All Aboard
Promoters called this the "Scenic Line of the World" to entice travelers to see western Colorado by rail. The Denver & Rio Grande guidebook Around the Circle invited readers to join the trip: "Unlike many of the Colorado canyons, the scenery in this one is kaleidoscopic, ever changing. Here the train glides along the close, exalted walls."
British author Rudyard Kipling found this train ride through the canyon less than sublime: "...we entered the gorge, remote from the sun, where the rocks were 2,000 feet sheer... There was a glory and a wonder and a mystery about that mad ride which I felt keenly, until I had to offer prayers for the safety of the train."
[Photo captions, left to right, read]
Engine 361 pulls one of the last trains through Black Canyon in 1949.
In 1895 this Pratt truss bridge replaced the first wooden bridge over the Cimarron River. It made for a safer descent into the canyon.
Erected by National Park Service.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Bridges & Viaducts • Environment • Railroads & Streetcars • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1949.
Location. 38° 27.095′ N,
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in the Western Slope. It is also in the American Mountain West, on the Colorado Plateau, and at the Four Corners. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Mexicos Alta California.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 11 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: From Mountain to Table (approx. 0.6 miles away); Geography Sets the Stage (approx. 0.7 miles away); Narrow Path to Prosperity (approx. 0.7 miles away); Working on the Railroad (approx. 0.7 miles away); Building a Dam (approx. 7½ miles away); Light at the End of the Tunnel (approx. 7½ miles away); Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (approx. 10.1 miles away); Pegmatite Dikes (approx.
Also see . . .
1. Cimarron Canyon Rail Exhibit. National Parks Service: Curecanti National Recreation Area, Colorado entry (Submitted on October 29, 2020, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)
2. Narrow Gauge Railroad. National Park Service: Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park, Colorado entry (Submitted on October 29, 2020, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)
Credits. This page was last revised on January 27, 2021. It was originally submitted on October 29, 2020, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 422 times since then and 58 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on October 29, 2020, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
