Over 14,000 Feet Above Sea Level

The following information is taken from a pdf paper found on this website: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwimvKL185nvAhUPgp4KHV_1CG8QFjADegQIDBAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.co.clear-creek.co.us%2FDocumentCenter%2FView%2F7798&usg=AOvVaw1zJelcKDNzi5E4pbtQTvtM Edward John Wilcox, president of the Waldorf Mining and Milling Company, wanted a more expedient way of transporting materials to and from his extensive group of mining properties in the Argentine District other than the laborious method via pack mule and wagon freight. On August 1, 1905 Wilcox started construction on the Argentine Central railway, beginning at the terminus of the Colorado & Southern railroad in Silver Plume and ending at the Wilcox Tunnel at Waldorf. The track was further extended to a point near the top of Mt. McClellan, a total distance of approximately 16 miles from Silver Plume. This is the point at which the train on the front of this post card is resting.

On August 1, 1906, exactly one year after ground was broken, a special ceremony was held near the terminus of the railway in which a golden spike was driven in to celebrate the railways completion. The Argentine Central railway was a narrow gauge, the same as that of the Colorado & Southern (C&S) railway that ran from Denver to Silver Plume, thus making the cars of the two rail lines interchangeable. Connecting with the C&S at Silver Plume, the Argentine Central climbed the north side of Leavenworth Mountain by a series of switchbacks, cresting at Pavilion Point before curving back along the south side of the same mountain into Leavenworth Gulch, then climbing until making its final ascent along the eastern face near the top of Mt. McClellan at an elevation of 14,007 feet. Steeply graded and sharply curved, the rail line has a maximum grade of 6 percent with a minimum curvature of 32 degrees. As a result of these grades, a total of seven Shay geared steam locomotives were used during the existence of the railway. Shay locomotives were not built for speed but rather for strength, enabling it to pull heavy loads - up to 200 tons - on a 6 percent grade, with the capacity of attaining a speed of 15 miles per hour. Although the primary object of the building of the new railway was to furnish transportation facilities to the mining properties, it became evident that this new road would also furnish as an unsurpassed scenic attraction. Tourists rode up the north face of Leavenworth Mountain where they were rewarded with birds-eye views of Silver Plume, the “Loop” of the Colorado & Southern, and Georgetown. After rounding Pavilion Point and gradually climbing Leavenworth Gulch to above timberline, the rail line reached the mining town of Waldorf. From there tourists could continuing the climb up toward the summit Mt. McClellan with its unsurpassed views of Mt. Evans, Mt. Rosalie, Gray’s and Torrey’s Peaks. Despite the enthusiasm surrounding the railway, it never prospered as hoped and Wilcox did not maintain ownership of the Argentine Central for very long. Financial troubles, conflicts with the Colorado & Southern, and not operating on Sundays (Wilcox, a one-time Methodist minister, was a strict observer of the Sabbath) forced the sale of the railway in 1909. The new owners, a Denver syndicate, immediately initiated Sunday operations and revitalized plans to extend the line to the top of Grays Peak, proposing to construct an observatory and hotel at the summit. However, the railway was operating at a loss and heavily in debt; operations ceased in 1911 or 1912 due to these financial troubles. Sold at auction and reorganized as the Georgetown & Gray's Peak Railway Company, freight and tourist traffic was resumed for the 1913 summer season. Attempts were made to boost dwindling tourist interest with the introduction of a tourist camp at Pavilion Point and replacement of the Shay locomotives with self-propelled trolley-like railcars. In 1918, with mining production diminishing, growing popularity of the automobile, and the country’s involvement in World War I, a notice of abandonment was filed by the Georgetown & Gray’s Peak Railway Co. and operations were discontinued. The last of the Argentine Central’s 16 miles of track were removed in 1920.

The post card was published by the H.H. Tamen Company. It was a novelty dealer and important publisher of national view-cards and Western themes in continuous tone and halftone lithography. Their logo does not appear on all their cards but other graphic elements are often remain the same. H. H. Tammen (1856-1924) Harry Heye Tammen was born in Baltimore, Maryland on March 6, 1856, the son of a German immigrant pharmacist. He attended Knapps Academy in Baltimore, then worked in Philadelphia before moving to Denver in 1880. With his partner Charles A. Stuart he worked as a Denver bartender in 1880, and in 1881 they established the firm of H.H. Tammen & Co. (which in 1896 became the H.H. Tammen Curio Co., with partners Carl Litzenberger and Joseph Cox ) in Denver, Colorado. Deeply interested in the study of mineralogy, he published a promotional journal called Western Echoes magazine, "Devoted to Mineralogy, Natural History, Botany, &c. &c." Volume 1 number 1 is copyrighted 1882. Tammen sold mineral specimens and mineral collections, some of which must have been quite fine. His "native silver in elongated octahedrons and arborescent forms, from the Stonewall Jackson mine, McMillanville, Arizona" (specimens priced up to an expensive $40), for example, would be highly prized today. He offered Pikes Peak amazonite specimens ("we can at all times furnish them") priced up to $20, "the high-priced ones are, of course, comparatively very large and of considerable weight, including twin crystals and large groups of same, and are suitable for State or National museums or other large collections." His selection of fine Colorado telluride minerals included petzite, sylvanite, coloradoite, altaite, calaverite, hessite, and native tellurium. Tammen also manufactured a very popular line of "Colorado curiosities" and "mineral novelties" consusting of a variety of numbered and identified Colorado mineral and ore specimens cemented onto clocks, caskets, inkstands (one of which won an award at the 1881 Colorado State Fair), centerpieces, crosses, horseshoes and so on for ornamental purposes. He described these items as "perfect in taste, blending of colors, etc., and absolutely trustworthy as regards the cataloguing, classification and specifications of the different minerals employed in the construction of each article." He also dealt in stereoscopic and other photos of the West (he was supplied by the famous Western photographer W.H. Jackson), photo albums, books on the West, silver souvenir spoons, a wide variety of humorous and scenic postcards (especially of mining areas), fossil fish, polished agates, botanical specimens, Pueblo Indian pottery, Tlingit Indian carvings, relics and taxidermy items from his stores in Denver. In 1895 Tammen formed a partnership with F.G. Bonfils (whom he had met at the Chicago World's Fair) and they became co-owners and co-editors of the Denver Post. Their publishing business flourished, and Tammen's business successes made him a wealthy man. In 1917 Buffalo Bill Cody happened to die while in Denver, and Tammen (one of the city's biggest boosters) offered Cody's widow $10,000 if she would allow Cody to be buried in Denver; she accepted, and the ensuing funeral procession drew 50,000 people. He established the H.H. Tammen Trust in 1924, providing essential health care for children of families who cannot afford to pay. Tammen died July 19, 1924. The H.H. Tammen Curio Co. was in business until 1953, and possibly as late as 1962.