to the Midland Terminal Railway, owned by Carlton and Spencer Penrose. The following year the line through Victor was extended to La Bella Junction. Passengers, mail, and ore was transported along the now Midland Terminal Railway tracks from Cripple Creek to Old Colorado City, but scheduled passenger service ended in 1931. After 1934, 90% of the railroad's business was transporting ore to the Golden Cycle Mining and Reduction Company, which was the only remaining ore processing facility in Old Colorado City. There was some freight and ore shipped across the rails during World War II, but business dropped off thereafter. The railway had abandoned the Taylor Switchback to the Independence Mine in 1930 and in 1948 a total of of track from Old Colorado Springs to Cripple Creek, within the Cripple Creek mining district, and the spur in Old Colorado City to the Golden Cycle Mining and Reduction Company. Legacy Some of the old buildings at the Midland Terminal headquarters in Colorado Springs are in use today, notably the old roundhouse, which was purchased by Van Briggle Pottery in 1955, and the machine shop, which is now the Ghost Town Museum. U.S. Route 24 follows the former railroad's route over Ute Pass. Two miles of the former railroad's right of way is currently used by the Cripple Creek and Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad. Another segment is being converted to a multi-use trail connecting the Pikes Peak Greenway to Manitou Springs. Portions of the roadbed and right of way from Divide, Colorado, to Cripple Creek, Colorado, are in use as Highway 67. A former wood-shored Midland Terminal tunnel was used as a one-lane highway tunnel on CO 67 until the 1990s; after a partial collapse the tunnel was bypassed with a new cut and the tunnel remains as a landmark, its ends are closed with a grille so the interior and shoring can be seen today. See also Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway Cripple Creek and Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad Notes References Further reading External links Midland Terminal Railway photos in the Denver Public Library Western History and Genealogy collection Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad 3 ft gauge railways in the United States Colorado Mining Boom Defunct Colorado railroads History of Colorado Springs, Colorado Railway companies disestablished in 1949 Railway companies established in 1892 Switching and terminal railroads