Editing Lake City, Colorado (section)

==Denver and Rio Grande Railroad==
In 1889, the [[Denver and Rio Grande Railroad]] finished laying track from [[Sapinero, Colorado|Sapinero]] to Lake City; the distance spanned 36 miles, with 10 bridges. The "High Bridge" was 800 feet long and 113 feet high. The train averaged 12 miles per hour. According to local residents, "You didn’t want the Rio Grande engine to run over you because 'it was on you so long'."{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}
The final cost of the construction of the branch was $770,996.80, a considerable sum at the time.<ref name="Lake City Hinsdale County Colorado">{{cite web | url=http://www.lakecity.com/mountain-town-activities/historic-attractions/17-things-to-do/history/10-the-d-rg-lake-city-branch-railroad-and-a-galloping-goose | title=The D&RG Lake City Branch Railroad and a Galloping Goose | work=Colorado Railroad Annual #14 | access-date=January 23, 2015}}</ref> The local newspaper welcomed the arrival of the D&RG:<ref name="Lake City, Colorado National Historic District ">{{cite web | url=http://www.lakecityhistoricdistrict.com/transportation-3.html | title=A Brief History of Lake City: The Mining Era, 1874-1904 | publisher=Town of Lake City | access-date=January 23, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123212017/http://www.lakecityhistoricdistrict.com/transportation-3.html | archive-date=January 23, 2015 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

:"The town has awakened from its long sleep; new people and new enterprises are coming in at a rapid rate; outside capital is coming to the rescue, and Lake City is on the eve of a prosperity such as it has never seen before. Mines that have been practically untouched for years are now being profitably worked under the impetus given by ample shipping facilities and cheaper rates; the stores and residences that have been so long vacant are rapidly filling up, and the patient people who have endured the horrors and the hardships of business inactivity for years now wear the smile of gladness and joy."

The Denver & Rio Grande line had additional impacts. The railroad bolstered the ranching industry by shipping cattle raised on ranches along the Lake Fork and by bringing sheep for summer grazing along the [[Lake Fork Gunnison River|Lake Fork valley]] in northern Hinsdale County. It also linked the isolated location with the rest of the state and nation, encouraging sportsmen and tourists to visit the upper Lake Fork.<ref name="Lake City, Colorado National Historic District" />