2019 Summer Road Trip, Day 5

Today began with a scenic railway journey up into the Mosquito Range to the east of Leadville. There had been a molybdenum mine (and still is, although it’s been shut down for some periods of its life) and this railroad line ran to that mine. Many years ago, the company running that line decided to shut it down and a couple from Leadville offered to make them a deal to continue the line as a tourist attraction. They were able to buy the tracks, two engines, boxcars, flatbed cars, spare parts of all types, and repair equipment for the vast sum of $10! And the new owner said years later, “That was the most expensive $10 I ever spent!!”

(I have to apologize for the pictures taken on this journey; I didn’t realize that I had altered a vital setting on my DSLR camera and all the photos came out significantly overexposed. I corrected as much as I could, but they still aren’t what they should be.)

Here’s the depot we departed from, just 3 blocks from my hotel.

As we left Leadville, there were good views of the local mountains as well as the “other” engine.

At times during the journey, the track curved so tightly that I was able to get photos of both our engine and cabooses.

And then there was all the scenery.

Back at the depot, I grabbed a shot of the old steam engine, beautifully restored and on display:

Once the train ride was done – and face and scalp were burnt to a crisp because I didn’t bother to wear my hat and I was in the sun the entire time – I visited the Matchless Mine just outside of Leadville. In order to fully understand the impact of this mine and the opera house pictures that follow, I highly recommend you look up the riches-to-rags story of Horace Tabor and Baby Doe.

I only took two pictures at the mine, the first being the mine head at one of the shafts, and the second being the outside of Baby Doe’s cabin. Her wedding dress in the early 1880s had cost $7,000, and she lived her final years in complete poverty in this one-room cabin, wrapping burlap bags around her feet in the winter and lining the walls with butcher paper to try to keep, always hoping the mine would once again be profitable.

I finished my day with a tour of the Opera House built by Horace Tabor. It’s not in great condition, but it is being used still and will be restored to its former glory. Most of the building was off-limits to photography, but here are some things I was able to photograph.

First, this floor of Italian tile and the original stenciling on the wall:

And finally, two views of the auditorium itself, the first from the balcony and the second from the main floor. This opera house saw a multitude of world-famous performers including Harry Houdini, Oscar Wilde, and John Philip Sousa. The main curtain was originally the only curtain because the house was lit by 72 gaslights; the curtain you see here is the original, and is hand-painted. (There was a rehearsal in progress for an upcoming community musical so we weren’t able to visit the stage or any other parts of the hall.)