1903 C&S Souvenir Tourist Pamphlet

[Jim Courtney]

I thought I would share with ya'll my unexpected eBay purchase of last week.

This 1903 edition of a C&S promotional souvenir pamphlet is stamped with a date of issue of April 30, 1904. The little booklet measures 4.5 x 6.5 inches. Photographs of scenic highlights of the C&S are engraved, front and back, on a single strip of paper measuring 6.25 x 36 inches, then folded accordion-style into the booklet.

The inside front and back covers are self explanatory:


For a piece of printed material that is 117 years old, the little pamphlet is in surprisingly good condition. I imagine that they were distributed at the Denver Ticket Office and lodges and depots along the line.

Obviously they were mailed out to interested tourists, like cruise ship brochures are today. Did they have travel agents at the turn of the last century??

Perhaps they were also given out as keep sake souvenirs to excursion goers -- that might explain the stamped date on the front cover.

The photographs are rather small, many familiar, a few I've never seen before.

I would suggest, however, they were well worth the price of a 3 cent stamp!

Anyways, here is what Colonel Fisher considered to be the scenic highlights of the C&S narrow gauge lines back in the day, when both the railroad and the 20th century were brand new . . .


South Park Division:













Clear Creek Division:








There are a few more images, of Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak, etc and scenes around Boulder -- both were C&S standard gauge destinations.

No images of Chalk Creek Canon, Alpine Tunnel or the Palisades. By 1903, the only way to get to those locations was to ride the mixed trains, likely not advertised by the Passenger Department.

Does anyone know if there were other, later, editions of the pamphlet or similar issues??

[Richard Farmer]

Jim - Great find and some great photos!
What a summer vacation it would have been - a ride through the canyon, visit a couple of lodges and fish.
Sign me up!
Richard Farmer

[Robert McFarland]

Just where in relation to the Loop high bridge is Devils Gate?

[Todd Hackett]

Jim Courtney wrote

...Does anyone know if there were other, later, editions of the pamphlet or similar issues??

I have the same pamphlet marked EDITION OF 1905. It looks pretty much the same as your 1903 version.

There were many different pamphlets and brochures issued by the C&S, with varying appearance and purpose. Here are a few that I have collected. Each of these has many more pages that what I've posted.

This one is more of a working pamphlet from 1903 for people who are ready to plan their travel. It covers the whole C&S system as well as affiliated and some connecting lines. Content includes maps, timetables, fare information (including for corpses). Most information is for standard gauge, but there's plenty on the narrow gauge. It folds to about 4"x9".






I have two versions of this one, neither of which is dated. Both refer to excursions on the Denver, Boulder & Western, so probably from the 1910s. The cover of the other one has green background instead of purple, and there are differences in the text and typography, but the photos are the same. This one lists T. E. Fisher as the General Passenger Agent, while the green one shows H. A. Johnson as General Freight and Passenger Agent, which may help to date it if anyone wants to do some research. From some printing codes, this one may be from 1914 and the green one from 1915. This one folds to 4"x9".



This 1907 guide is smaller (3-1/4"x6" pocket size), and provides information on hotels at popular destinations, issued by the C&S General Passenger Agent. A lot of the destinations are on the narrow gauge, but some are reached from standard gauge. It has quick summaries of available lodging in different locations, arranged alphabetically. It's 48 pages (plus cover) are primarily these listings, but also include a map and the general information shown in the second scan.




This Loop Trip brochure shows up frequently on eBay, and I'm sure it was published for many years. This one is probably from the late teens (based on the photo of an Argentine & Grays Peak motor car). Most pages are just photos, but there is the information shown in the second scan below, and a page of points of interest. It folds to about 4"x9".




This appears to be issued specifically for a convention of the Knights Templar in 1913. It's 4"x9" and probably based on a more general C&S brochure with the Knights Templar information added.

[Jim Courtney]

Thank you, Todd, for further filling out this thread!

It is interesting that the so-called "Button" emblem of the C&S dates to the earliest corporate days of the railroad. Did it acutually start out as "buttons" on the passenger crews uniforms? But it didn't make it to the freight car fleet until the mid to late 1920's. Its use on published material is contemporary with the "Columbine" emblem and preceded the C&S "Block" emblem (first appeared in 1907). Wonder why?

From 1899 to 1925, the C&S seemed to like big "billboard" lettering on the house car fleet, first the "Colorado Road" scheme, then the "Block Monogram" scheme.  The block Gothic lettering convention was also used on subsidiary FW&D house cars, and both showed up just before the CB&Q acquisition of both railroads in late 1908. I'm not aware that the CB&Q used similar large block lettering -- did it?

