Denver and New Orleans Railroad

The Denver and New Orleans Railroad is a historic railroad that operated in Colorado.

The D&NO was started by Colorado Governor John Evans, along with railroad entrepreneur David Moffat and other associates in 1881. The company was chartered to build a railroad connection from Denver, Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. The charter was later changed from building to the Gulf of Mexico to instead building a connection with the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway, which was building northwest from Fort Worth, Texas.

The railroad was built from Denver to Pueblo, Colorado. The Denver, Texas and Fort Worth Railroad was organized to build south from the D&NO at Pueblo, Colorado. In 1888 it linked with the FW&DC.

The three railroads came under control of General Grenville Dodge and the Union Pacific Railroad. The southern lines were merged into the Colorado Central Railroad and the Cheyenne and Northern Railway to form the Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf Railroad.

Following the UPRR bankruptcy in 1893, the system was separated from UPRR and merged into the Denver, Leadville and Gunnison Railway by Frank Trumbull to form the Colorado and Southern Railway in 1899. In 1908 the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad gained control of the C&S. The C&S would later merge into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1981.

References

• Athearn, Robert G. (1977). The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad: Rebel of the Rockies. University of Nebraska Press. 
• Drury, George H. (1991). The Historical Guide to North American Railroads. Kalmbach Publishing Co.. ISBN 0-89024-072-8.