Georgetown Loop Railroad, Georgetown, Colorado
Bridgepixing the Georgetown Loop Railroad as the Train crosses the Devil's Gate Viaduct, Georgetown, Colorado. Additional Bridge Photos and a Bridge Blog at www.Bridgepix.com.
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
CodyR, Andrew.O, yewenyi, *Firefox, and 81 other people added this photo to their favorites.
KaCey97007 (69 months ago | reply)
Nice old train with snow catcher instead of a cowcatcher. Good shot!!
CodyR (69 months ago | reply)
very cool pic. faved.
*Firefox (69 months ago | reply)
Excellent shot... love it! Instant fav
pericoterrades (69 months ago | reply)
Impresionante
Apryl Wiese (69 months ago | reply)
Just beautiful, you certainly thought about getting the right shot here. I love it!! (cool outdoor pics)
Linda W. (69 months ago | reply)
I love this area. And you sure captured a beautiful shot here
Portuguese_eyes (69 months ago | reply)
Impressive!
snappED_up (69 months ago | reply)
Nicely taken...lucky you live close to such scenic areas.....
Try mapping these on Google earth with Flickr's link, would like to see where they are taken from.... :D
kulkuri (69 months ago | reply)
Great shot!
Peter Ellis (65 months ago | reply)
Wow! So awesome!
alias65 (65 months ago | reply)
fantastic!
66 SHELBY (62 months ago | reply)
Lovely shot brings back memories of our visit there about 12 years ago. It was the first day of the new season late May if I recall and there was still snow on the ground, wish I'd got a shot like this one.
kenmojr (62 months ago | reply)
Truly awesome......
Michael Erhardsson (56 months ago | reply)
Wonderful capture!
Just Back (56 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called MOVING trains, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
Seeing It Through My Eyes [deleted] (53 months ago | reply)
Great train, looks like its in top condition too.
bibizu (52 months ago | reply)
Beautiful shot
Khun Shaun (ชอร์น) (52 months ago | reply)
Hello. I am an administrator of the group Travel on 5 Photos a Day
and would like to invite you to add this great picture.
Please tag photos with "5PhotosaDay".
Adam Grim (50 months ago | reply)
Beautiful job!! Great comp and angle!!
AreKev (48 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Photo Book, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Toni_V (45 months ago | reply)
amazing!!
Frenkieb (45 months ago | reply)
I was there three weeks ago and was really disappointed. Instead of this beautiful locomotive we had a really stupid one. So at that moment it felt as a real tourist trap.
† B.H.B. PHOTOGRAPHY † (44 months ago | reply)
Awesome shot!!!!
zgillougley (44 months ago | reply)
nice shot :)
i pass this place every year when traviling up to summit county to go ski and i have never seen the train out but always the rail road
AreKev (43 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Not Another Flickr Group, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Jerry Lee Que IV [deleted] (40 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Trains, Rails and Railroad Equipment, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
theodordh (39 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Great stock shots, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Michelleyyy (36 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Geography of Photography - Post:Comment 1:1 - No Limit, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Rocky Pix (36 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Colorado Railroad Museum, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Rocky Pix (36 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Real West, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Kurt Modler (36 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called La Belle Epoque ca.1890 - ca.1914 incl. ArtDeco and ArtNouveau, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
**Ms Judi**♥ (35 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Railroad Gallery, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
wow.. LOVE this!!!!!
please join us!
Outrageous Images (31 months ago | reply)
This Fall I took some photos of this locomotive in Palisade, Colorado. It has been taken out of service at Georgetown and is being turned into a museum piece.The boiler and other working parts were too worn out to be restored but at least it will remain in Colorado. I was told that when it was operating in Georgetown it was the oldest working steam locomotive in Colorado. It was constructed in the 1880's. #9 is a narrow gauge locomotive that was used in various mining locations around Colorado. If you have anymore information about #9 or corrections to what I have written here feel free to comment.
tmst23 (29 months ago | reply)
Makes me miss Durango. Great shot!
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Picture Colorado, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
The sixt day (27 months ago | reply)
Te invito a agregar tu foto a:
Please add your photo to:
Medios de transporte – Means of transport (post 1 - comment 3)
The sixt day (27 months ago | reply)
You are invited to join The Machines
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!
Sivedran (19 months ago | reply)
Magnific one, my compliments !!
Peʞkαs © ♥ back (7 months ago | reply)
My little boy loves this!!! He has a great taste for trains, your photo is awesome!