Denver and Intermountain Railroad

Last updated

The Denver and Intermountain Railroad was an interurban railway that operated 18 miles (29 km) between Denver and Golden, Colorado. [1] Originating as a steam railroad, the Denver, Lakewood and Golden, the line was opened in 1891 and had built an electrified spur leading into downtown by 1893. [2] The company went into receivership and was acquired by the Denver & Inter-Mountain Railway in 1904, changing to simply the Intermountain in 1907 before finally settling on Denver & Intermountain Railroad (D&IM) in 1910. The line was fully electrified at 11,000 volts alternating current in 1909, allowing direct trains to run on city streets to downtown Denver's Interurban Loop. [3] The company was acquired by Denver Tramway the following year, becoming Route 84 in the system. [2] Service ended in 1950 – electrical infrastructure was maintained until 1953 and ownership of the line passed to Associated Railroads, maintained the line for freight as far as Denver Federal Center. The right of way was acquired by Regional Transportation District in the 1990s and rehabilitated to form part of the W Line light rail.

Car No. 25

Denver and Intermountain Railroad Interurban No. 25
Denver and Intermountain Railroad Interurban No. 25.JPG
Location Denver Federal Center
West 6th Avenue & Kipling Street
Lakewood, Colorado
Built1911 (1911)
Built byWoeber Car Company
NRHP reference No. 11001016 [4] [2]
Added to NRHPJanuary 12, 2012

Denver and Intermountain Number 25 is an interurban car built by the Woeber Car Company in Denver. It entered service in 1911 and was retired in 1950 with the end of streetcar operations in Denver. [3] The car was purchased by the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club for $150 ($1900 adjusted for inflation) and continued to be used for excursions until 1953. After being briefly stored in Golden, it was moved to the Colorado Railroad Museum and stored outdoors. The Platte Valley Trolley intended to use the car for its heritage trolley service, but eventually chose another vehicle after No. 25 was moved to Denver Federal Center. Despite this, a restoration began in 1988. [5] In 2010, ownership of the car was transferred to the West Corridor Historical Rail Cooperative, an agency supported by the Platte Valley Trolley and the City of Lakewood. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 12, 2012, being notable as the only known surviving standard gauge Woeber-built car of its type. [2] [6] Lakewood periodically hosts public open house visits with short rides. [7] [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Englewood, Colorado</span> City in Colorado, United States

The City of Englewood is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 33,659 at the 2020 United States Census. Englewood is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor. Englewood is located immediately south of Denver in the South Platte River Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Pleasant View, Colorado</span> Census Designated Place in Colorado, United States

West Pleasant View is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population of the West Pleasant View CDP was 4,327 at the United States Census 2020. The Pleasant View Metropolitan District provides services. The Golden post office serves the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Electric</span> Southern California transit company

The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system in the world in the 1920s. Organized around the city centers of Los Angeles and San Bernardino, it connected cities in Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Bernardino County and Riverside County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Key System</span> Former local electric railway service in the East Bay

The Key System was a privately owned company that provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, Piedmont, San Leandro, Richmond, Albany, and El Cerrito in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area from 1903 until 1960, when it was sold to a newly formed public agency, AC Transit. The Key System consisted of local streetcar and bus lines in the East Bay, and commuter rail and bus lines connecting the East Bay to San Francisco by a ferry pier on San Francisco Bay, later via the lower deck of the Bay Bridge. At its height during the 1940s, the Key System had over 66 miles (106 km) of track. The local streetcars were discontinued in 1948 and the commuter trains to San Francisco were discontinued in 1958. The Key System's territory is today served by BART and AC Transit bus service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Diego Electric Railway</span> Mass transit system (1892–1949)

The San Diego Electric Railway (SDERy) was a mass transit system in Southern California, United States, using 600 volt DC streetcars and buses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illinois Terminal Railroad</span> Heavy duty interurban electric railroad in Illinois, US

The Illinois Terminal Railroad Company, known as the Illinois Traction System until 1937, was a heavy duty interurban electric railroad with extensive passenger and freight business in central and southern Illinois from 1896 to 1956. When Depression era Illinois Traction was in financial distress and had to reorganize, the Illinois Terminal name was adopted to reflect the line's primary money making role as a freight interchange link to major steam railroads at its terminal ends, Peoria, Danville, and St. Louis. Interurban passenger service slowly was reduced, ending in 1956. Freight operation continued but was hobbled by tight street running in some towns requiring very sharp radius turns. In 1956, ITC was absorbed by a consortium of connecting railroads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regional Transportation District</span> Public transport agency in Denver, Colorado

The Regional Transportation District, more commonly referred to as RTD, is the regional agency operating public transit services in eight out of the twelve counties in the Denver–Aurora combined statistical area in the U.S. state of Colorado. It operates over a 2,342-square-mile (6,070 km2) area, serving 3.08 million people. RTD was organized in 1969 and is governed by a 15-member, publicly elected Board of Directors. Directors are elected to a four-year term and represent a specific district of about 180,000 constituents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denver Tramway</span> Streetcar system in Denver, Colorado, US

The Denver Tramway, operating in Denver, Colorado, was a streetcar system incorporated in 1886. The tramway was unusual for a number of reasons: the term "tramway" is generally not used in the United States, and it is not known why the company was named as such. The track was 3 ft 6 in narrow gauge, an unusual gauge in the United States, but in general use by railways in Japan, southern Africa, New Zealand, and Queensland, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Collins Municipal Railway</span>

