*Note, this talk was given for the Montrose Recreation Center, 50+ Lecture Series, at the Montrose Pavilion Oct. 23, 2023. A more detailed presentation was given at the Montrose Forum on December 6, 2023. A printable FAQ sheet follows the article.
[Montrose Mirror | October 30, 2023 | By Kate Burke]
Three narrow gauge railroads steamed north from Silverton in the 1800s: The Silverton Railroad to Mining districts near Red Mountain Pass, 1887; The Silverton Northerly to Animas Forks, 1888; The Silverton Gladstone and Northerly Railroad (SN’s Gladstone branch), 1889.
Otto Mears built—or had a financial interest in—all of three. Having earlier established regional freighting services, Mears, an entrepreneurial Russian immigrant with business dealings in the area, constructed more than 450 miles of toll roads, then owned and/or operated four railway lines to serve the San Juan Mountains mining districts. He became known as the Pathfinder of the San Juans.
The Silverton Railroad
Mears’ first railroad, The Silverton Railroad, connected Silverton (in San Juan County) to Albany (6 miles south of Ouray in Ouray Count) summiting the 11,111 ft Red Mountain Pass. Three little locomotives (two 2-8-0 Baldwins and one Lima Shay) pulled their trains on 3’ wide “narrow gauge” rails. Limited to just two cars in the most difficult terrain, the trains, sometimes making multiple stops per day, supplied the more than 40 mines in the (appx) 8-square-mile Red Mountain Mining District and serving up to (an estimated)10,000 people who lived and worked there.
On a map, the proposed 21.5 mile route seemed simple. But a map is flat. The mountainous terrain it depicted, with steep grades, and nearly inaccessible in some places, was not. Meanwhile, the mines were booming. Demand for their output was voracious. The need for speed was absolute.
Figuring out how to build a railroad through the mining districts called for clever engineering feats. Securing the necessary real estate and finding solutions to circumnavigate the geological conundrums within it fell to Charles Wingate Gibbs, the railroads’ chief locating engineer. Gibbs devised three innovative solutions to what at first seemed insurmountable odds. What goes up has to come down, and how do you do that where there is no place to turn a train around?
With no need for pesky permits, lengthy, contentious government meetings, and politically motivated approvals, The Silverton Railroad was quickly incorporated, began construction in 1887, and was completed in just a little over two years! Can you imagine trying to accomplish that today?
Gibbs’ engineering ingenuity conquered three major obstacles: a 5% grade horseshoe loop at Chattanooga, 7 miles north of Silverton; limited level space and hard rock at Red Mountain Town midpoint on the line; a switchback at the Corkscrew Gulch near Guston in Ouray County, where there was no place to accommodate either.
The Chattanooga Loop
Silverton Railroad horseshoe curve above Chattanooga, Colo. Legends of America. Public Domain.
Gibbs’ 1st engineering feat was The Chattanooga Loop. He designed a 550-foot rise in the line over a quarter-mile straight-line distance by a detour from Mineral Creek up Mill Creek gulch, within a 30-degree (194-foot radius) curve looping 200 degrees at the end, and returning to Mineral Creek, all on a 5-percent grade.
Chattanooga Loop today. Hwy 550 (The Million Dollar Highway) covers the old railroad grade. To the north, Red Mountain Pass and Ouray County. Silverton is to the south. Composite photograph.
Highway 550 (sans guardrails) follows that route today. Locals and freight-hauling truckers know it and treat it with respect. Tourists marvel at it and call it breathtakingly amazing.
Red Mountain Wye
Gibbs’ 2nd engineering feat was the Red Mountain Wye. Midpoint on the line, Red Mountain Town served the high-producing National Belle on the “knob” above town and other nearby mines. Now a ghost town, it was situated between two steep sloping hillsides, and the rocky ground was too hard for excavation.
Red Mountain Wye (red arrow, left of station house). Outhouse in front of depot. National Belle Mine on the “Knob” above town. The old jail, above the mens’ heads, is the only building that survived in the now-ghost town. Public Domain, from the Denver Library Western History Collection.
