Silverton Railroad


The Silverton Railroad, now defunct, was an American narrow gauge railroad constructed between Silverton, Colorado and mining districts near Red Mountain Pass, Colorado.
The Silverton Railroad is remembered for the innovative solutions to difficult engineering problems presented by the steep, mountainous terrain which were devised by the railroad's chief locating engineer, Charles Wingate Gibbs – the Chattanooga Loop, the depot in a wye at Red Mountain, and a covered turntable on the main track at Corkscrew Gulch – and for the unusual and expensive annual passes presented by the owner, Otto Mears.
The Silverton Railroad was the first of several railroad projects by Otto Mears, the famed "Pathfinder of the San Juans". Construction of the line began in 1887 and reached Burro Bridge by early November, when work was halted for the winter. The route followed a survey made by the Denver & Rio Grande up Mineral Creek to climb Red Mountain Pass to reach the incredibly rich mining district around Red Mountain Town. Construction resumed and service began the following year, and the line reached Ironton in November. The line reached its greatest extent in September 1889 with the completion from Ironton of a spur to a mill at Albany.
In 1889, surveying and grading was begun on a branch up the upper Animas River to Eureka. This project became the beginning on the Silverton Northern Railroad.
A line was proposed to connect Ironton with Ouray in 1892 which would have been electric-powered and used a rack-and-pinion system to overcome the steep grades of 7%, but the Silver Crash of 1893 prevented further construction. The railroad struggled through market and weather difficulties, was ordered into receivership in 1898 and was sold under foreclosure in 1904. It was reorganized as the Silverton Railroad Company, but was never very successful, and was finally dismantled in 1926.