The Fort Collins Municipal Railway operated streetcars in Fort Collins, Colorado, from 1919 until 1951. Since 1984, a section of one of the former routes has been in operation as a seasonal heritage streetcar service, under the same name, running primarily on Spring and Summer weekends. The heritage service is operated by volunteers from the Fort Collins Municipal Railway Society (FCMRS). The streetcar in use on the heritage line, Birney "Safety" Streetcar No. 21, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yakima Valley Transportation Company</span>

The Yakima Valley Transportation Company was an interurban electric railroad headquartered in Yakima, Washington. It was operator of the city's streetcar system from 1907–1947, and it also provided the local bus service from the 1920s until 1957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Colorado</span> List of National Register of Historic Places in the U.S. State of Colorado

There are more than 1,500 properties and historic districts in the U.S. State of Colorado listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They are distributed over 63 of Colorado's 64 counties; only the City and County of Broomfield currently has none.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sacramento Northern Railway</span> Former electric railway in California

The Sacramento Northern Railway was a 183-mile (295 km) electric interurban railway that connected Chico in northern California with Oakland via the state capital, Sacramento. In its operation it ran directly on the streets of Oakland, Sacramento, Yuba City, Chico, and Woodland. This involved multiple car trains making sharp turns at street corners and obeying traffic signals. Once in open country, SN's passenger trains ran at fairly fast speeds. With its shorter route and lower fares, the SN provided strong competition to the Southern Pacific and Western Pacific Railroad for passenger business and freight business between those two cities. North of Sacramento, both passenger and freight business was less due to the small town agricultural nature of the region and due to competition from the paralleling Southern Pacific Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glendale and Montrose Railway</span>

The Glendale and Montrose Railway Company (G&M) was an interurban electrified railway in Southern California, in the United States. It was unique among the Los Angeles local railways, as it was among the area's only interurban line never absorbed into the expansive Pacific Electric system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denver Trolley</span> Heritage streetcar line in Denver, Colorado

The Denver Trolley, formerly known as the Platte Valley Trolley, is a heritage streetcar line in Denver, Colorado, operated by the Denver Tramway Heritage Society. It began service on July 1, 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lakewood Gulch</span> River valley in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.

Lakewood Gulch drains a section of Lakewood and west Denver, Colorado into the South Platte River. It is the historic location of the old Interurban Shortline Railway and, in 2008, is a greenbelt that includes Rude Park, Sanchez Park and Lakewood Gulch Park. The gulch passes through Lakewood from west to east before entering the Denver neighborhoods of Sun Valley and Villa Park. It contains a part of the route of the (current) heritage streetcar Platte Valley Trolley and the Denver sections of the creek have an adjacent bike path. According to the Jefferson County Colorado Place Names Directory, "Lakewood Gulch originates on the north east foot of Green Mountain in Lakewood, flows east through Sixth Avenue West Park and Red Rocks Community College and continues east through Lakewood into Denver, where it joins the South Platte River southwest of the intersection of I-25 and Colfax Avenue."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W Line (RTD)</span> Light rail line in the Denver metropolitan area

The W Line, also called the West Rail Line, is a light rail line in Denver, Lakewood, and Golden, Colorado, United States. The W Line was the first part of FasTracks to break ground, on May 16, 2007. The line, the only line to traverse the West Corridor, opened for service on Friday, April 26, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colorado Springs and Interurban Railway</span> Electric trolley system in Colorado, US

The Colorado Springs and Interurban Railway was an electric trolley system in the Colorado Springs, Colorado area that operated from 1902 to 1932. The company was formed when Winfield Scott Stratton purchased Colorado Springs Rapid Transit Railway in 1901 and consolidated it in 1902 with the Colorado Springs & Suburban Railway Company. It operated in Colorado Springs, its suburbs, and Manitou Springs. One of the street cars from Stratton's first order is listed on the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles Pacific Railroad</span> California interurban and freight routes (1896–1911)

The Los Angeles Pacific Railroad (1896−1911) (LAP) was an electric public transit and freight railway system in Los Angeles County, California. At its peak it had 230 miles (370 km) of track extending from Downtown Los Angeles to the Westside, Santa Monica, and the South Bay towns along Santa Monica Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rochester and Sodus Bay Railway</span>

The Rochester and Sodus Bay Railway was an electric interurban railway connecting Rochester with the shores of Lake Ontario at Sodus Point. The line was leased to the Rochester Railway Company in 1902 and later merged into New York State Railways in 1909. Ridership dropped off in the 1920s, and the railway east of Glen Haven was abandoned in 1929. The remaining local streetcar service ended in 1933.

References

  1. "Denver, Lakewood and Golden Railroad Company" (PDF). History Colorado . Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form" (PDF). National Park Service . Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  3. 1 2 "National Register of Historic Places Program Weekly Highlight: Denver and Intermountain Railroad Interurban No. 25". National Park Service. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  4. "National Register Information System  (#11001016)". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  5. "Car No. 25 Open House". City of Lakewood. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  6. "Denver & Intermountain Interurban No. 25 | History Colorado". www.historycolorado.org. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  7. "Car No. 25 Open House". www.lakewood.org. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  8. Denver & Intermountain Interurban Car # 25 Tour, July 10, 2019, retrieved February 18, 2024