Gibbs’ solution was a wye to turn the trains. Wyes are common on railroads, but this one was unique. The arms of the wye were only 150 feet long. Thus, they could accommodate only a locomotive and two cars.
Red Mountain Station. Transferring passengers from the train to stagecoach to continue the journey to Ouray. Otto Mears is standing on the far right. Photo now public domain, and courtesy Ouray County Historical Society.
Gibbs placed the station house on the only remaining flat area, in the center of the wye. It was constructed on pilings above two converging streams. A wooden walkway to the outhouse was on one tail of the wye. Imagine a woman in long skirts and and petticoats, feet encased in little leather ankle boots, hurriedly answering a nature call, traipsing that narrow walkway in deep snow and ice without falling into the creek below.
Corkscrew Turntable
Gibbs’ 3rd engineering feat was the Corkscrew Turntable. His solution there was a covered turntable on the main track at the head of Corkscrew Gulch (where there was no room for either a balloon loop or a wye). Gibbs placed the turntable at the junction of the lower and upper arms of the switchback.
Two levels of track approaching Corkscrew Gulch. Heading south, right side of picture. Engine #100 pulling train north from Red Mountain Town, left side of picture. C.W. Gibbs photo. Public Domain.
This allowed the locomotive to work downgrade of ore cars for safety and efficiency. The 50-foot turntable was big enough only for the locomotive, and the cars were fed through by gravity in both directions. The turntable was covered with a snowshed to allow operations as deep into winter as possible.
Turntable is covered with snowshed to allow operations as deep into winter as possibe. William Henry Jackson photo, now Public Domain.
The Corkscrew Gulch Turntable is presumed to be the only turntable ever constructed on the main line of a U.S. railroad. Almost nothing is left today, but the location is popular with hikers and railfans hoping to see and photograph remnants of the district’s rich mining heritage.
Rainbow Route
Engine #100, the Ouray, at Red Mountain Pass. Otto Mears is standing in front of the train (white arrow). Courtesy San Juan County Historical Society, now Public Domain.
The Silverton Railroad was also known as the Red Mountain Train and the “Rainbow Route.” The latter term was probably coined by Mears’ friend, David F. Day, publisher of the Solid Muldoon in Ouray. The first locomotive to run on the line was designated #101, the Ouray.
Today, the Rainbow Route is also part of the Million Dollar Highway between Silverton and Ouray, which now includes the steepest, and most difficult, part of the road between Ironton and Ouray, the 6 miles that Mears’ railroad never conquered. The entire route is a white-knuckle ride with steep drop-offs and prone to rockslides and avalanche. Some locals still refuse to drive it, and tourists and truckers have been known to turn around at Bear Creek and look for another route south.
Kate Burke’s History Series includes regional, live ppt presentations and stories in the Montrose Mirror .
FAQS (printable PDF file)
Silverton Train / Red Mountain Train / Rainbow Route
When did the FIRST railroad arrive in Silverton? Where did it come from?
1881, Denver & Rio Grande from Durango.
How many narrow-gauge railroads ran OUT of Silverton?
When? Where did they go? What distance?
1. D&RG. to Durango. 1881. 45.2 mi.
2. Silverton Railroad over Red Mtn to Ouray’s Albany Mill. 1887. 21.5 mi.
3. Silverton Northern. Animas Forks. 1889. 13.8 mi.
4. SG&N. Silverton, Gladstone & Northerly. 1899. 7.5 mi.
What were the other 2 ‘feeder’ connecting railroads?
1. D&RGW. Denver & Rio Grande Western. Montrose-Ridgway-Ouray. From Ridgway, it connected to the D&RGS that looped around to end up in Durango. 35.9 mi.
2. D&RGS. Denver & Rio Grande Southern, from Ridgway, southwest past Telluride via Lizard Head Pass, and Rico; then southeast through Mancos to Durango, where it connected to the D&RG. 161.8 mi. Completed (working from both ends) in 1889.
Which Line was called the Rainbow Route?
The Silverton Railroad.
