The Railroad That Crossed over Itself

Two Miles, Six Hundred Feet

Georgetown and Silver Plume are only about two miles apart, but Silver Plume sits roughly six hundred feet higher. Running directly between them would have produced a steep grade for a railway carrying passengers and freight.

Engineers lengthened the journey instead. Curves, bridges, and a loop spread the climb over more track. At Devil’s Gate, the line crossed above an earlier part of its own route, creating the view that appeared in postcards and railroad publicity.

The line used three-foot narrow-gauge track and opened in 1884. It served the mining district, moving freight and ore as well as people. The winding route that made practical rail service possible also gave excursion passengers a reason to make the trip.

A Freight Line and an Excursion

At the height of its popularity, the Loop’s operator records seven trains a day coming from Denver. The mountain scenery was part of the attraction, but the engineering supplied a spectacle of its own. Passengers could see a bridge ahead, travel around a curve, and approach the same structure at a different height.

Railroad ambitions had originally extended beyond this short connection. Competition between routes and the changing fortunes of mining shaped what was built and what remained profitable. The Loop eventually closed, and the track and major bridge were dismantled in 1938.

The railway running there today is the result of a later restoration. Work began on rebuilding portions of the line in the 1970s. A replica of the high bridge completed the restored connection in 1984, a century after the original opening.

The rebuilt bridge was dedicated on August 1, 1984. Today’s excursion route uses the restored Loop, including the crossing above its own track that made the original line so widely photographed.