Snow foiled the railroad over Boreas Pass

BRECKENRIDGE - Like everything else in Breckenridge, the arrival of the town's railroad proved a feat against the treacherous mountain climate. The Denver South Park and Pacific Railroad first chugged over Boreas Pass into Breckenridge in 1882 and quickly became a significant contributor to the area's growth.

Known as the High Line, the train brought great promises of an improved quality of life to Breckenridge residents. It hauled mail over the pass and transported mining products. It brought fresh ice cream, oysters and French wine from Denver, luxuries for residents of the once-isolated mountain town. It also carried passengers from Denver in Pullman cars, known for their plush interiors and gas lights.

But as important as it became to the town, the mountain rail brought with it trouble from the start. Perched at 11,481 feet, Boreas Pass was one of the highest and most foreboding in the nation. The winding route, steep grade and inclement weather made for dangerous working conditions and required expensive track and train maintenance.

"A lot of people don't realize the incredible effort of common men up against the greatest odds to keep the train going," said Ken Knapp, Rotary Snowplow Park volunteer.

As winter rolled around each year, heavy snow and ensuing avalanches created the ultimate obstacle to the town's outside access. Snow removal from the tracks became a major problem.

For several years, snow removal techniques remained primitive and largely ineffective, including the use of the wedge plow, like the ones seen today attached to the front of trucks. "Bucking the snow," when an engine got a running start and slammed through the snow, proved limited in success. The train also carried men who would jump out to shovel away snow and other avalanche debris. Sometimes dynamite was even used to clear the tracks, which effectively removed the snow but damaged the rails.

In 1989, the railroad purchased its first of two Leslie Rotary snowplows. The nose of the plow held what looked like a sideways ceiling fan, which cut through the snow, sucked it up and blew it out a shoot over the side of the mountain, reminiscent of a modern-day snow blower.

"I lovingly call the plow, 'The Savior of Breckenridge,'" Knapp said. "The train was its lifeblood."

The plow didn't have an engine of its own and often required several locomotives to push it through the heavy snow drifts to clear the tracks. The railroad still brought out shovelers and dynamite to clear avalanche debris, but the snowplow was a more effective method than some of the previous ones.

The snowplow remained an instrumental part of the railroad's success, and in 1900, the railroad, then known as the Colorado and Southern, bought an additional snowplow. That plow turned out to be too heavy for the narrow gauge tracks and was only used a few times.

Although the train played a critical role in the town's development, it grew less economically viable each year once trucks began driving over the pass. In 1937, the railroad shut down the service over Boreas Pass into Breckenridge and began to pull up the tracks.

The original snowplow ended up clearing rails between Leadville and Climax Mine until 1951 when it broke down and was sold for scrap.

Today a cousin of the second snowplow, one of the five remaining narrow gauge rotary snowplows in the country, sits at the Rotary Snowplow Park in Breckenridge, a constant reminder of the railway's contributions to the former mining town.



Julia Connors can be reached at (970) 668-4620.