Where did the name come from?
1. Supposedly coined by Daniel Day, Mears’ friend and owner of one of Ouray’s two newspapers.
2. May have originated from a businessmen’s discussion about fishing for rainbow trout.
3. A more romantic version says the railroad arched across the steep Red Mountain Divide like a rainbow in the sky as it reached forward to a pot of gold.
What counties (territories) were served by the narrow-gauge lines (and later, the Skyway)
1. La Plata 2. San Juan 3. Ouray 4. San Miguel (5. Montezuma 6. Dolores)
Which of the four narrow gauge lines was also called the Red Mountain Railroad? And why?
SRR. Because it ran over Red Mountain Pass and through the Red Mountain mining district. The name was never official.
What was the Red Mountain Mining District, and why was it important?
While it boomed (appx.1880-1893), it was one of the richest and most productive in the world, second only to Leadville in Colorado. It produced over 30 million in silver, lead, zinc, copper and gold (about a quarter billion in today’s dollars), shipping 20,000-25,000 tons of ore out and 15,000 tons of coal and materials into the mines.
Did it run year ‘round?
No. Due to harsh winters, the line did not operate from February to mid-May.
Where was the Red Mountain Mining District and how big was it?
1. Between Silverton and Ouray, encompassing Red Mountain Pass.
2. Approximately 8 square miles.
3. Over 40 mines and up to 10,000 people living and working there at its peak.
4. The district included 7 mining towns: Albany, Guston, Ironton, and Red Mountain Town (Rogersville) in Ouray County; Sweetville, Chattanooga and Red Mountain City (Congress) in San Juan County. Towns followed the ore strikes and were often temporary. Sprang up, then moved, everything hauled by wagons. See map.
What and where is Red Mountain? How does it get its name?
There are 3 Red Mountains, all south of Ouray. #1, at 12,900 ft., is the location of Red Mountain Town. Numbers 2 and 3 are over 12,000 ft. All get their name from reddish iron ore on the surface.
What is Narrow Gauge?
1. The term refers to width of the railroad tracks. Standard gauge is 4.8 ½ feet wide.
2. Narrow gauge is only 3’wide to accommodate tight curves, narrow passages, and steep inclines, normally no more than 4%, but the SRR had to negotiate some at over 5%,
Who built, owned, operated, or had a financial interest in the Narrow Gauge railroads connected to Silverton?
Otto Mears, “Pathfinder of the San Juans.”
What were the 3 primary challenges of building the SRR and who solved them?
Charles W. Gibbs, experienced railroad engineer, designed three ingenious solutions to navigate steep, mountainous terrain and turn trains where there were no flat areas to accommodate them.
1. The Chattooga Loop – steep inclines and curves over 30 deg. near town of Chattanooga. 10.262 ft
2. Red Mountain Wye – depot, locomotive & 2 cars in a wye at Red Mountain Town at 10,910 ft.
3. Corkscrew Gulch – 50’ covered turntable on main track at Corkscrew Gulch. 5% grade, 12,244 ft.
Is the Rainbow Route the same thing as the Million Dollar Highway?
It is a part of it. The Million Dollar Highway is a paved highway between Ouray and Durango. It includes the SRR route plus the section between Ouray and Ironton that never had rails, only a wagon road.
Who built the Million Dollar Highway? What is it? When was it built?
1. CDOT. The Colorado Department of Transportation built the paved highway in the 1920s.
2. It encompasses the roadbed of the Silverton Railroad and Otto Mears’ original wagon toll road connecting Ouray and Silverton.
3. Continuing south to Durango, the highway parallels the old D&RG south, which is now the D&SNG Durango & Silverton NG RR tourist train.
Why was it called the Million Dollar Highway?
1. One legend states that the road was built using a million dollars’ worth of gold and silver tailings.
2. Another story is that the nickname originates from an exhausted traveler who proclaimed: “I would not travel that road again for a million dollars!”
3. The true reason is probably because it cost a puported Million Dollars to build.
Is the Million Dollar Highway (with Rainbow Route) the same thing as the San Juan Skyway?
