Railroads

Railroads. . The first passenger train arrived in this area on June 15, 1888 as part of Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad System at the site of an “old town” that would later become Casper, Wyoming. A depot was built after the tracks were extended from the “old town” at present “A” and McKinley streets, to the area of Center and Collins streets. By 1891, extra cars were added in order to handle the traffic involved with mining ventures on Casper Mountain. The Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley, or locally called Wyoming Central Railroad, extended passenger service on to Shoshoni, Riverton, and Lander by 1906. The line eventually became part of the Chicago and North Western Railroad system. , The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, commonly referred to as Burlington, reached Casper in October, 1913. The link through Wind River Canyon connected its Big Horn Basin line with the lines in southeastern Wyoming. Their depot in Casper was built in 1915. West of Casper, the consolidation of the parallel lines of the North Western and Burlington in 1942-23 made possible the salvage of 30,000 tons of rails for the war effort and the elimination of 87 miles of North Western Tracks. Burlington Northern now has 84.8 miles of track in Natrona County. This railroad has the distinction of being built from west to east in Natrona County.