Georgetown Loop Railroad - Railfan Travel

Quick Facts

Railroad Name	Georgetown Loop Railroad
Website	https://www.georgetownlooprr.com/
Train ride	Narrow gauge steam or diesel pulled train over portion of historic line between Georgetown and Silver Plum
Location	Georgetown Station: 646 Loop Dr. Georgetown, CO 80444 Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/GbUyv8acTky2Jfw78 Silver Plume Station: 825 Railroad Avenue, Silver Plume, CO 80476 Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/wFTg2xCT2novbRue7
Length of trip	4.5 mile by rail, about an hour and 15 minute round trip
Cost of single ticket	$34.95
Special Trains	Mother’s Day Father’s Day Holiday trains Fall color trains Pumpkin Fest

Information

The Georgetown Loop Railroad is a 3 feet narrow gauge heritage railway located in the Rocky Mountains in Clear Creek Area, beside Interstate 70 in Colorado.

Website: https://www.georgetownlooprr.com/

This tourist train runs in between the communities of Georgetown and also Silver Plume, a distance of 2 miles. The route is 4.5 miles long and ascends an elevation of 640 feet through mountainous surface together with trestles, cuts, fills, as well as a grand loop.

The railroad is situated near I-70, with Silver Plume Depot sitting beside the eastbound on-ramp. Simply east of Silver Plume on I-70 there is a parking lot named Georgetown Loop Overlook providing scenic views to drivers. The Clear Creek Greenway Trail access road links Silver Plume Depot, Georgetown Loop Overlook, and the Devil’s Gate Station near Georgetown. This path comes to walkers and also bicyclists.

History

The Georgetown Loop Railroad was one of Colorado’s first visitor attractions. This incredible stretch of 3 ft narrow gauge railway, built by the Georgetown, Breckenridge and Leadville Railway, was completed in 1884 as well as thought about a design wonder for its time. The thriving mining towns of Georgetown and Silver Plume exist 2 miles apart in the high, slim canyon of Clear Creek in the Rocky Mountains west of Denver. Designers designed a corkscrew route that took a trip virtually twice that distance to attach them, gradually acquiring greater than 600 feet in elevation. The route consisted of horseshoe curves, grades of up to 4%, and four bridges across Clear Creek, including the large Devil’s Gate High Bridge.

The Georgetown, Breckenridge, and Leadville Railroad had actually been formed in 1881 under the Union Pacific Railroad. The Loop part of the line was the crowning section of the line, crossing the top of the gorge on a 95-foot high trestle.

Initially part of the larger line of the Colorado Central Railroad created in the 1870s as well as 1880s, in the wake of the Colorado Gold Rush, this line was additionally used thoroughly during the silver boom of the 1880s to haul silver ore from the mines at Silver Plume. In 1893, the Colorado and Southern Railway took over the line and operated it for guests and also freight up until 1938.

The line was taken apart in 1939, however was brought back in the 1980s to run during summer season as a tourist railroad, hauling guests using historical 3 ft slim scale heavy steam locomotives.

Between 1906 as well as 1918, the Georgetown Loop connected with the Argentine Central Railway in Silver Plume, by which visitors can proceed onward to the top of Mount McClellan. Prior to 1916, the Argentine Central likewise offered several large silver mines on the east side of Argentine Pass.

Notable Roster

Locomotive	Type	Builder	Notes
40	2-8-0	Baldwin Locomotive Works	Originally built for International Railway of Central America, in El Salvador, then served at Central City, CO, then Skagway, AK, then the Georgetown Loop RR, then the Colorado Railroad Museum. Taken out of service in 2013. It was returned to the Georgetown Loop RR in 2017 and returned to operation in 2019.
111	2-8-0	Baldwin Locomotive Works	Originally built for built for International Railway of Central America in El Salvador, then the Sundown & Southern Railroad, then Boreas Pass Road, Breckenridge, then Uhrich Strasburg. Acquired in trade for C&S 9 in September 2006. Restored to operation in 2016
12	2-6-2	Baldwin Locomotive Works	From Hawaii, then the C&TS, then Mt. Pleasant, IA, then Silverwood amusement park, Athol, ID, then Georgetown, CO. Loaned to the Midwest Central Railroad from 2012 to 2019. Returned from the MCRR and placed on temporary display in Silver Plume, CO in 2019.