1. No. But it is a section of it.
2. The San Juan Skyway Scenic and Historic Byway is a 236-mile All-American Road, National Forest Scenic Byway, and Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway located in Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma, San Juan, and San Miguel counties, Colorado. (See map.)
Is the Million Dollar Highway (with Rainbow Route) the same thing as the Alpine Loop?
No. The Alpine Loop is 63 mi of unpaved 4x drives over steep mountain passes connecting Ouray, Silverton, and Lake City.
References and Resources
Books
Crum, Josie Moore. (1960) Rails Among the Peaks Three Little Lines-Silverton Railroad; Gladstone and Northerly Railroad, Silverton Northern Railroad. The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society.
Fielder, John and Noel, Thomas; Colorado, 1870-2000, Revisited: The History Behind the Images, John Fielder Publishing, 2001.
Nossaman, Allen. (1989). Many More Mountains. VOL. 1: Silverton’s Roots. Sundance Publications. ISBN 9780913582572
Nossaman, Allen. (1993). Many More Mountains. VOL 2: Ruts Into Silverton. Sundance Publications. ISBN 10: 0913582573
Nossaman, Allen. (1998). Many More Mountains. VOL 3: Rails Into Silverton. Sundance Publications. ISBN 9780913582640
Osterwald, Doris B. (2001). Cinders & Smoke: A Mile by Mile Guide for the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Western Guideways. p. 80. ISBN 9780931788802.
Sloan, Robert E., and Carl A. Skowronski (1975). The Rainbow Route: An Illustrated History. Denver: Sundance Limited. ISBN 0913582123.
Stone, Wilbur Fiske (1918). History of Colorado. S.J. Clarke. Retrieved 20 April 2009. silverton railroad.
Strong, William K. (1988). The Remarkable Railroad Passes of Otto Mears. Silverton, Colorado: San Juan County Book Company. ISBN 0-9608000-6-9.
Wilkins, Tivis E. (Tiv) (1974). Colorado Railroads: Chronological Development. Boulder, Colorado: Pruett Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87108-073-7.
Magazine & Newspaper Articles
“Corkscrew Gulch Turntable, 1899” Durango Herald. Staff article.
https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/photo-corkscrew-gulch-turntable-1899
“Hardrock History, A Tale of Booms & Busts.” By Scott Fetchenhier, Silverton Magazine (2010). San Juan Publishing Group, Inc.
https://www.sanjuanpub.com/silverton-magazine/silvertons-mining-heritage-museum/
“ Legendary places: Corkscrew Gulch Turntable, Classic Trains Magazine. (Dec. 15, 2012). Posted by gbrewer https://cs.trains.com/
“Otto Mears, Pathfinder of the San Juans” by Beverly Rich. Silverton Magazine (2010).
https://www.sanjuanpub.com/silverton-magazine/otto-mears/
“Silverton’s 4 Railroads” by Beverly Rich. Silverton Magazine (2010). San Juan Publishing.
https://www.sanjuanpub.com/silverton-magazine/silvertons-4-railroads/
“The Narrow Gauge Circle: A thousand miles by rail through the Rocky Mountains!” https://www.narrowgauge.org/
Website written, maintained, and hosted by Mark L.Evans.
“The Silverton Train” by James Burke, Silverton Magazine (2010) San Juan Publishing
Websites
“The Silverton Railroad of the San Juan Mountains.” Legends of America.
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/silverton-railroad
Uncover Colorado, Ghost towns
https://www.uncovercolorado.com/ghost-towns
Western History Collection, Denver Public Library
https://digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection
Western Mining History. Mining Towns, Mines.
https://westernmininghistory.com/towns/colorado
“The Silverton Railroad…the Rainbow Route.” The Narrow Gauge Circle. Hosted by Mark L Evans.
https://www.narrowgauge.org/
Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis Collage
https://swcenter.fortlewis.edu
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1893
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Mountain_Pass_(San_Juan_Mountains)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Grande_Southern_Railroad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Silver_Purchase_Act
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