Denver's Railroads

This is a map of all of the class 1 railroads that entered Denver's rail yards during the 1950s and 1960s. The map also shows the major towns that connect with each railroad. Ultimately the model layout will comprise the D&RGW line from Denver to Glenwood Springs, as well as the D&RGW branch line to Craig and the C&S branch line to Golden, Idaho Springs and Black Hawk. All of the other connections shown on this map will be represented by two return loops comprising of 7 staging tracks for the West, North and North-east connections and 5 staging tracks for the South and South-east connections,

Denver's Railroad will be built in 5 phases:

Phase One: Clear Creek Branches from Golden to Idaho Springs and Black Hawk

Era: 1933 (end of prohibition) to 1941

There are a number of parts to this phase:

1. Seven staging tracks, as part of a return loop, which in this phase will represent the Denver connection to Golden.
2. The C&S branch line to the Coors Brewery plant and the Rex Oil Company. Both these industries still exist.
3. The C&S branch line to the town of Golden and three industries - Wilson Meats, Golden Recycling Merchants and Rocky Mountain Barrel Company. Unlike all other phases of this layout none of these industries never existed in Golden.
4. The Clear Creek branch line from Golden to Idaho Springs and Black Hawk following Clear Creek and the old Colorado Central (the forerunner to Colorado and Southern). There are 7 industries along this line which did exist at one time or another.

Phase Two: The Main Line to Denver's Yards and the Wye

Era: Freight  traffic - 1960s up to 1969 (creation of Burlington Northern Railroad)

The following are the parts to this phase:

1. The main line from the Seven staging track return loop to the Denver Freight Yards.
2. The main tracks of Denver's freight yards including the D&RGW North Yard, the CB&Q 38th St Yard and the UP 31st St Yard.
3. The Wye and return loop, south of the Denver Freight Yards.

Phase Three: Denver Union Station and Terminal

Era: Passenger traffic - 1947 to 1963

The following are the parts to this phase:

1. A five track return loop representing the "Joint Line" south from Denver.
2. Denver Union Station, including all 12 passenger tracks.

Phase Four: Denver's Industrial lines and sidings

Era: Freight  traffic - 1960s up to 1969 (creation of Burlington Northern Railroad)

The following are the parts to this phase:

1. The Northwestern Terminal's (NWT) industrial branch in Denver, incorporating the Denver Union Stockyards.
2. Commerce City.
3. Cherokee Power Plant.
4. C&S Rice Yard and C&S Intermodal Yard.
5. Denver yard industries and locomotive facilities.
6. Glenwood Springs station and yard.

Phase Five: Denver to Glenwood Springs

Era: 1947 to 1969

There are 2 parts to this final phase:

1. Extending the D&RGW main line from Denver to Glenwood Springs, including Winter Park, Granby, Kremmling and Bond.
2. A branch line from Bond to Craig.

Phase One Track Plan

Clear Creek Branch from Golden to Idaho Springs and Black Hawk

This section is based on the Colorado & Southern Railroad (C&S) and can be operated as a stand alone layout. It manly utilises steam and is based between the end of prohibition in 1933 and the removal of the tracks in 1941.

Seven Track Return Loop