122 Years Ago
The April 7, 1904 Colorado Transcript announced that our new interurban railroad–the Denver & Northwestern, or D&NW) was nearing completion. The crew shown above was building the track across Washington Avenue and service was expected to begin any day.
Golden’s first interurban (the Denver & Intermountain, or D&IM) opened in 1891. It came through Lakewood and terminated on 13th Street, on the east side of Washington Avenue. Their ticket office was inside the Linder Hardware building.
The D&NW came through Arvada. It entered on 12th Street, circled the block to Arapahoe Street, and terminated on 13th Street, on the west side of Washington Avenue.
The D&NW was a significant step up in that it was powered by electricity rather than coal. That meant that the new railroad was cleaner and quieter than the older one. It also had an attractive new depot, which was a great source of civic pride.
The D&NW was owned by the Tramway company, which ran Denver’s streetcar system. They were a well-run and well-funded company, and when the D&IM went bankrupt, the Tramway bought them and electrified that line as well. Thereafter, they ran both of the interurban lines between Denver and Golden.
All interurban passenger rail service in the Denver metro area ended in June of 1950. Most of the lines were replaced by bus routes (though the D&NW route through Arvada was not).
