Wagon Wheel Gap Route

and the

Denver & Rio Grande Railway

History of the Wagon Wheel Gap Route

With the United States entering the 1870's there is a great demand for raw materials to fuel the industrial growth in the post civil war era. Not only can Colorado supply cattle, farm crops, and timber, it can supply an in-exhaustible supply of silver from the mines of the San Juan Mountains located in the south west corner of the Colorado Rockies..  Early attempts of building toll roads, by pioneers such as Otto Meyers, could mot carry the large amount of ore that is being produced in towns such as Silverton, Telluride and Creede.  Mountain Passes at over 12,000 ft. and severe cold winters were too much for mule trains.   A better way had to be found.  Industrialists such as Col Wm. J. Palmer pioneered a better way to remove these much needed ores through the use of narrow gauge steam trains.

The rugged Rocky Mountains could not be tamed with the standard size engines and cars that were in use through out the rest of the country, smaller gauge trains were needed that would take the tight turns and narrow roadbeds that were required.  Trains that were about 2/3rds the size of the standard gauge ( 4ft. 3 1/2 inch ) track were needed.  In the decade of 1870 to 1880 many  hundreds of miles  of narrow gauge track  ( 3ft. ) were laid into the Rockies, mainly west and south west out of Denver.  New railroad companies were incorporated almost monthly.  As time progressed many were combined into larger rail lines.  The largest of these was the Denver & Rio Grande ( Western ) Railroad.  As it's name implies it's starting point was Denver and it's initial direction was into the headwaters of the Rio Grande River.   This was to supply transportation of materials into the mining towns of Creede and Silverton and remove the vital ores of their silver mines.  The growth of the mining towns brought tens of thousands support people that manned the farms, timber mills, steel factories and stores. The railroads were needed to support their needs also.    New towns sprung up along these roads of steel, some in the most unlikely areas. Many are now remembered just by the few photographs left or as dots on old  faded maps.  Also some are now large cities such as Pueblo or towns such as Durango or Alamosa.  As the silver lodes faded and the construction of highways progressed the need for the thousands of miles of railroads decreased and most of the narrow gauge track was removed and the lines that were still needed by the mines & industry was converted to standard gauge.  By the 1950's all the narrow gauge but several Tourist Lines were gone.   

The line feeding into the San Luis Valley and on to Creede was, as most, built in Narrow Gauge.   But as the main lines were converted into standard gauge so was the mountain pass into Alamosa.  The feeder line that linked Durango stayed narrow gauge because the mountain passes would not allow conversion.   But the valley line to South fork and on to Creede was converted to dual track ( 3 rails allowing both standard and narrow gauge to operate on it ) at the turn of the century. ( 1900 ).   Within a decade the third rail was removed.  The last mine closed in Creede in 1985 and the line between South Fork and Creede became quiet. 

Looking south to the Wagon Wheel Gap.

This 21 mile stretch that connected these two towns snakes along the upper Rio Grande River and passes through a narrow pass known as Wagon Wheel Gap about 10 miles below Creede, then enters a long broad valley.   This line follows one of the most scenic areas on the Denver & Rio Grande railroad.  Wm J. Palmer the president of the rail line built the line to the Gap in 18XX to both load ore from Creede 10 miles north and to bring the top brass of the rail line and their friends & families to a hot springs resort ( 4UR ) built several miles west of the Gap.   This get-a-way from the warm summers in Denver hosted many famous people of that era.  This resort is still in operation. Wm. J. Palmer and investors completed the line into Creede  in 18XX..  The Rio Grande end of the rail line was completed.  

It is worthy to note there are still many hand cut ties, also watch for ones with spike holes from the third rail on this stretch of the line.  Rail that dates from the 1880's to the 1920's still make up the majority of the line.   The silver steel framed bridge at 10 miles up the line from South Fork is an original narrow gauge unit but is large enough to allow standard gauge trains to pass.  The Wagon Wheel Gap Bridge is also original but has added pillars to strengthen it.  The bridge at the Wasson crossing of the Rio Grande is still in narrow gauge configuration, only with standard gauge ties added.   Both the original stations at Wagon Wheel Gap and Creede are there and in excellent repair.  The station at Wagon Wheel Gap is now a private residence, and the Creede Station is now owned by Mineral County and is operated as a museum.  This rail line is on both the Federal and State Historical Registers.

The Names and Places...

Wagon Wheel Gap -

An early miner was passing through the area when he was perused by Indians, his wagon got stuck in mud at the gap, he took to his horse and escaped.  Later passers through saw all that was left of his wagon, a wheel still stick in the mud, and they named it "Wagon Wheel Gap", just as the now famous wheel, the name stuck...

Creede - 

Originally the town along the river north of the present Creede. The present city of Creede went through several names, Amethyst, Jimtown and the hills to the west was Bachelorville.

South Fork -

Started as a Trading Post and took the name of Baxterville, when the railroad came to the area the train stop was named South fork because it was located next to the south fork of the Rio Grande River.  Although still on many maps the use of the name Baxterville has been lost to time.

Web Site E-Mail Address is Wagon-Wheel-Gap@hotmail.com

Also see our History of San Luis Valley & it's Railroads web site:

Wagon-Wheel-Gap.freehomepage.com

It's still under construction but you may find it interesting.

This is not an official web site of the D&RG Ry. Historical Foundation. 

It is a private informational site by Richard Cutter who is solely responsible for content and

content is not submitted to, approved nor controlled by the D&RG Historical Foundation.

Unless otherwise Noted

Historical Photographs 1800's to 1940's from the National Archives

Photos, Videos and Text are Copyrighted by Richard Cutter

   - Photos can be used for non-commercial use if plainly identified as to copyright holder and location, such as "at Wagon-Wheel-Gap-Route, Colorado"

The name "Wagon Wheel Gap Route" refers to the section of the Creede Branch of the Old "Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad" that extends from South Fork to Creede Colorado, the name was developed and used for this website and is considered as our trademark.

Last updated: July 03, 2005

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