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272:. Because the railroad was exclusively a tourist line at this time, all freight had to be hauled at night or early in the morning. The freight charge for this load of telephone supplies was $ 500, or $ 1.11 per ton-mile. In contrast, the average freight rate in the United States in 1915 was under $ 0.008 per ton-mile.
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The assets of the bankrupt
Argentine Central were offered for auction in a Sheriff's sale on May 29, 1912. The sale netted just $ 5,000, a price so low that the district court ordered a resale. The second sale, on June 2, raised $ 20,000, but this too was set aside; the final sale, to William Rogers
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Blankenbuhler replaced the Shay locomotives and most of the freight cars with 40-passenger gasoline-powered railcars for the 1916 season. Some of the last freight hauled over the 9-miles from Silver Plume to
Waldorf was 100,000 pounds (50 tons) of telephone poles, wire, insulators and supplies for
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ruined Wilcox, causing him to sell the railroad in 1908 for only $ 44,000, taking an estimated loss of $ 256,000 on the line. The buyer, David W. Brown of
Colorado, planned an expansion in the tourist traffic and revitalised the concept of reaching Grays Peak, but the money was never there. The
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Despite the costs saved by the switch to self-propelled railcars, the railroad was not profitable without the regular freight traffic it had previously carried. Notice to abandon was posted on
October 24, 1918, and approved on November 9; the tracks were removed in the summer of 1919.
225:. Work on the project stopped in 1911, by which time the tunnel was three-quarters completed. The tunnel project was revived as a highway tunnel in 1952, and the 1.4 mile tunnel was completed as a water diversion tunnel in 1969.
160:) and onward to the summit of Mount McClellan. Construction began on August 1, 1905, and the line was opened to Waldorf a year later on August 1, 1906, a distance of about 16 miles. It was financed and organised by
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nearby. It was believed at the time that Mount McClellan was 14,007 ft (4,269 m) high, but this was later disproved. It remains the highest altitude reached by a regular adhesion railway (as opposed to a
164:, owner of 65 mining properties in the Argentine region that were consolidated into the Waldorf Mining and Milling Company in 1902. His headquarters at Waldorf was accessible only by pack mule for much of the year.
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operations of the region, the railroad was also intended for the tourist trade, ascending 13,587 ft (4,141 m) Mount McClellan and intending to reach the summit of 14,270 ft (4,350 m)
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on Aug. 19, was for $ 20,002. Arguments about whether the rolling stock of the railroad was properly included in the sale led to a lawsuit that was resolved in the
Colorado Supreme Court in 1915.
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and Grays Peak, Wilcox purchased the Vidler Tunnel, a project begun in 1902 to expand an existing silver mine into a railroad tunnel under the pass. The line would have extended onward to
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T. S. Lovering, Geology and Ore
Deposits of the Montezuma Quadrangle, Colorado, Professional Paper 178, United States Geological Survey, 1935;
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line went bankrupt and a receiver was appointed on August 3, 1911; it did not operate during 1911 and 1912.
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476:, Stromberg, Allen & Co, Chicago, 1916; pages 313-456, see table of Receipts per Ton Mile on Page 404.
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Development and
Transportation Tunnel Enterprises in the Argentine District, Colorado,
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F. B. Hinman, The
Highest Regular Railroad in the World Operated for General Traffic,
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A consortium of local business interests led by
William Rogers reorganized it as the
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This article is about a railway in United States. For the railway in Argentina, see
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326:, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 3 (March 1911); pages 192-196, includes 3 photographs.
450:, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Oct. 1917); page 502, includes photo of cars at summit.
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were used exclusively, the railroad rostering a total of seven two-truck
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The line was steeply graded and sharply curved, with a standard of 6%
502:. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. pp. 338–339.
