Museum Mondays - The Laramie Valley Railroad I
Constructed between 1927 and 1928, the Laramie Valley Railroad ran for roughly ten miles Southwest of Laramie. The primary function of the line was to service the cement plant two miles south of Laramie. Starting at the Monolith Portland Midwest Company cement plant located south of town, the tracks ended at a limestone quarry. Founded in 1927 as the Monolith Portland Cement Company, through a merger in 1929 it became Monolith Portland Midwest Company. Both the quarry and the railroad were owned and operated by the Monolith Company. The LVRR utilized steam engines until 1970 when the railroad phased in diesel locomotives. This line was one of the last railroads to use steam powered locomotives. All photos below are part of the Jerry Hansen Collection, Laramie Railroad Depot.
In this photo taken August 5th, 1963, Monolith 0-6-0 #1 is seen pushing empty side dump rock cars to the limestone quarry. This engine was originally in the Union Pacific fleet as engine 0-6-0 #4453, after it was sold in 1955, it served the LVRR to 1968 when it was retired.
Dated August 27th, 1972, these photos show Monolith 0-6-0 #2 and its engine tender in route to Golden Colorado. Similar to the other engine, UP sold engine 0-6-0 #4455 to the LVRR where it operated until 1970. In 1972, the LVRR donated the engine to the Colorado Railroad Museum where it has been restored and is currently on display. (https://coloradorailroadmuseum.org/)
