The Denver and Intermountain Railroad was an

interurban railway The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...

that operated between

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

and

Golden, Colorado Golden is a home rule city that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 20,399 at the 2020 United States census. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the base of the Front Range of the Rocky Moun ...

. Originating as a steam railroad, the ''Denver, Lakewood and Golden'', the line was opened in 1891 and had built an electrified spur leading into downtown by 1893. The company went into receivership and was acquired by the Denver & Inter-Mountain Railway in 1904, changing to simply the Intermountain in 1907 before finally settling on Denver & Intermountain Railroad (D&IM) in 1910. The line was fully electrified at 11,000

volt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, Voltage#Galvani potential vs. electrochemical potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units, International System of Uni ...

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current that periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time, in contrast to direct current (DC), which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in w ...

in 1909, allowing direct trains to run on city streets to downtown Denver's Interurban Loop. The company was acquired by

Denver Tramway The Denver Tramway, operating in Denver, Colorado, was a streetcar system incorporated in 1886. The tramway was unusual for a number of reasons: the term "tramway" is generally not used in the United States, and it is not known why the company ...

the following year, becoming Route 84 in the system. Service ended in 1950 – electrical infrastructure was maintained until 1953 and ownership of the line passed to Associated Railroads, maintained the line for freight as far as

Denver Federal Center The Denver Federal Center, in Lakewood, Colorado, is part of the General Services Administration (GSA) and is home to about 6,200 employees of agencies of the federal government of the United States. The center encompasses an area of about and ...

. The

right of way A right of way (also right-of-way) is a specific route that people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access h ...

was acquired by

Regional Transportation District The Regional Transportation District, more commonly referred to as RTD, is the regional agency operating public transit services in all or a portion of eight out of the twelve counties in the Denver–Aurora combined statistical area in the U.S. ...

in the 1990s and rehabilitated to form part of the W Line

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

Car No. 25

Denver and Intermountain Number 25 is an interurban car built by the Woeber Car Company in Denver. It entered service in 1911 and was retired in 1950 with the end of streetcar operations in Denver. The car was purchased by the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club for $150 ($ adjusted for inflation) and continued to be used for

excursion An excursion is a trip, usually made for leisure, education, or Physical exercise, physical purposes. It is often an adjunct to a longer journey or visit to a place, sometimes for other (typically work-related) purposes. Public transportatio ...

s until 1953. After being briefly stored in Golden, it was moved to the

Colorado Railroad Museum The Colorado Railroad Museum is a non-profit railway museum, railroad museum. The museum is located along the former Colorado and Southern Railway line on at a point where Clear Creek (Colorado), Clear Creek flows between North and South Table ...

and stored outdoors. The

Platte Valley Trolley The Denver Trolley, formerly known as the Platte Valley Trolley, is a heritage streetcar line in Denver, Colorado, operated by the Denver Tramway Heritage Society. It began service on July 1, 1989. Route and operation The tram, trolley line ori ...

intended to use the car for its

heritage trolley Heritage streetcars or heritage trams are a part of the efforts to preserve rail transit heritage. In addition to preserving street-running rail vehicles, heritage streetcar operations can include upkeep of historic rail infrastructure. Working ...

service, but eventually chose another vehicle after No. 25 was moved to

. Despite this, a restoration began in 1988. In 2010, ownership of the car was transferred to the West Corridor Historical Rail Cooperative, an agency supported by the Platte Valley Trolley and the City of Lakewood. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on January 12, 2012, being notable as the only known surviving

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

Woeber-built car of its type. Lakewood periodically hosts public open house visits with short rides.

References

{{reflist Transportation in Denver History of Denver Streetcars in Colorado Defunct Colorado railroads Railway companies established in 1891 Railway services discontinued in 1950 Transportation in Lakewood, Colorado Golden, Colorado Interurban railways in Colorado