Colorado Midland Railway - A Short History

On November 23, 1883, Articles of Incorporation for the Colorado Midland Railway Company were filed in the office of Colorado's Secretary of State. The incorporation papers provided that:

First: The corporation name of said company is the Colorado Midland Railway Company.

Second: The object of said company is to locate, construct, operate and maintain a railway and telegraph line from the City of Colorado Springs in El Paso County through the Ute Pass into South Park and by the most eligible route to Salida and Leadville.

Third: The capital stock of the Company shall be $500,000, to be divided into 5,000 shares at $100 a share.

During the following two years the company existed only on paper. Money, the essential element needed, was constantly on the thoughts of Homer D. Fischer and his associates during that time period. The first amendment to the Articles of Incorporation, filed April 2, 1884, provided that the Midland could also build a branch to Fairplay and Alma and the "mining districts adjacent to". Amended again on October 7, 1884 to

...Locate, construct, operate and maintain a railway and telegraph line from Leadville, Lake County, Colorado by the most eligible route to Aspen, Pitkin County, Colorado, and through Pitkin, Eagle, Gargield and Mesa counties to the western border of the State of Colorado with such branches as may be deemed necessary.

In June, 1885, the Midland directorate elected James J. Hagerman president. He went to work to get the railroad off paper and onto solid, standard gauge roadbed. Hagerman first planned the construction of the Colorado Midland westward out of Colorado Springs. Based on the lack of available funds, it was decided to build the Glenwood Springs-Aspen-Leadville section first, and start hauling Aspen ore and Glenwood Springs coke and coal to Leadville. The revenues earned from this division would be utilized to finance the Colorado Springs-Leadville link and then on to Salt Lake City.

The idea of standard gauge competition thoroughly alarmed Denver and Rio Grande and the Union Pacific. Since the Midland would be totally dependent on them to bring construction materials to Leadville, they decided to prevent construction by doubling the rate for rail delivered to Leadville from $1.00 per 100 pounds to $2.00 per 100 pounds. This action so infuriated Hagerman that he gathered a group of eastern financial backers, themselves angered by the Union Pacific-Rio Grande extortion, and raised the money necessary to commence work on the Colorado Springs to Leadville, Glenwood Springs and Aspen trackage. Once completed, the road would push westward towards Salt Lake City.

On July 1, 1885 a construction company was incorporated under Colorado law as the Colorado Midland Construction Company to:

Construct and equip those portions of the railway and telegraph line of the Colorado Midland Railway Company lying between the City of Colorado Springs and the City of Leadville, and between the City of Leadville and the mouth of Elk Creek on the Grand River, and between a point near the confluence of the Roaring Fork and Frying Pan Rivers to the City of Aspen, also to procure rights of way, depot grounds and other necessary lands, also to erect depot buildings, machine shops, roundhouses and other buildings therefor, and do all acts pertaining to locating, constructing, equipping and furnishing of said line of railway and telegraph between said points.

The first construction contract was let April 5, 1886 to Orman, Crook & Company of Pueblo, Colorado and S.P. Meyer of Louisville, Kentucky. By mid-June, over a thousand men were at work hacking a grade out of the rocky flanks of Hagerman Pass, and boring over 2,000 feet of tunnel under the Continental Divide. This work was still under the mercy of the Rio Grande and South Park freight rates, so immediate action was taken to start work on the Eastern Division.


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