Georgetown Loop Railroad
Georgetown Loop Railroad steaming with Fall Colors and Snow.
The Georgetown Loop Railroad is a narrow gauge heritage railway located in Clear Creek County, Colorado in the United States. The Georgetown Loop Railroad was one of Colorado’s first visitor attractions. Completed in 1884, this spectacular stretch of narrow gauge railroad was considered an engineering marvel for its time. The thriving mining towns of Georgetown and Silver Plume lie two miles apart in steep, narrow Clear Creek west of Denver. To connect them, engineers designed a corkscrew route that traveled nearly twice that distance, slowly gaining more than 600 feet in elevation. It included horseshoe curves, grades of up to 4 percent, and four bridges across Clear Creek, including the massive Devil’s Gate High Bridge. The Colorado & Southern Railway operated the line for passengers and freight until 1938. Originally part of the larger line of Colorado Central Railroad constructed in the 1870s and 1880s, it was later dismantled, but was restored in the 1980s to operate during summer months as a tourist railroad, carrying passengers using historic narrow-gauge steam locomotives.
In 1959, the centennial year of the discovery of gold in Georgetown, the Georgetown Loop Historic Mining & Railroad Park was formed by the Colorado Historical Society. The Colorado Historical Society’s chairman negotiated a donation of mining claims and mills, and nearly 100 acres of land. Rail line construction began in 1973 with track and ties donated by the Union Pacific Railroad.
The four-mile segment opened on March 10, 1884 and is a restored segment at the upper end of the historic Colorado Central main line up Clear Creek Canyon west of Golden. It climbs approximately 640 feet between the two towns. The longer main line up the canyon was constructed in the wake of the Colorado Gold Rush and was used extensively during the silver boom that followed in the 1880s to haul the lucrative silver ore traffic down from the mines at Silver Plume. The Loop portion of the line was the crowning segment of the line at the top of the gorge and features a 95-foot high trestle. The entire line, including the Loop, was dismantled in 1939, but interest in restoration of the Loop segment as a tourist attraction in the 1970s led to the construction of a new high bridge and the refurbishment of the segment, which reopened in 1984.
The train ride includes an optional walking tour of the Lebanon Silver Mine, located at the halfway point on the railroad. Visitor walk 500 feet into a mine tunnel bored in the 1870s while guides point out the rich veins of silver and the history of the mine.
Passengers board the train at depots located in either Silver Plume or Georgetown. (Wikipedia)
Comments and faves
iceman9294, rianklong, Bill Strong, jciv, and 118 other people added this photo to their favorites.
iceman9294 (57 months ago | reply)
Love this shot... fine work!
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rianklong (57 months ago | reply)
Wow, that is amazingly beautiful!
williewonker (57 months ago | reply)
Beautiful picture.
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Bill Strong (57 months ago | reply)
Wow, I can almost smell the smoke, steam and oil. Wonderful capture, wonderful colours! I think this photo is a
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Peter Ede (57 months ago | reply)
Fantastic shot Thad
Great HDR
tmorris31 (57 months ago | reply)
I agree, this is definitely a
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ANOXLOU (57 months ago | reply)
bridgepix, always full of surprises
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Bonsailara1 (57 months ago | reply)
Great capture with stunning color saturation!
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reddogphotoworks (57 months ago | reply)
This is a fantastic shot. I love the colors and the composition is beautiful. Nicely done.
THEjdawg (57 months ago | reply)
Man what an awesome shot. Love all that smoke and steam.
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THEjdawg (57 months ago | reply)
You are MY WINNER!
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True Blue. [deleted] (57 months ago | reply)
Brilliant colours Brilliant shot..I saw this in
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Trish Mayo (57 months ago | reply)
Beautiful shot
Definitely a winner!!!
You deserve another one.
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*Michelle*(xena2542)-on/off flickr (57 months ago | reply)
Nicely done! Love the comp
Definitely a winner!!!
You deserve another one.
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dcsaint (57 months ago | reply)
Great HDR shot.
I really like the blue color.
Photo456598 (57 months ago | reply)
Definitely a winner!!!
You deserve another one.
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pericoterrades (57 months ago | reply)
Impresionante
rjt208 (57 months ago | reply)
Superb !
i Aj (57 months ago | reply)
ohoho.... its like a cartoon scene comming alive....
its superbbb....
danr_co (57 months ago | reply)
Nice! This has a great feel to it. Nicely done!
Peter Ellis (57 months ago | reply)
Very beautiful !!
Salva del Saz (57 months ago | reply)
Fantastic shot and great tone mapping!
distantblue (57 months ago | reply)
the hdr make the smoke look great!
seen in my contacts
Robert C. Armstrong (54 months ago | reply)
WOW! Stunning shot.
Priscila Rejane (52 months ago | reply)
Lindíssima cores e foto!
Perfect...
Parabéns!
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Carla Graham (luvtequila2005) (50 months ago | reply)
Beautiful shot! I used to ride that train when I was a kid. A few summers ago, I took my son and daughter there to ride it. What an unbelievable view. Thanks for the historical perspective and the trip down memory lane.
Paul Fenis (49 months ago | reply)
SPLENDIDA FOTO!!!SEI INVITATO A POSTARLA SU:
EXCELLENT PHOTO!!!YOU'RE INVITED ADD TO:
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MaddieBug Photography (48 months ago | reply)
Gorgeous picture!!! Added it to my faves. Awesome!!!
mai.linh (47 months ago | reply)
simply beautiful.
Lady Candy [deleted] (47 months ago | reply)
Awesome view of the trains travel. WoW !!!!
PhotographyBySakura (47 months ago | reply)
You've been memed! I used your photo in a meme over at the My Meme group and invite you to become a member.
oakridge sun (46 months ago | reply)
A step back in time!
Fine picture!
HIZ DOT (45 months ago | reply)
This is a grand shot. I really want to do a weekend here, never been, but gotta go!
caravanbob (44 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Runs On Rails, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
vr6woman (42 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Ride The Rails, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
xandram (40 months ago | reply)
Your photo has been tracked for Excellence.
You are invited to post this photo at
Rail Vignettes
jwcallahan (40 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Symbols of Our Past, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
theodordh (40 months ago | reply)
Hi! I'm admin of a new group called Great Stock Shots
We find your photo greatly suitable to our subject and would love to have it added to the group.
Rodrigo_Soldon (39 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Wonderful photos for the world Pls post 1-comment 3_Contest VOTE, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
alexander navarro (34 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called trenes y rieles, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Xurrycardenas449 (27 months ago | reply)
me encantan las maquinas de vapor, es alucinante
Visit Colorado (24 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Colorado Official , and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Gustav Gullberg (24 months ago | reply)
Awesome picture.
gɛʈ oʉʈ ɵʄ ɱʏ kɨʈcɧɛɴ ϟ (19 months ago | reply)
How did you do that?
Peʞkαs © ♥ back (7 months ago | reply)
My little boy loves this!!! He has a great taste for trains, your photo is awesome!