Palmer Lake, at elevation 7,225 was the end of two-track operation on the northern leg of the Joint Line. From Denver, 2,000’ lower in elevation, it was 52 miles of climbing, sometimes as much as 1.4%. For coal trains, this meant rear helper locomotives – and these cut off the train at the start of single track and returned “light” to Denver for the next southbound train.

Palmer Lake has been a railroad town since the first narrow gauge trains of Gen. William Jackson Palmer passed through the town in 1871 traveling between Denver and Colorado Springs. In later years five other railroads hauled freight and passenger traffic through Palmer Lake. This rail line is now part of the Joint Line operated by the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe and the Union Pacific.

Colorado’s D&RGW’s Joint Line is the busy and mostly two-tracked, north-south line between Denver and Bragdon, just outside Pueblo CO – and a great location for railfanning. In the late 20th century, three railroads operated on this line – the Denver & Rio Grande Western (the first to lay tracks here), the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RR (which laid a separate and roughly parallel line), and the Colorado & Southern (a subsidiary of the Burlington, later Burlington Northern). The line from Denver south to the town of Palmer Lake was an uphill grind of 1.4%, which required helper locomotives on many trains. In addition, the two separate tracks narrowed to a single track for 32 miles, starting at Palmer Lake, through Colorado Springs and ending at Fountain (Crews), which made for lots of action at these pinch points. There was a lot of variety in motive power as well, though if one locomotive stood out, it was EMD’s 6-axle SD40-2.

The Joint Line has an interesting history, starting in the 1870s when the Denver & Rio Grande built south from Denver to Colorado Springs and beyond, with the hope of reaching El Paso and eventually Mexico City. Shortly thereafter, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RR built a roughly parallel track through the same towns to Denver from La Junta and Pueblo, and this was later followed by the Denver and New Orleans RR (a predecessor to the Colorado & Southern Ry). Over the years, the D&NO tracks were pulled up, leaving the D&RG and AT&SF/C&S to compete against each other. During World War I, the USRA ordered the two railroads to operate between Denver and Bragdon as a double track railroad, hence the name “Joint Line”, and some connecting tracks and crossovers were constructed to facilitate the operations. In the mid-1970s, when traffic had slowed, the Santa Fe line through Colorado Springs was abandoned with incentives from the city to eliminate some “street running”. As a result, the stretch between Palmer Lake and Crews (Fountain) is now single track. When rail traffic increased in the 80s and 90s, especially with coal traffic from the Powder River basin in Wyoming, this single track became a bottleneck for trains, and a great place for rail fans.

General William J. Palmer formed the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in 1870 with plans of running a narrow-gauge railroad from Denver southward as far as Mexico. He had seen the Black Forest and Palmer Divide area and thought it would be a good location for the railroad using its vast timber resources for ties and building materials, and firewood for the trains. And Summit Lake (as Palmer Lake was then known) would be an ideal stop for the steam engines to take on water. The D&RG made its debut run in October 1871 with a dignitary stopover at Palmer Lake; its first passenger train started to run in January 1872.

At that time, the train stop was known as Divide, or Weissport according to the railroad logs. A simple one-room log building served as the D&RG depot from 1873-1883 and was operated by Camillus Weiss. The small ornate depot had been built as a “model depot” for the First National Mining and Industrial Exposition in Denver of 1882. After the exposition, it was moved to Palmer Lake to replace the small older building. In the spring of 1883, the D&RG drained and enlarged the lake and installed the first standard water tank on the west shore. The destination of Palmer Lake was so popular that the D&RG added two rooms onto the baggage area of the depot, constructed a boathouse, and a picnic/dancing pavilion.

The D&RG tracks had been laid on the west side of the lake. In 1887, the Santa Fe Railroad extended its line between Denver and Pueblo laying its tracks on the east side. The Santa Fe depot was built in 1889. Both sides had an eating house, The Judd Eating House on the west with Harvey’s Lunchroom located inside the Santa Fe depot on the east. Starting in 1918, due to WWI, trains on the west tracks ran southbound, and the trains on the east tracks ran northbound. Both depots closed in 1938 and were replaced in 1940 by one shared depot which had been moved from the town of Pring, to the north shore of the lake. The ornate D&RG depot and the Santa Fe depot were dismantled and removed. The Santa Fe “section foreman’s house” was later moved next door to the Palmer Lake Town Hall to become first town museum and library. It later became the town’s police headquarters. The depot that had come from Pring was bought by a private party and moved to South Park.

The two-track arrangement continued until 1972 when the Santa Fe tracks were abandoned with the train bed becoming a popular hiking trail. From Palmer Lake now, one track leads south to Colorado Springs, and two tracks go north to Denver.

“After welcoming travelers for more than 60 years, the Palmer Lake depot is doing a little traveling itself these days,” wrote William Marvel of the Rocky Mountain News late in 1968.

“The ancient wooden structure, decorated with carved fancywork in the Victorian manner, has taken to flatbed truck and is being towed towards a final resting place in South Park.”

In its last years in Palmer Lake, the station was used as an office for the Santa Fe Railroad’s agent that relayed orders to passing train that never stopped. The railroad donated it to a Palmer Lake youth group and as soon as the group realized that its members had no way of getting it off the property, they advertised it ‘for sale.’

