The Georgetown Loop Railroad was one of Colorado’s first visitor attractions. Completed in 1884, this spectacular stretch of narrow gauge railroad was considered an engineering marvel for its time. The thriving mining towns of Georgetown and Silver Plume lie two miles (3 km) apart in steep, narrow Clear Creek west of Denver. To connect them, engineers designed a corkscrew route that traveled nearly twice that distance, slowly gaining more than 600 feet (180 m) in elevation. It included horseshoe curves, grades of up to 4 percent, and four bridges across Clear Creek, including the massive Devil’s Gate High Bridge.

In 1881, the Georgetown, Breckenridge and Leadville Railroad was formed under the Union Pacific Railroad.[3] In 1893, the Colorado & Southern Railway took over line and operated it for passengers and freight until 1938. Originally part of the larger line of Colorado Central Railroad constructed in the 1870s and 1880s, it was later dismantled, but was restored in the 1980s to operate during summer months as a tourist railroad, carrying passengers using historic narrow-gauge steam locomotives.