsellor there stated that half of town, including the railway station, was washed away.  I always thought he had been exaggerating, but, apparently it was spot on.  It was only years later that I correlated the railroad he was talking about with the C&S branch line that passed by a half mile from my elementary school, Ellis Elementary School, in southeast Denver.  You could hear the occasional train on the line from the school's playground.

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From: HOL WAGNER <holpennywagner@msn.com>
To: CB&Q Group <cbq@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, July 8, 2013 8:00 AM
Subject: RE: [CBQ] Abandonment of Original C&S Denver-Colo Springs Line

 

The original Joint Operating Agreement with the Santa Fe took effect on August 1, 1899 and thereafter there was only local service on the C&S "Old Line."  But it was abandoned in segments, with service over the line between Manitou Junction and Pueblo dropped almost immediately after Joint Line operation began.  By the time of the 1930s flooding the line was being operated between Denver and the Rock Island connection at Falcon, and the flood of May 30, 1935, took out large portions of the railroad in and near Elbert, resulting in an abandonment application that, upon approval, cut the line back to the outskirts of Denver.
 
Hol Wagner
 

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To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
From: sjl_prodigynet@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 7 Jul 2013 13:11:05 -0700
Subject: [CBQ] Abandonment of Original C&S Denver-Colo Springs Line

 

What year did C&S start operating on the Joint Line between Denver and Pueblo? What year was the original line between those two cities actually abandoned? Was the line in operation at the time in the 1930's when a flood washed away half of Elbert, CO?



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