UtahRails.net

UtahRails.net

Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad (1873-1889)
Denver, Leadville & Gunnison Railway (1889-1899)

This page was last updated on June 21, 2026.

Timeline

June 16, 1873
Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad was incorporated in Colorado. (Wagner, page 13)

1874
Two locomotives were delivered to DSP&P, numbered as DSP&P 1 and 2

June 1874
Construction was completed south from Denver to Morrison (17 miles); work had started in August 1873 with first rails being laid on May 18, 1874.

July 3, 1874
Service began between Denver and Morrison.

1875
Three locomotives were delivered to DSP&P, numbered as DSP&P 17, 18, and 19.

1879
Completed to Webster, 69 miles from Denver.

1879
Fourteen 2-6-6-T Mason Bogie locomotives were delivered to DSP&P, numbered as DSP&P 3-16.

1880
Five 2-6-6T and four 2-8-6T Mason Bogie locomotives were delivered to DSP&P, numbered as DSP&P 20-24 and 25-28.

February 1880
Completed to Buena Vista (123 miles)

November 1880
Jay Gould purchased control of DSP&P

Late 1880
DSP&P was granted trackage rights over D&RG from Buena Vista to Leadville; Jay Gould controlled both DSP&P and D&RG but the agreement lasted only until DSP&P built its own line to Leadville in 1884.

January 25, 1881
Jay Gould sold DSP&P to Union Pacific; DSP&P became the South Park Division of Union Pacific.

June 1881
DSP&P completed the Alpine Tunnel, a tunnel under the Continental Divide, 1,805 feet long; work had begun in January 1880.

1882
Twelve 2-6-0 locomotives from Brooks were delivered to DSP&P, numbered as DSP&P 29-40.

September 1882
DSP&P completed to Gunnison, 208 miles from Denver.

1883
Twenty-eight 2-8-0 locomotives from Cooke and Baldwin were delivered to DSP&P, numbered as DSP&P 41-68.

1884
Six 2-6-0 locomotives from Cooke were delivered to DSP&P, numbered as DSP&P 69-74.

October 1, 1884
DSP&P began formal operations of its new line to Leadville, crossing the Continental Divide twice, by way of Boreas Pass and again by way of Fremont Pass, then south to Leadville; the line was completed in February 1884 but operations did not begin until October 1884.

According to the St. Louis Globe Democrat of October 6, 1884, the date of completion into Leadville was September 30, 1884.

"September 30 the Union Pacific opened its high line on the South Park Division from Breckenridge to Leadville. This line was completed into Leadville last year, at the time of the road's complications with the Rio Grande about an entrance into Leadville over the joint track from Buena Vista, but was not opened, owing to an extension of the agreement between the two roads at the last moment. The distance by the high line from Denver to Leadville is only 151 miles, which is a difference of twenty miles over the old distance from Buena Vista."

June 1885
All DSP&P locomotives were assigned new road numbers as part of Union Pacific's overall system-wide renumbering. The actual date each locomotive was renumbered is unknown. (This specific date information may become available by doing page-by-page newspaper research for the city where DSP&P had its larger shops or roundhouses.)

August 1889
Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad was reorganized as the Denver, Leadville & Gunnison Railway, still controlled by Union Pacific

October 13, 1893
Union Pacific entered receivership, for the purposes of financial reorganization.

August 4, 1894
DL&G was appointed its own independent receiver to allow a reorganization separate from Union Pacific's own reorganization.

November 19, 1898
DL&G was sold under foreclosure to a reorganization committee made up of its bondholders.

December 19, 1898
The DL&G reorganization committee, along with a similar reorganization of the Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf (this company being the standard gauge lines in Colorado that included the Colorado Central), sold their properties to the newly organized Colorado & Southern Railway.

January 11, 1899
C&S took ownership and possession of the former DL&G and UPD&G properties.

Locomotives

Denver, South Park & Pacific Locomotives

Sources

Ross Crain's DSP&P page. (Visit Ross Crain's web page)

Donald B. Robertson, Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History, Volume II, 1991, Taylor Publishing Company, pages 115 (DL&G) and 121 (DSP&P)

Hol Wagner, The Colorado Road, 1970, Intermountain Chapter, National Railway Historical Society

Rick Steel's C&S History, compiled from ICC Valuations, posted in 1997 [RailwayEng.com website obsolete]

(Rick Steel's C&S history mirrored without permission -- in case the original becomes unavailable)

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