The Colorado Midland Railway was the first Standard Gauge railroad to pierce the Rockies through the Great Divide, bringing commerce, to many cities and towns along the line. The Ute Pass (from Colorado City to Divide) was transformed from homesteads and mining camps to resort towns and transportation hubs for gold, cattle, timber, produce, and their world famous excursions...namely their Wildflower Excursion with the bonus fossil gathering stops.
Experience the triumph and tragedy of the Colorado Midland Railway and the towns it helped build. While the west was still wild these mighty steam trains forged the line, settled the towns, and aided in the expansion of Colorado, under the leadership of James J Hagerman and Irving Howbert starting in 1886.
Colorado was just a fledgling state that was wracked by territorial wars, outlaws, and in stark contrast was also a sanctuary for those desperate to heal from the White Death, Tuberculosis, which plagued early America.
Witness the tenacious characters that took the bull by it's horns and transformed the area from homesteads to resorts and towns that still carry the history of the Colorado Midland to this day.