Colorado Midland Railway
| Reporting mark | CM |
|---|---|
| Locale | Colorado |
| Dates of operation | 1883–1918 |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Colorado Midland Railway (reporting mark CM), 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 Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction.
John J. Hagerman gained control of the Colorado Midland Railway Company in June 1885. In September 1890, Hagerman sold the railroad to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which operated the railroad as a subsidiary and changed the name to the Colorado Midland Railroad.
Another of the founding officers of the Colorado Midland was Irving Howbert, who with General William Jackson Palmer, was a founder of Colorado Springs and for one term a member of the Colorado State Senate. The Colorado Midland Railway established a depot in several small towns along its route, including the defunct community of Howbert, named for Irving Howbert.
For a short time the railroad was consolidated with the Aspen Short Line (1893-1897). Following the Panic of 1893, the Santa Fe railroad failed and both it and the Colorado Midland went into receivership. During this time, a crash in the price of silver also led to economic decline in the mining towns served by the 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. It then came under the joint control of the Colorado and Southern Railway and the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad in 1900. It again declared bankruptcy April 21, 1917, and was sold at auction to Albert E. Carlton of Colorado Springs. Carlton attempted to revive the railroad's fortunes, but his stewardship of the road coincided with the entry of the United States into the First World War. After the inauguration of the United States Railroad Administration in late 1917, the government managers redirected much of the trans-Colorado traffic that was previously carried by other railroads onto the Midland, which was ill-equipped to deal with the sudden upturn in business. The traffic overwhelmed the railroad, and when it became apparent that the Midland was incapable of dealing with the volume of business, the government redirected all of it elsewhere. Business dropped off precipitately, and Carleton was forced to apply for permission to abandon operations. He received it, and the Colorado Midland Railway ceased operations in 1918. Segments of the railroad were then sold to the Midland Terminal Railway; the rest of the line, mostly west of the Midland Terminal connection at Divide, was abandoned. The line was scrapped in the early 1920s.
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