Re: The Gilpin Tram in Black Hawk
Posted by Keith Pashina on Jul 21, 2023; 3:14pm
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/The-Gilpin-Tram-in-Black-Hawk-tp18436p18979.html
This is where the switchback spur diverged from the Gilpin Tram mainline. That is our intrepid moderator Darel Leedy standing on the mainline grade.
The Hidden Treasure/New California Mill was, at one time, a very important shipper on the Gilpin Tram. This mill at its peak had 75 stamps, amalgamating tables, and Gilpin County Bumping Tables.
As years went by, the mill seemed to have been downgraded, and its capacity reduced. The 1917 Economic Geology USGS report noted that the mill had formerly had 40 stamps, and now was reduced to 10 stamps.
The other mainline, the one heading up Chase Gulch, had a spur about 150’ from the engine house. This was a switchback spur branching off from the main, and directly served the Hidden Treasure Mill. This location C&S Official Mileage Table dated July 1, 1914, is mile marker “37.05- HIDDEN TREASURE MILL SPUR No. 1”.
The same spur passed next to the Midas Mill, but this mill appears to have been closed down before the Gilpin Tram was built. Sanborn Fire maps from 1900 note the structure was closed and dismantled by then. The Midas Mill had 20 stamps at one time. This mill also may been have named the Dallas Mill, based on a Weekly Register Call newspaper report dated March 9, 1894.
The switchback spur descended down on the west side of the abandoned Midas Mill. It’s an interesting small mill structure.
Next, we encounter a short spur and what appears to be an ore bin. What was this for? I think this was for loading ore into cars from the nearby Margaret Glenarm Mine, and then the cars were switched into the Hidden Treasure Mill. There is this report in the Gilpin Observer dated July 19, 1900: “The Central Improvement Company are working the Margaret Glenarm vein on the easterly slope of Maryland Mountain…The ore from the Margaret Glenarm is trammed directly from the mine through the Midas tunnel workings to the Hidden Treasure stamp mill where it is treated.”
This S curve is winding around to the tail of the switchback, on it’s way to the Hidden Treasure Mill. The short spur and small ore bin at left may be where the Margaret Glenarm Mine ore was loaded into ore cars, then moved the short distance into the mill for dumping.
Traffic records for this mill seem to be minimal or non-existent, and I have no good information regarding how traffic ebbed and flowed over the years. A report, “Summary of Mineral Industry Activities in Colorado”, published 1922, notes that no mills were operating in Gilpin County by that time.
However, an example of how the unexpected sometimes occurs, there is a report in the Gilpin Observer newspaper on May 9, 1902, reporting, “ There was received last Saturday at the Hidden Treasure mill in Black Hawk three Colorado & Southern railroad cars loaded with stamp mill ore from a gold mine in New Mexico for treatment at that mill. There were six cords of ore, or about 50 tons.”
Today, the site is a wooded slope, and heavily altered over the years by Highway 119 construction. I have not found any artifacts indicating a mill had ever been located here!
The tram spur entered the mill on a short trestle that extended over Clear Creek and the Gilpin Tram mainline to Black Hawk. This point was also the northernmost extent of the Colorado & Southern trackage.
Driving by the mill site today, one would never know that this large mill complext once sat here. The site has been modified since this photo was taken – now there is a visitor parking lot and pedestrian bridge crossing Hwy 119, for the Gilpin Tram hiking and biking trail that heads of Chase Gulch.
Lots of modeling inspiration around this area. I have never had the space to really model this mill, but it would make an impressive model, with the switchback, bridges crossing the creek and trackage, dual-gauge track, etc.
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/The-Gilpin-Tram-in-Black-Hawk-tp18436p18979.html
This is where the switchback spur diverged from the Gilpin Tram mainline. That is our intrepid moderator Darel Leedy standing on the mainline grade.
The Hidden Treasure/New California Mill was, at one time, a very important shipper on the Gilpin Tram. This mill at its peak had 75 stamps, amalgamating tables, and Gilpin County Bumping Tables.
As years went by, the mill seemed to have been downgraded, and its capacity reduced. The 1917 Economic Geology USGS report noted that the mill had formerly had 40 stamps, and now was reduced to 10 stamps.
The other mainline, the one heading up Chase Gulch, had a spur about 150’ from the engine house. This was a switchback spur branching off from the main, and directly served the Hidden Treasure Mill. This location C&S Official Mileage Table dated July 1, 1914, is mile marker “37.05- HIDDEN TREASURE MILL SPUR No. 1”.
The same spur passed next to the Midas Mill, but this mill appears to have been closed down before the Gilpin Tram was built. Sanborn Fire maps from 1900 note the structure was closed and dismantled by then. The Midas Mill had 20 stamps at one time. This mill also may been have named the Dallas Mill, based on a Weekly Register Call newspaper report dated March 9, 1894.
The switchback spur descended down on the west side of the abandoned Midas Mill. It’s an interesting small mill structure.
Next, we encounter a short spur and what appears to be an ore bin. What was this for? I think this was for loading ore into cars from the nearby Margaret Glenarm Mine, and then the cars were switched into the Hidden Treasure Mill. There is this report in the Gilpin Observer dated July 19, 1900: “The Central Improvement Company are working the Margaret Glenarm vein on the easterly slope of Maryland Mountain…The ore from the Margaret Glenarm is trammed directly from the mine through the Midas tunnel workings to the Hidden Treasure stamp mill where it is treated.”
This S curve is winding around to the tail of the switchback, on it’s way to the Hidden Treasure Mill. The short spur and small ore bin at left may be where the Margaret Glenarm Mine ore was loaded into ore cars, then moved the short distance into the mill for dumping.
Traffic records for this mill seem to be minimal or non-existent, and I have no good information regarding how traffic ebbed and flowed over the years. A report, “Summary of Mineral Industry Activities in Colorado”, published 1922, notes that no mills were operating in Gilpin County by that time.
However, an example of how the unexpected sometimes occurs, there is a report in the Gilpin Observer newspaper on May 9, 1902, reporting, “ There was received last Saturday at the Hidden Treasure mill in Black Hawk three Colorado & Southern railroad cars loaded with stamp mill ore from a gold mine in New Mexico for treatment at that mill. There were six cords of ore, or about 50 tons.”
Today, the site is a wooded slope, and heavily altered over the years by Highway 119 construction. I have not found any artifacts indicating a mill had ever been located here!
The tram spur entered the mill on a short trestle that extended over Clear Creek and the Gilpin Tram mainline to Black Hawk. This point was also the northernmost extent of the Colorado & Southern trackage.
Driving by the mill site today, one would never know that this large mill complext once sat here. The site has been modified since this photo was taken – now there is a visitor parking lot and pedestrian bridge crossing Hwy 119, for the Gilpin Tram hiking and biking trail that heads of Chase Gulch.
Lots of modeling inspiration around this area. I have never had the space to really model this mill, but it would make an impressive model, with the switchback, bridges crossing the creek and trackage, dual-gauge track, etc.
Keith Pashina
Narrow-minded in Arizona
Narrow-minded in Arizona
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