due to competition from the Florence and Cripple Creek Railway and the Midland Terminal Railway, the Colorado and Southern Railway leased the Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway to the Florence and Cripple Creek in 1911. In 1915 this lease was transferred to the Cripple Creek Central Railway, which also controlled the Midland Terminal Railway. By 1917 most rail traffic in the area was directed to the Midland Terminal Railway. The loss of the Bear Creek Bridge in May 1918 cut off all direct traffic from Colorado Springs. Bankruptcy was declared in 1919, at which time it went into receivership. All operations ceased in 1920 and the line was sold for scrap. A signboard posted on Gold Camp Road near the one of the three remaining tunnels that are still used on the road, (#1, #2 and #9), reads as follows: The Midland Terminal Railway, (which wound its way from Colorado Springs to Cripple creek by way of Divide) dominated the shipment of freight and Ore, forcing the CS&CCD out of business by 1920. W.D. Corley, a Colorado Springs coal mine owner and cattle breeder, bought the bankrupt RR for $370,000. It was renamed the Corley Mountain Highway at that time. Corley removed all the tracks, installed toll booths at both ends and opened the Corley mountain highway in 1926. This breath-taking mountain highway became a popular tourist attraction and Corley made $400 per day from the $1 per car toll that he charged. Corley operated his toll road on a Special use permit from the Pike national forest. When this permit expired in 1939, the road was turned over to the federal government. That year the Federal Government changed the name to the Gold Camp Road. Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway--Corley Mountain Highway Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway—Corley Mountain Highway is a historic district that was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. This is the railroad that was converted to the Corley Mountain Highway. After it was taken over in 1939 by the US Forest Service, it has been called Gold Camp Road. See also National Register of Historic Places listings in El Paso County, Colorado References Short Line to Cripple Creek Author: Tivis E Wilkins Publisher: Golden, Colo. : Colorado Railroad Museum, ©1983. External links Map of the Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway at the Old Colorado