The , incorporated in 1883, was the first
Standard Gauge Railroad built over the
Continental Divide in
Colorado . It ran from
Colorado Springs to
Leadville and through the divide at
Hagerman Pass to
Aspen and
Grand Junction . Later the line was extended eleven
Mile s (17.7
Km ) west of Grand Junction to
New Castle .
John J. Hagerman gained control of the Colorado Midland Railway Company in June 1885. Hagerman sold the railroad to the
Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe Railway (ATSF) in September 1890; ATSF operated the railroad as a
Subsidiary and changed the name to the Colorado Midland Railroad.
The
Hagerman Tunnel was completed through the divide in 1887. In 1891 it was replaced by the
Busk-Ivanhoe Tunnel which was at a lower altitude. This shortened the line and made the grade easier.
For a short time the railroad was consolidated with the
Aspen Short Line (1893-1897) and with the
Denver And Rio Grande Railroad owned by the Rio Grande Junction Railway. After the company was sold through the bankruptcy court on
May 4 1897 , a new company known as the Colorado Midland Railway took over operation of the railroad.
The Colorado Midland Railway, came first under the control of the
Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe Railway in 1890, later the Colorado & Southern Railway and the
Denver And Rio Grande Railroad in 1900. It again declared bankruptcy
April 21 1917 . The Colorado Midland Railway ceased operations in 1918. Segments of the railroad were then sold to the
Midland Terminal Railroad ; the rest of the line, mostly west of the Midland Terminal connection at Divide, was abandoned. The line was scrapped in the early
1920s .
