Railroad Readin'

RAILROAD READIN' (reprint courtesy San Juan Flyer)

Silver Rails: The Railroads of Leadville, Colorado by

Christopher James, Sierra Grande Press, Sandia Park,

NM, 2015

Reviewed by Ray Schmudde

Obviously, the author and publisher put a lot of time and effort into creating this beautiful book. 

Done is horizontal format, Silver Rails’ elegant design has an ornate header and footer on each page. The header gives the page number and chapter title while the footer displays the book title. The color cover photo is the essence-capturing moment of C&S narrow-gauge engine 76 taking water at French Gulch tank on the High Line. The end papers are another delight, with the front papers showing 1927 D&RG Leadville track plan (including some C&S trackage) and the end papers showing the 1927 D&RG trackage at the Arkansas Valley Smelter. 

James tells his readers that his goal is to concentrate on four railroads (ATSF, CM, C&S, and D&RG) as well as Leadville itself. Divided into 16 chapters plus an epilogue, the author begins with the discovery of gold in California Gulch and the subsequent placer mining supported by the boom town of Oro City. Early chapters tell of the struggles of both the D&RG and DSP&P to leave Denver and conquer the Continental Divide to achieve the mineral and traffic riches of Leadville. 

As most readers of this review will know, the difficult wagon road over Mosquito Pass was not conducive as a railroad right-of-way, and thus each railroad chose a different path to Leadville; Palmer’s road having the most advantageous grade and operating conditions but the South Park’s High Line ending up the longest lasting.

The author nicely ties together the national economic picture with the struggles of each line trying to build into Leadville. He also shows how the D&RG’s Royal Gorge “war” with the Santa Fe affected each line’s efforts to pierce the central-mountains. The poor Colorado Midland, subject of several railroad histories itself, manages to bring standard gauge over the divide and finally reaches Leadville, arriving last but with wider rails. Yet the CM is unable to sustain its viability

due to high operating costs that drain its treasury and cripple its traffic.

Leadville suffered many booms and busts, and James points out the irony that the success of the automobile and the minerals needed for the automobile industry kept the Leadville mines in operation after the gold

played out.

Then there is molybdenum, that dark ore from the mine at Climax, which kept Leadville from being another washed-up mining town. In one of those strange historical quirks, the D&RG gave up its branch over Fremont Pass (and to Climax) before the molybdenum boom and thus missed originating all that traffic from the Climax mine. Nevertheless, the D&RG received a division of that traffic as when the moly boom began, the DSP&P/C&S High Line was isolated from its parent system and only tied to the national rail network through its D&RG connection in Leadville. The crucial defense need for molybdenum during World

War II forced the High Line to standard gauge in a unique way. The C&S knew that this vital wartime traffic (two trains a day) couldn’t be suspended to accommodate the gauge change. Thus, standard gauge

ties were centered under the narrow gauge rails during routine maintenance. Once enough ties were in place, heavier rail, 4’-8½” apart, was spiked outside the light narrow-gauge iron, creating a four-rail dual-gauge track. Then the line switched to standard gauge equipment.

James writes about how the Leadville-Climax High Line was one of the last Class 1 lines to run steam, attracting many photographers and railfans after the war. The High Line didn’t dieselize unit 1962.

However, the postwar period also saw the development of molybdenum mines in other countries with lower labor costs, creating less of a demand for moly from Climax. This reduced demand along with improved mountain roads allowed the Climax mine to switch to

trucks. In 1986, the mine notified DPS&P/C&S successor BN that it would no longer ship by rail. Shortly thereafter, the mine closed. Without its only High Line customer, the railroad sought to abandon the

Climax branch.

With Leadville’s economic future threatened, the town fathers went through several iterations of committees until finally Leadville residents Ken and Stephanie Olsen approached the BN with an offer to take the line off the BN’s hands for $10! Anxious to be rid of the line and the liability, the BN accepted, sweetening the deal with two locomotives, several pieces of rolling stock, along with property and the roundhouse. The Olsens formed the Leadville Colorado & Southern. Ken Olsen is quoted

as saying, “It was the most expensive $10 I’ve had ever spent.” The rest, of course, is history as the LC&S tourist line continues to this day.

Silver Rails succeeds on many levels. James is a very good writer, and he concisely weaves the complex story of several railroads into the boom-bust cycle of Leadville’s economic life. Each chapter begins with a full-page photograph that symbolizes that chapter’s subject. His selection of photographs with informative captions (including credit and source!) clearly illustrate the text. His bibliography is comprehensive, and the

index is quite useable.

If this reviewer has any complaints it is that there is no overall map of the Leadville mining district railroads. Instead, James reworks E. J. Haley maps to show the location of an individual railroad, i.e. a map for the

D&RG, and a map for the CM, etc. Readers seeking a comprehensive compilation will have to go to Cafky’s Colorado Midland, whose end paper envelope contains a E.J. Haley map labeled for the CM but which also shows the other mining district lines as of 1905. Another source

would be The Mineral Belt, Volume I, by David S. Digerness. This book’s end paper enclosure is a very detailed but small-scale map by R.B. Marshall, dated 1913.

Long time [San Juan] Flyer readers might remember this writer’s Fall 2009 Flyer story about riding the LC&S. In fact, Carol and I rode the line again this past summer with our grandson. We in southwest Colorado tend to be “Silver San Juan” centric, ignoring the rich mining and

railroad history in other parts of our great state. Leadville provides many opportunities for the railfan/history buff. Besides the LC&S there is the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum, but best of all is the 11-12 mile paved walking/biking path, with informative signage, through the Leadville Mining District. Carol and I walked this path a few years ago, and it was like stepping back in time. Silver Rails makes me want to

walk that path again. 

Three words: buy this book.