![]() The building contains the ticket office and a well-stocked gift shop with plenty of souvenirs of the railroad trip. Well maintained by the Royal Gorge Route Railroad the depot is surrounded by several large parking lots and fresh green landscaping. ![]() Our journey begins at the old brick walled terracotta roofed Santa Fe depot in Cañon City. The railway reporting marks for today's Royal Gorge Route Railroad of CRRX are assigned to Cañon City and Royal Gorge Railroad, LLC. Except for this 12 mile section the remainder of the Tennessee Pass line is dormant. Excursion train movements are controlled by the UP's Harriman Dispatching Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Excursion service commenced on this 12 mile route in 1999. In 1996 SP was taken over by the Union Pacific (UP) which then proceeded to close the gorge route.ġ998 saw UP sell the 12 miles (only a portion of their Tennessee Pass line) through the Royal Gorge to Cañon City & Royal Gorge Railroad (CCRG) and Rock & Rail Incorporated (RRI) who had joined together forming Royal Gorge Express (RGX) to purchase the line. ĭRGW operated passenger train service through the gorge from 1880 until 1967 when DRGW merged with Southern Pacific (SP). With the dispute now settled DRGW continued construction west reaching Leadville on. DRGW then paid ATSF US$1.8 million for their construction of the railroad through the gorge. On the "Treaty of Boston" was signed by both railroads which ended all litigation. This was followed by the DRGW taking over trains, depots, and engine houses under the force of arms in which several men died. This forced the DRGW to obtain another court injunction which barred ATSF from using DRGW trackage effective. Now in possession of a lease the ATSF manipulated freight rates to their favour thereby strangling DRGW earnings. DRGW management believed this threat by the ATSF would thereby result in the financial ruin of the DRGW so they entered into a 30 year lease with the ATSF who then completed construction through the canyon. But ATSF did not give up and announced it would build a parallel track through the canyon. In the railroads legal battle ended in the Supreme Court of United States with the DRGW granted the right-of-way through the Royal Gorge. A firefight ensued in the Santa Fe roundhouse at Pueblo in which one person was killed, apparently shot in the back by a drunken DRGW guard. Grading crews continued to harass each other with both sides hiring armed guards for protection.ĪTSF brought in the famous Bat Masterson and the infamous Doc Holliday who hired about 60 gunfighters. DRGW tried leapfrogging around ATSF grading but were blocked by court injunctions. DRGW sent crews to the same area but they were blocked by the ATSF graders in the narrow canyon. ![]() ATSF began grading a right-of-way just west of Cañon City near the entrance to the gorge. saw the start of war between the two railroads. As can be seen by the construction of the Hanging Bridge the possibility of two railroads traversing the steep canyon would not be possible. Leadville, where the transportation wealth laid (shipping ore), was over 100 miles from these two points with the Royal Gorge lying between. The DRGW already had trackage in Cañon City while the ATSF had reached Pueblo. ![]() Late in 1870 mining for lead and silver in the Leadville district drew the attention of two railroads, the Denver & Rio Grande Western (DRGW) and the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe (ATSF). Next track was supported on 175 feet (53 metres) long steel plate girders anchored parallel to one canyon wall and supported on the river side by cables hung from the A frames. In order to construct a right-of-way through this gap girders were attached to both sides of the canyon walls forming an "A" frame. The nearly vertical rock walls of the gorge narrow to just 30 feet (9.1 metres) across the river at one point. Originally constructed in 1879 it has since been strengthened and remains in use today. One interesting feature of the route through the gorge is a piece of engineering named the Hanging Bridge. However, there is some consolation in the fact that it is still the highest bridge in the United States. This suspension bridge held the record as the highest bridge in the world from 1929 until 2001, when a Chinese bridge won that distinction. About halfway along the route the railway passes beneath the Royal Gorge Bridge, 955 feet (291 metres) above the river and track. Today the only right-of-way through this canyon carries the Royal Gorge Route Railroad excursions from Cañon City to Parkdale and return, 12 miles each way. Leaving the Rockies it cuts a deep canyon, 1,250 feet (380 metres) deep for that matter, known as the Royal Gorge just a few miles west of Cañon City, Colorado. The headwaters of the Arkansas River lie in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado near Leadville from where it flows southeast to join the Mississippi River in Arkansas. ![]()
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