Day 13, More Georgetown Loop.
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This longer track is four and a half miles, but with a grade of 3½%
acceptable. The choice of a narrow gage for the railway was important. Turns
could be sharper.
As gold and silver ore production diminished, the railroad was ultimately abandoned in 1941 in favor of the automobile. Threatened by the planned interstate 70, the Colorado Historical Society started preservation in 1973. Hence the restored Georgetown loop.
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| Off we go. ‘I think I can, I think I can’ chugs the little
engine. The views are spectacular. We reach Silver Plume, the upper rail
head, then go down grade to the silver mine.
Gold was found around 1859, then silver in 1865. At the peak in the 1870’s there were hundreds of mines. We see mine tailings sliding down the mountainsides, like earth from a mole hill. Brown from iron associated with gold, and grey-black from lead found in conjunction with silver. |
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