SCLT Explore History with “All-Aboard,” Railroad History

The Sheridan Community Land Trust presented its April Explore History program at the Hub on Smith on Tuesday, April 23. The program was titled, “All Aboard! Sheridan County’s Railroad History.”

SCLT History Program Manager Kevin Knapp presented the program about the rich railroad history of Sheridan County.

He recently took a trip, and knowing he was going to do this program, he said,

He talked about how railroads were being built transcontinental, including the Union Pacific, the Northern Pacific and the Burlington Route.

It was after Wyoming statehood in 1890, that the CB&Q began to look at northern Wyoming.

He added that there were many consolidations of the railroad companies, and eventually the CB&Q became the Burlington Northern Santa Fe, as we know it today.

Knapp talked about some of the far-seeing men who saw the potential of the railroads, there was Boston capitalist John Murray Forbes, who found investors and started building railroads. He was president of the CB&Q line in the 1850s.

There was also Charles Perkins, who became president in 1881 and oversaw the building of the rail line. They looked into Cheyenne for a railroad, but the Union Pacific was already there.

The rails reached Donkey Town, Wyoming, and the company was using the services of Edward Gillette, a surveyor, and he found a shorter route, hoping for a bonus, but the company decided to rename Donkey Town to Gillette in his honor. It crossed the Powder River at Suggs, which is now Arvada, Wyoming in 1892. The rails arrived at Sheridan on Nov. 22 of 1892. The first train arrived four days later.

An old engine from the Wyoming Railroad line between Buffalo and Clearmont

The trains brought an economic boom for Sheridan. People could reach markets with their produce, livestock and coal. The trains, for a time, were a large consumer for Sheridan County coal.

Knapp talked about the passenger trains, which during the early part of the 20th century, were the best and fastest mode of transportation. Depots were set up along the tracks, with telegraph lines and operators, and a place to load and unload passengers near their destinations. Sheridan had an old wooden depot, which was replaced later by the brick depot.

With the passengers came such establishments as the Sheridan Inn, which was built by the CB&Q railroad and the Sheridan Land Company for a cost of $25,000.00.

Knapp also mentioned the Sheridan Railway Company, which, while not exactly a railroad like the CB&Q, was a part of Sheridan’s rail line history.

Several lines were added to Fort McKenzie and the coal mines. There is one of the old street cars that is currently parked on Higby Road in Sheridan.

The SCLT is hoping to preserve the streetcar, and anyone interested in helping with the project can contact Knapp at Sheridan Community Land Trust. history@sheridanCLT.org