THE IKKIGATION AGE. 



459 



Cripple Creek the Famous 



Delights of a Journey Over the Colorado Springs & 



Cripple Creek District Railway from Colorado 



Springs to the Big Gold Camp. 



ONE of the most delightful trips available to the mem- 

 bers of the National Irrigation Congress is over 

 the "Short Line," as the Colorado Springs and Cripple 

 Creek District Railway is known, from Colorado Springs 

 to the famous mining district. When this road was 

 finally constructed and it became known that it was 

 possible to go to the greatest gold camp on earth in per- 

 fect comfort and safety, directly over the wildest part of 

 the mountains, the information caused the greatest satis- 

 faction to the thousands of tourists who visit Colorado 

 but who had never been able to make this trip. The 

 "Short Line" is in itself a marvel of construction. It 

 winds its serpentine way over the top of great peaks 

 and across almost fathomless depths, revealing at every 

 turn new scenes of beauty and grandeur. 



The intrepidity of the thought which conceived and 

 the marvelous engineering skill and daring which 

 achieved a broad-gauged, well-built railroad through such 



a flowering cherry or haw bush, all exquisitely blended 

 with the russet browns and deep reds of the granite crags, 

 which jut out far above them. 



As the train leaves Point Sublime and threads its way 

 along the sides of the great canyons and around and 

 through the endless succession of cliffs the scenes present 

 an everchanging panorama of nature's beauties until the 

 road reaches a height of more than 10,000 feet. 



At a point on the road called St. Peter's Dome the 

 passenger is two miles above the level of the sea, but still 

 towering high above him is this majestic dome of rock- 

 ribbed earth, a huge mass of granite that stands a silent 

 and masterful sentinel of the ages. 



When the traveler views this mighty pile lifting high 

 above him he cannot believe that any railroad could be 

 constructed that could scale its dizzy heights. But the 

 train proceeds steadily upward, and as it glides quietly 

 along over the smooth but winding iron path, grandeur 

 succeeds to new grandeurs and rapture to rapture in ever- 

 changing but never-ending charms. So absorbed is the 

 passenger in the scenes about him, and the height is 

 obtained with so much ease and so quickly that he is 

 scarcely aware that only a few moments before he was 

 straining his eyes in trying to see the point in the clouds 

 where he is sitting now in wondering admiration. 



Now the train is entering the famed gold camp that 

 has added millions of dollars to the world's wealth, and 

 which is yet destined to add more millions. The famous 



The Great Cripple Creek Gold Mining District. 



mountains and over such ledges almost shakes the 

 credulity of even those who have passed over it. The 

 road wide, the track full standard width, laid with 75- 

 pound steel rails, heavy ties, and solidly ballasted with 

 crushed granite, insuring not only perfect safety but a 

 smoothness which is not equalled by many level roads in 

 the country. 



The locomotives are monsters of their kind, weighing 

 190,000 pounds and possess a tremendous pulling power. 

 The passenger cars are of modern standard make, richly 

 upholstered, finished in rare woods and brightly illumi- 

 nated- To every train are attached observation cars, and 

 these prove one of the most attractive features of the 

 road, as they enable passengers to get a perfect view of 

 every bit of passing scenery. 



At Point Sublime the trains stop for several minutes 

 in order that passengers may alight and get a better view 

 of one of the most marvelous bits of scenery in the world. 

 This a sheer, unbroken declivitv of pinkish granite, fully 

 a half mile in height, the lower part covered with the tender 

 green of the aspen and higher up with the darker verdure 

 of the pines and cedars, brightened here and there with 



Bull Hill, the scene of more than one bloody conflict, 

 between miners and mine owners, is seen close by the 

 little town of Altman, which is conceded to be the highest 

 incorporated town in the world. It lies more than 12,000 

 feet above the level of the sea. 



Aside from the beauties of this trip from Colorado 

 Springs across the mountains, the visitor will thoroughly 

 enjoy the interesting scenes in the wonderful little city 

 of Cripple Creek which has sprung up in the midst of the 

 granite peaks which have yielded millions of gold and 

 whose characteristics are of deep interest to every visitor. 



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