The Georgetown Loop was part of the Georgetown, Breckenridge and Leadville railroad, built in 1882. Construction continued a few miles past Silver Plume but never made it to Leadville. The rise from Georgetown to Silver Plume is nearly 600 feet in 2.1 miles, a 6% grade. This was not feasible so the railway made several loops around the valley, a distance of 4.5 miles and a manageable 2% grade. The major structure is the Devil’s Gate Viaduct, 300 feet long, 95 feet high, on a continuous sharp curve, and a 2% grade. Numerous smaller trestles allowed the track to make three and a half complete circles while ascending the grade. The first passenger train ran in 1884 and the last in 1939. The viaduct was scrapped during World War II. Restoration of the Georgetown Loop as a tourist attraction in the 1970s led to the construction of a new high bridge and the restoration of the line from Silver Plume to Georgetown, reopening in 1984. Georgetown, Breckenridge and Leadville 2-8-0s 40 and 44 were built by Baldwin in 1920 and 1921 respectively, for the Guatemala Railway, later the International Railways of Central America (IRCA) in Guatemala. They have 38 inch drivers, 16 x 20 cylinders, operate at 180 lbs of boiler pressure, and can produce 20,600 lbs of tractive effort. This image shows the two locomotives at the Silver Plume Depot, ready to handle today's trains.
