Alpine Station

Abstract

Postcard showing the abandoned Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad's Alpine Station. Alpine Station was located about eight miles northeast of Pitkin in the Sawatch Range at an elevation of 11,460 feet. In 1880, the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad began building a line from Buena Vista to Gunnison, and this necessitated the boring of an 1805 foot tunnel under the Continental Divide. The excavation of the Alpine Tunnel began in January 1880 and was expected to take only six months, but instead of solid rock they encountered decomposed granite, requiring massive amounts of timbering to support the tunnel. The Alpine Tunnel was finally completed in 1881.