Boulder Branch 2007
Listen to the
Boulder
Branch Podcast The story of Boulder Branch line
begins with the formation of the Denver and Boulder Valley, which was
constructed at the direction and expense of the Denver Pacific (which
had built from Denver, Colorado to Cheyenne, Wyoming). In 1870, the
Denver and Boulder Valley built west from Brighton, Colorado to Dick
(about a mile east of St. Vrains, Colorado) in order to serve the farms
and ranches located along the line. In order to get some of the mining
business west of Boulder, Colorado, the line was extended west to Erie
in 1871 and then into Boulder in 1873. The line was operated under the
Denver Pacific Railway until September of 1879. The Denver Pacific (and
its Boulder branch) was then transferred to the Kansas Pacific and the
D&BV was operated under the KP until February of 1880 when the Union
Pacific merged with the KP and took over all rights to the Denver and
Boulder Valley.
In the early 1900's, the Union Pacific had accumulated a number of
coalmines that were operating between St. Vrains and Dent, 27 miles to
the north. In an effort to relieve coal congestion on the main line
Kansas Pacific route, the UP built a line from Sand Creek Junction off
the main line near Henderson north to St. Vrains (where it connected to
the Boulder Branch) and then built to Dent, Colorado and to La Salle,
Colorado in the following year.
Eventually the Dent Branch main line from St. Vrains to Dent and the
Boulder Branch line from Brighton to St. Vrains would be abandoned due
to lack of mostly coal traffic, leaving only the Dent Branch from Sand
Creek to St. Vrains to serve local industries. There was a water
treatment plant on the west side of Brighton that continued to keep a
freight connection after the rest of the segment was abandoned, but that
too is now without rail service. There are still some traces of track in
Brighton near the junction with the main line. Further west, some of the
right of way is used as dirt roads; other sections are completely
obliterated by cropland.
In late 2002, the UP also discontinued service to David Joseph, a scrap
metal dealer on the site of the coal mine, which was located about 200
feet west of Interstate 25 and about 2 miles west of St. Vrains) and
west to Liggett at Milepost 19.6 for lack of industrial traffic.
Further, in 2002, the UP discontinued service from a mile east of David
Joseph (on the Dent Branch) west to Boulder due to the removal of the
bridge over impending I-25 expansion in Colorado.
Trackage remains on Union Pacific’s Boulder Branch from Valmont at
milepost 24 East through Erie to David Joseph at about milepost 9.1.
Should demand pick up to certain levels, the state of Colorado will
replace the bridge they had removed and service will resume on the
branch. Although the line has seen some radical changes in the last 50
years, the Dent Branch still does have industries that need servicing,
and sees daily service from a local that works north from Denver. The
road and dispatcher frequency for the Boulder Branch is AAR 69(161.145).
Valmont United Community Presbyterian Church Boulder Branch facing west from 61st Street South bound branch towards the Valmont Power Plant Valmont yards of the Boulder County Railway Historical Society Valmont Yards satellite view
This view shows track bed remnants in Brighton. This view shows rail remnants in the frontage road to US 85 in Brighton, facing southeast. Across US 85 new apartments were built on the right of way. The VUCBC adjoins the Boulder branch to the north of the tracks and east of 61st Street in Valmont. The original church building was located on Indian Road closer to the Valmont Yards. That building burned down in the late 1970s. The Boulder Branch ends about 1,000 feet west of this point at this time. In earlier times, the ROW proceeded about 3 miles west to downtown Boulder. This branch was used during the UP active years to supply coal to the power plant. Current Boulder Branch terminus just west of Indian Road in Valmont, Colorado. The switch keeper lived in a caboose placed on the ground in the middle of the wye east of Indian Road in front of the work crane. The GP9 belongs to the Boulder County Railway Historical Society. The track ends about 300 feet west of the locomotive. The former rail bed can be followed west of this point. This stage stop was operational when Valmont was the county seat of Boulder County. When Boulder desired to become the county seat, unidentified individuals moved the newspaper and the county seat to the Boulder townsite one night. This building is a stones throw directly north of the Valmont BCRHS yards on the Boulder Branch. An arial view of the current western end of the Boulder Branch, the Valmont town site, Indian Road, 61St Street.
This view shows track bed remnants in Brighton.
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Rocky Mountain Division