The time table is very helpful in planning operations on a Breckenridge layout, c.1901-1909. Not only does is show the schedules of the passenger "express", numbers 71 and 72, but also the mixed trains, numbers 81 and 82. The express (#72) departed Leadville east bound at 9:00 AM, the eastbound mixed (#82) five minutes later. Eastbound number 72 made it to the Breckenridge station stop just before noon. The east bound mixed 82 didn't showed up at the Breck depot until almost two hours later at 1:40 PM. Shortly after its departure, climbing up the Boreas grade, it had to get in the clear at Mayo Spur, to meet the afternoon westbound express number (#71), with train 71 then descending into Breckenridge to make its scheduled station stop at just before 3:00 PM. given operational delays over Fremont Pass, 82 and 71 likely were in Breckenridge at the same time.

Westbound mixed train 81 seems to have made its entire journey to Leadville in the dark, arriving at the western terminal about the time the sun came up.

So it looks like I need to add a couple of combines to my rosters to build, one for 1901 and another for 1909--or were the mixed trains abolished by 1909??

[Kevin Fall]

Jim,

I have the a red cover version of Colorado's Beauty Spots but it has no date anywhere on the brochure. I had seen the blue version offered before but assumed it had the same images. It has some of the same photos as your version but has omitted (Picturesque Platte Canon, Insmount in Platte Canon, Kiowa Lodge in Platte Canon, Glenisle in Platte Canon, Upper Twin Lake and Georgetown). What it does have is another photo of the Georgetown Loop which I didn't include and the following photos. And also the Palisades and Mt Princeton so further down the line.

Kevin

[Jim Courtney]

Hey, Kevin, thanks for the additional info and photos.

I suspect that your red version of the souvenir pamphlet predates my 1903 edition.

The inclusion of photos of the Gunnison end of the line suggests maybe 1901 or 1902. As I recall, the new C&S experimented with through passenger service to Gunnison during the summers in those years, in coordination with a large Exposition in Denver happening at that time. Excursion fares over Alpine Pass were likely offered in addition to the more popular excursions in Platte Canon and the Loop Trip. The summer passenger trains likely also catered to west slope residents to make the trip to Denver for the Exposition. The "Gunnison Flyer" connected with trains 71 and 72 at Como.

Colonel Fisher certainly did advertise the sights and wonders of the Gunnison extension in the newspapers, implying that there had to be summer passenger trains over Alpine:




Here is a c.1901-1902 photo of the "Gunnison Flyer", arriving at the west end of Pitkin yard:




But passenger service over Alpine to Gunnison was likely unprofitable (direct standard gauge travel from Salida was likely faster and more comfortable), and by 1903, the only way to get to the Palisades was to ride the mixed trains, as in Todd's 1903 passenger timetable above.

Wow, if I could get into the "way back machine" and visit Colorado in the summer of 1901, I'd take every passenger train the C&S offered: The Loop trip to Siver Plume, ride passenger train 71 from Denver to Leadville and on the return trip, get off at Como and take the "Flyer" to Gunnison and back, over Alpine and the Palisades. Such a trip would have given the D&RG competition for the title "Scenic Line of the World".

BTW, the photo of  "Cycle Park in Platte Canon", is Insmont, with its witches hat roof. The owners of the lodge built a bicycle track on the property and it was a popular weekend destination for cyclists in Denver: Check your bike in the baggage car of train 71 in Denver, ride or compete in races at Insmont, then return to Denver on train 72 that evening, or stay the night at the lodge and get in two days of cycling.


McClure image from DPL

[Kevin Fall]

Thanks Jim for the addition information. Sure is an interesting railroad. Though not C&S quite yet, here is an earlier excursion souvenir photo book for the South Park when they were running excursions. It's 6 1/4" x 7 3/4" padded book and then opens up. The two photos are on a card and they slip in from the ends. There is no date on this. I tried to replicate this image years ago with our rented car but my wife was too nervous to take a good photo. She much preferred the walk up on the east side from Hancock to the tunnel!

[Jim Courtney]

Wow, what a beautiful thing to have in your collection!!

[Ken Martin]

I have a red/maroon copy marked "Edition of 1905" with similar photos but also the Mount of the Holy Cross, Boulder, Manitou and a shot on the  Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek.

I also have a couple of folding postcards full of colorized photos.


Ken Martin

[Todd Hackett]

There's a 1916 brochure on Ebay now https://www.ebay.com/itm/324198651482