Denver advertising executive Shelton Fisher saw the ad and talked to the group’s leader who told him he was selling the building to the first buyer that showed up with $100. Marvel’s story in the Rocky Mountain News quotes Fisher regarding his immediate interest.

“Thirty-nine minutes later, we were down there. I saw it from the highway and told my wife to write out the check,” he said. His plans called for having a house mover relocate the structure with a trip of 120 miles that required special dispensation form Charles Shumate, who was then head of the Colorado Highway Department. Part of its route included traveling down uncompleted lanes of I-70 that was known then as the Hampden Avenue Extension, to avoid traffic.

“Once there, it will be set up along with another rail road relic – a wooden caboose given to Fisher by the Colorado and Southern Railway (Burlington),” noted Marvel’s story in the Rocky Mountain News. Fisher planned to create a bunk house that would sleep ten and connect the two structures with a passageway between them for use as guest ranch of sorts for orphans. Still, bells and whistles aside, the loss is real even if most can’t remember any of those buildings. It is nice to know where they were.

Having read a column that I wrote earlier about moving the railroad depot in Palmer Lake, Marianne Zagorski wrote and provided a interesting postscript to the story.

“In ’66 my family and I moved from the USAFA out to Palmer Lake and eventually attended a town meeting, date of which I do not recall. It is a coincidence you should say “fire was not the culprit” because it almost was. Toward the end of the meeting a reminder was given of past business. ‘Don’t forget – our volunteer fire department will brush up on their skills on (date) when the depot will be set fire. Everyone
come.’

“Never shy, I jumped to my feet and had my say. In the interest of brevity, I will condense what ensued into: hostility, sharp words, disbelief and a final acquiescence in accepting my plan of putting it up for sale. ‘But remember, you only have two weeks, then we burn it. And you are limited to $100 – tops.’

Zagorski countered.
‘But why tie my hands? You already made it clear your funds are at a low ebb. I guarantee I can get you much more.’

“TWO WEEKS – ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS!”
“Yes sir.”

Zagorski said that they did have a good point about the dangerous condition of the building and how it would be expensive to rectify.

“But I knew my market and lost no time calling The Denver Post Sunday Empire section which also lost no time sending a reporter and photographer to meet me. I was aware of everything dealing with trains was high on their list of priorities. So, on the earliest Sunday, there was a good photo and article on a full page.”

“Early in the morning the phone started ringing and continued for days. Of course, I had to accept the first caller for which I was truly sorry when the second caller was the moving force behind the opening of Woodmoor. He was offering really big money (as many did) if only I would let him have it. He wanted it for the narrow-gauge tracks and train he was planning to run around his lake. Even though he never realized that idea, The Depot would have remained here.” Thus, the depot was saved from the torch.

“I do not recall anything at all said to me by the Palmer Lake commission members when I handed over the check. Not then or later. But I had accomplished my goal.”

Strange that little of the story made its way into town or Historical Society records. Maybe the shame of losing the depot had something to do with this.

The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway built its own line north from Pueblo to Denver, reaching Palmer Lake in September 1887. Its tracks paralleled those of the Denver & Rio Grande’s all the way, crossing over them at three locations, including one just north of Palmer Lake. Among the Santa Fe’s facilities at Palmer Lake, on the east side of the lake, was a large frame depot with a distinctive tower where the south end of the (current) Santa Fe Trail’s parking lot, information kiosk and restroom are.

The Santa Fe and Rio Grande operated on their own tracks from 1887-1918. During World War I the United States Railroad Administration ordered that the two railroads operate their tracks from South Denver to Bragdon, just north of Pueblo as a double track railroad. To facilitate this, crossovers and connecting tracks were built at the three previous crossovers, including one at Spruce Mountain, just north of Palmer Lake to facilitate this. The D&RG track was south bound with the Santa Fe’s track north bound.

In 1938 the two railroads created a consolidated depot at Palmer Lake, made possible because the two sets of tracks were a few yards apart where County Line Road crossed them. The Santa Fe’s closed Pring depot was moved to Palmer Lake, its bay window facing west. The closed Greenland depot baggage door and bay window were added to the east side, facing the Santa Fe’s northbound tracks. The depot was staffed by the Santa Fe. The new “joint agency” was now in service. The railroad’s separate depots were torn down in 1939.

The Santa Fe’s original depot was a large unique structure for that railroad. Its distinctive tower seemingly served no known purpose other than ornamentation. Decorative windows in the tower may have been planned but were never installed. A large rectangular, long “roof,” covered four distinct “areas.” At the southern end was an open “waiting area” with seats, then the actual depot of three rooms – the telegrapher’s office, waiting room and a freight room, then an open, covered “breezeway” and lastly a kitchen and dining room. The dining room was smaller than others but nevertheless was operated as one of the Santa Fe’s famous Harvey House dining rooms. Some/many local folks said the food was superior to that of the D&RGs Judd Eating House. The dining room did not last very long and was closed about 1902. In 1915 the “breeze way” was enclosed and along with the kitchen/dining area converted to living quarters for the agent.

The Santa Fe Section Foreman’s home is now the Palmer Lake Police Dept. and is across from the Vaile Museum, on the north-west corner of Lower Glenway St. With the establishment of the Santa Fe – Rio Grande “Joint Depot” staffed by Santa Fe agents and telegraphers serving both roads in 1938, the unique Santa Fe depot at Palmer Lake was closed and torn down ca 1938-1939.