Re: Central City Railroad

We did talk about this here several times before, but here is a quick run down. In 1968, Lindsey Ashby started the Colorado central Narrow Gauge Railroad. It ran from Central City about 1 1/4 miles down the original ROW. At the end of the line was where a trestle used to be. The railroad stopped there until the trestle could be rebuilt. The plan was to go all the way to Black Hawk. In 1974, Lindsey purchased Shay 14 to be able to bypass the trestle with a sharp curve. The shay and the "gondola' passenger cars could do it. By the this time Lindsey had started things happening in Silver Plume. 1976 was the first full year that both railroads operated. Things went so well at the loop, that the bypass of the trestle in Central City was put on hold. In 1981 it was decided to abandon the line in Central City and concentrate on the Loop. The equipment and rails were removed in the fall of 1981 and taken to Silver Plume. In 1984, a group tried to open the Central City line again. It did operate for a short time using the C&S equipment. Due to mismanagement, the line soon shut down.

Jerry