The
Denver, South Park, and Pacific Railroad was a historic
narrow gauge railway that operated in
Colorado in the western
United States in the late 19th century. The railroad opened up the first rail routes to a large section of the central
Colorado mining district in the decades of the mineral boom. The railroad took its name from the fact that its main line from
Denver ascended the
Platte Canyon and traversed
South Park. The company operated as an independent railroad from its founding in 1872 until it was sold in foreclosure proceedings to the Denver Leadville & Gunnison RR in 1889.Its lines later became part of the
Colorado and Southern Railway. The last train to run the old DSP&P was from Como, Colorado on April 11th 1937. In the first half of the 20th century, nearly all the company's original lines were dismantled or converted into standard gauge. A section of the standard gauge line between
Leadville and
Climax is operated as a passenger excursion railroad called the
Leadville, Colorado and Southern Railroad. <!-- MFA: They would achieve about of narrow gauge line, along with building the
Alpine Tunnel, the highest and most costly tunnel built up to that time. -->
Description of lines
The company's main line was gauge and went from
Union Station in Denver up the valley of the
South Platte River to the town of
South Platte, then followed the North Fork of the South Platte through
Buffalo Creek and
Bailey. West of Bailey the route along North Fork and...
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