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Philip H. Dexter, The Denver-Leadville Toll Line Via Argentine Pass,
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The Argentine Central Railway reached the summit of Mount McClellan
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H.W. Ford on mountain road, train in background at Waldorf
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Railroad Notes — The Argentine and Gray's Peak Ry.,
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Waldorf mine and road to Argentine pass and Vidler Tunnel
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A Historical View: Transmountain Development in Colorado
198:(181 feet (55 m) radius); even so, it required six
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Argentine Pass and Waldorf Mine, Argentine Central Ry.
437:, Vol. XI (New Series), No. 8 (Aug. 1915), page 261.
424:, Poors Railroad Manual Co., 1915; pages 1362, 1988.
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The Vidler and Waldorf Mines, Argentine Central Ry.
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489:, Vol. 108, No. 16 (Oct. 18, 1919); pages 663-664.
539:Argentine Pass, Waldorf and Vidler mine district
411:, Vol. 58, W.H. Courtright, 1915; pages 519-533.
299:, Vol. LIV, No. 23 (Dec 6, 1906); pages 570-573.
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422:Poor's Manual of Railroads of the United States
575:Mts. Evans and Rosalie from turminus [
446:Gasoline Railroad Cars Used on Mountain Line,
463:, Nov. 1917; page 2, with many illustrations.
8:
407:Booth v. Central Bank, No. 7720, Jan. 1915,
398:, Vol. 53, No. 10 (Sept. 6, 1912); page 454.
372:, Vol. 93, No. 21 (May 25, 1912); page 1054.
23:
586:Detroit Public Library Digital Collections
523:Denver Public Library Digital Collections
435:Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way
385:, Vol. 53, No. 2 (July 12, 1912); page 82.
633:Closed railway lines in the United States
551:Waldorf Mine on the Argentine Central Ry.
527:Locomotive (Argentine Central) Shay No. 1
256:in the summer of 1917. This was for the
254:Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph
246:Argentine and Gray's Peak Railway Company
608:3 ft gauge railways in the United States
115:Passengers atop Mount McClellan in 1910.
99:Shay locomotive of the Argentine Central
557:Buildings at Waldorf mine from the west
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223:Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad
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368:Clear Creek County, The Mining News,
310:"McClellan Mountain - Peakbagger.com"
202:on the ascent. Due to these grades,
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228:The fall of silver prices after the
628:1918 disestablishments in Colorado
618:Narrow gauge railroads in Colorado
579:] of the Argentine Central Ry.
242:Georgetown and Gray's Peak Railway
107:Passengers on the railway in 1909.
14:
420:Georgetown and Gray's Peak Ry.,
623:1906 establishments in Colorado
500:American Narrow Gauge Railroads
487:Engineering and Mining Journal
370:Engineering and Mining Journal
244:leased to and operated by the
1:
359:, 2000; retrieved July, 2015.
146:Colorado and Southern Railway
394:Railway and Financial News,
381:Railway and Financial News,
339:discusses the Vidler Tunnel.
262:long-distance telephone line
461:the Mountain States Monitor
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613:Defunct Colorado railroads
498:Hilton, George W. (1990).
221:, and a junction with the
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409:Supreme Court of Colorado
121:Argentine Central Railway
24:Argentine Central Railway
18:Central Argentine Railway
474:The Railway Library 1915
213:As well as ascending to
204:geared steam locomotives
194:maximum and 32° minimum
563:Waldorf, near Argentine
167:As well as serving the
559:(June 21, 1908, photo)
547:(June 21, 1908, photo)
150:Silver Plume, Colorado
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348:John N. Winchester,
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383:Railway Age Gazette
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592:(June, 1909 photo)
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219:Keystone, Colorado
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54:Dates of operation
485:Industrial News,
448:Popular Mechanics
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68:Track gauge
602:Categories
280:References
176:Grays Peak
158:ghost town
270:Leadville
196:curvature
183:) in the
156:, (now a
126:3 ft
74:3 ft
62:Technical
353:Archived
337:page 111
138:railroad
48:Colorado
29:Overview
140:in the
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266:Denver
172:mining
169:silver
123:was a
44:Locale
264:from
192:grade
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119:The
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