Royal Gorge Railroad
by Jon Burch Photography
Title
Royal Gorge Railroad
Artist
Jon Burch Photography
Medium
Photograph - Digital Capture/faa Watermark Will Not Be On Your Finished Photograph.
Description
Rafters float by the Royal Gorge Route Railroad as it travels along the Arkansas River near Canon City, Colorado. The railroad transits the Royal Gorge on a 2-hour scenic and historic train ride along what is considered to be the most famed portion of the former Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. The 1950's-era train departs the Santa Fe Depot in Canon City daily.
In the late 1870's, miners descended on the upper Arkansas River valley of Colorado in search of carbonate ores rich in lead and silver. The feverish mining activity in what would become the Leadville district attracted the attention of both the Rio Grande and Santa Fe railroads, each already having tracks in the Arkansas valley. The Santa Fe had tracks in Pueblo and the D&RG had tracks near Canon City, Colorado, some 35 miles west. Leadville was over 100 miles away through the "Grand Canon of the Arkansas," a mountain valley 50 miles in length at a consistent and railroad-friendly water grade of one per cent. For two railroads to occupy a river valley ordinarily was not a problem, however, west of Canon City the Arkansas River cuts through the Royal Gorge, a high plateau of igneous rocks forming a spectacular steep-walled gorge over a thousand feet deep and six miles long. At its narrowest point sheer walls on both sides plunge into the river, creating a nearly impassable barrier.
On April 19, 1878, a construction crew from the Santa Fe's proxy Canon City and San Juan Railroad, hastily assembled from sympathetic local citizens, began grading for a railroad line just west of Canon City in the mouth of the gorge. The Rio Grande, whose track ended 3/4 of a mile from downtown Canon City, raced crews to the same area, but they were blocked by Santa Fe graders in the narrow canyon. By a few hours they had lost the first round in what became a two-year struggle between the two railroads that would be known as the Royal Gorge War.
Some digital effects were applied to the original image after the photograph was made. No electrons were harmed during the transition. Ordered images will not contain the FAA watermark.
Image copyright 2016 Jon Burch Photography.
Uploaded
August 21st, 2016
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