Colorado Midland Cafky W10A

Classic and definitive history of the Colorado Midland Railway, this book is widely considered the best one on this mountain link in the transcontinental system. With 5 maps in rear pocket (Colorado Midland Railway system map, the Leadville Mining District in 1905, Aspen and vicinity, East and West approaches to Hagerman Pass, and a map/profile/railroad chart of the Colorado Midland Railway). Illustrated throughout with black and white photos. There are also 4 full color page sized illustrations by Howard Fogg and Philip Ronfor that are overlaid with a translucent sheet featuring embossed webs and spiders, an emblem of the Ute Indians who are natives of the area. The railroad was a link in the transcontinental system, an example of spectacular engineering, and rail buffs love it. The Colorado Midland went out of business in 1921 and, at the time, constituted one of the largest business enterprises in the State of Colorado. It had less than 350 miles of track when it was abandoned, and only 63 locomotives remained on its roster. By rights this railway company should have been long forgotten, yet the opposite has occurred. Thanks to its incredible career, the spectacular Rocky Mountain topography it traversed, the very great difficulties of operation, and because it represented the largest abandonment then recorded in American railroad history, it is still studied and loved. (Wynar 6600. “A lost cause of impressive dimensions.”) 467 pages.

W 10A