The cache is a 35mm container. It is not winter friendly. Please
try to replace it in such a way that it does not call attention to
itself
This is the another cache dedicated to Fallen Flag railroads.
Fallen Flags are those railroads that no longer exist either
through abandonment or corporate takeover. With each cache will
come a short history lesson explaining a little something about the
railroad.
The Colorado Eastern Railroad was a narrow gauge line that ran
from Denver out to a low grade coal mine just east of the cache
location. Built by the Denver Land & Railroad Company in 1885
on the cheap, it lasted until 1915 when it was abandoned.
The coal that the railroad transported was of such low grade
that one source reported that it had to be wrapped in straw to get
it to burn. The condition of the rails was so bad that they could
only be negotiated at a very slow speed. Certainly this railroad
was not in any great shape, so why did it exist for 30 years? It
turns out that it cost $25 a day to keep the railroad running and
the total take was only $1 per day. How can this be? It sure sounds
like the Federal budget to me. It turns out that what this railroad
had was trackage rights into the city of Denver, something that
other railroads that wanted into Denver would happily buy for a
bucket full of money. But no deal was ever struck so the railroad
just faded away. There is an interesting and humorous article that
was published in the July 13, 1902 New York Times about the
railroad.
Should you care to read the full New York Times article, follow
this link (visit link)
Time has not been kind to the physical evidence that the
railroad left. The only physical evidence that it existed at all is
a slight depression the rails were laid in to the west at about 290
degrees true from the cache location. I viewed aerial photographs
and was able to see where the grade had been located to the west of
the cache location.
