Railroad History
The PB&CFRR is located in the US state of Colorado, to the south and west of the state capital Denver. It connects Denver with the towns of Pine Bluffs, Ceda Falls, Colorado Springs, Florence and Caņon City. The area is in the front range of the Rocky Mountains which means spectacular rivers, creeks, canyons, pine and aspen forests and lots of natural resources.
History
The PB&CFRR was formed in 1879 by Angus Campbell as a means to transport Campbell Lumber Co. products to Denver and the expanding west. Campbell saw any benefits to the locality as purely secondary to his business activites. That was until the narrow gauge Cripple Creek RR and, its standard gauge rival, Colorado Central got into financial trouble in the late 1880's. Some of the promoters of the PB&CFRR thought it would be an excellent proposition to provide the Denver & Rio Grande Western with a little competition by providing an alternative route to the DRGW/Union Pacific/Santa Fe mainline from Peublo via Colorado Springs to Denver, also linking in some promising new industries along the way.
Much against Campbell's better judgement (Campbell was a canny Scots immigrant) the PB&CFRR snapped up the crippled Cripple Creek and the Colorado Central then built north from Ceda Falls through rugged country down the South Platte Valley to meet with the original Campbell owned line and the independant Rainbow Valley logging line at Pine Bluffs.
Completed in 1897 receipts were promising for the first few years, but by the 1930's the ledgers had all turned red as it couldn't compete due to the steeper grades and sharper curves. During this time the narrow gauge operations over the dual gauge track from Cripple Creek to Caņon City were abandoned. Although the third rail was left in place most of the narrow gauge equipment was sold off to cover debts.
WW2 saw a change in fortunes with many of the mines being reopened and new lumber operations starting up as well as troop trains and munitions to the large military reserve east of Florence. The lumber mill at the head of Beaver Creek was expanded during this time, as were those of the Starwood Lumber Co along the Rainbow Valley RR. The Red Dot Mining Co. also opened several new ore mines all with rail connection.
Today
Today, May 1956, the PB&CFRR is a moderately prosperous regional line, with Angus Campbell III (old man Campbell's grandson) at the helm. Sure, passenger traffic is not what it once was; only one passenger train the Caņon City Bullet runs daily (except Sundays), usually behind a leased Geep or Cab unit, since the line's two pacifics are in the shops (probably permanently). The line is also trying out some Budd RDCs and a GE "doodlebug" gas-electric railcar on lease . Freight traffic remains healthy, however, as road improvements that have done for other regional carriers elsewhere in the USA have yet to happen in Colorado.
The line is currently short of its own motive power, having retired much of its ageing steam fleet and has looked far and wide for cheap lease agreements and second hand bargains (you'll find some pretty interesting paint schemes on display). Only the Rainbow Valley has plenty of motive power with an brand new GP9, as well as several geared logging engines. Occasionally you might also see some heavy Rio Grande, Santa Fe or UP bridge traffic if there's been a wreck on the mainline.
See also:
Location map - the area that gave birth to the legend
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Railroad History
The railroad has a rich and varied history, all the way back to its founder, Angus Campbell
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Location Map
See the area that gave birth to the legend
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Meet the Locals
Pine Bluffs has a number of unique residents and places
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10 cent tour
Get the full tour, from the Pine Bluffs depot to Sanford & Sons scrapyard
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Pine Bluffs Gazette
The gazette is the newspaper of Pine Bluffs and the surrounding area, and covers sports fixture to ufo sightings |
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