155 Years Ago
In the summer of 1870, Goldenites were in an absolute frenzy of anticipation, awaiting the arrival of our new railroad. The tracks were being laid between Denver and Golden, and the first train was expected sometime in September.
The August 24, 1870 Colorado Transcript reported that Col. T. J. Carter, the railroad’s president, had just returned from a trip east, and he assured the Transcript that he had purchased everything needed to complete the railroad, including “two locomotives, passenger, mail, baggage, freight and coal cars, hand cars, scales, trucks, etc.”
He had twenty-eight car loads of rails and other materials needed to lay the track from Denver to Golden, and had crews lined up to do the work.
He had also made arrangements with railroads “back in the states” (we weren’t a state yet) to sell tickets to Golden. In fact, a person in Iowa (for instance) could pay the fare all the way to Black Hawk, Central City, Idaho Springs, or Georgetown. They would ride railroads to Golden and complete the trip by stagecoach.
The same was true for freight: easterners would be able to pay for a freight shipment to the mountain towns. The freight would go by rail as far as Golden and be taken from there by stage.
