The Crouch Line, one of the crookedest railroads in the world and one of the longest lived short lines in the Black Hills. Over 120 bridges were built in the 34 miles of mainline with turns so sharp some of the rails had to be custom bent to fit in the canyon.
There were several towns along the mainline and this post will provide an overview of the towns, and railroad facilities at each town.
Rapid City (mp 0):
Rapid City is the largest town west of the Missouri River in South Dakota. It was the western terminus for the Chicago Northwestern and the Milwaukee Road (although branch lines continued west of Rapid City for both railroads). The Crouch Line's eastern terminus was Rapid City and the railroad used the shared locomotive facilities with the CNW.
The tracks diverged from the CNW mainline and ran parallel to Jackson Blvd. running in a Southwestern direction towards the mouth of Dark Canyon where Rapid Creek spills into the floodplain of Rapid Valley.
Hisega (mp 14):
Hisega is not a town on the route, it was (and still is) a lodge. Hisega Lodge is located in the bottom of Dark Canyon in a spot where the walls open up a bit and provide an elevated, safe place to build structures.
Today, people can stay in Hisega Lodge. The rooms are somewhat expensive for the area, but appear to be high quality. That section of the canyon is quiet too.
Here's the link: http://hisegalodgebnb.com/
Big Bend (mp 16):
I do not yet know much about this part of the railroad. Currently, Big Bend is a small collection of subdivisions outside Rapid City. I imagine that this place had a siding. Nearby, downgrade 1/4 of a mile is Powerhouse Gulch. Perhaps there was a power station there with a railroad siding?
More investigation is needed for this area.
Johnson Siding (mp 18):
Johnson Siding, as the name suggests, was an important stop for the Crouch Line. the siding let trains pass when necessary and served as a team track for local businesses, especially the sawmill operations in the area. Freight and passengers were picked up and dropped off from this point.
Pactola and camps (mp 23):
Rapid Creek opens into a large valley at this point along the line. The town of Pactola, now underwater because of the Pactola Dam, was a small town with placer mines dotted around the valley. A CCC camp, Camp Wanzer (for disease recovery),and several Christian camps were located in the area as well. The daily passenger and mixed trains made stops at these camps regularly through the 1940's.
Silver City (mp 27):
Next to Mystic, Silver City has the most information available. A local historical group has done an excellent job putting together a website about the area's history. Silver City had many small mining operations and saw mills running. A nearby sawmill had a loading platform on a railroad siding in town. A platform is used as a railroad station for passengers and freight.
Canyon City (mp 28):
From what I am able to gather, Canyon City was simply a stop on the line for local placer mining activity. Other than that, there is not information that has been found yet.
Castle Creek Junction (mp 32):
This may not be the official name, but it is the spot where the Crouch Line joined the CBQ Deadwood Branch for the final two miles to Mystic. There was no siding or spur here, as there was no room, just a divergent switch off the CBQ line that ran down a 3-4% grade to meet Castle Creek.
From Rapid City to Castle Creek the line was sectioned off via signals thereby protecting the sole train on the route.
Mystic (mp 34):
Mystic was the western terminus for the Crouch Line which had a two track interchange yard and a 65 foot turntable to turn the small locomotives (the crews didn't want to back down the canyon, I wager).
Early in Mystic's history, a large electro-cyanide refinery for minerals was established. This was the first such mill in North America. While the process worked, it was too expensive at the time and so the refinery closed down. Later, the technology which was pioneered at Mystic would be used for mining operations in Cripple Creek, Colorado and Lead, South Dakota as well as many other places in North America.
Later the closed down mineral mill was re-purposed as the Frink Sawmill. The sawmill transported cut lumber by the Crouch Line and CBQ railroad, generating an important source of traffic for the lines.
The little town of Mystic also had a CBQ/Crouch Line two story depot which handled frieght, passengers, and mail from both railroads.
Today, much of Mystic remains and the CBQ tracks have been converted to the George S Mickelson trail.
In time I will have many more posts about these towns as well as photos and video. For historical photo integrity purposes, I will not be posting historical photos more than necessary.
There were several towns along the mainline and this post will provide an overview of the towns, and railroad facilities at each town.
Rapid City (mp 0):
Rapid City is the largest town west of the Missouri River in South Dakota. It was the western terminus for the Chicago Northwestern and the Milwaukee Road (although branch lines continued west of Rapid City for both railroads). The Crouch Line's eastern terminus was Rapid City and the railroad used the shared locomotive facilities with the CNW.
The tracks diverged from the CNW mainline and ran parallel to Jackson Blvd. running in a Southwestern direction towards the mouth of Dark Canyon where Rapid Creek spills into the floodplain of Rapid Valley.
Hisega (mp 14):
Hisega is not a town on the route, it was (and still is) a lodge. Hisega Lodge is located in the bottom of Dark Canyon in a spot where the walls open up a bit and provide an elevated, safe place to build structures.
Today, people can stay in Hisega Lodge. The rooms are somewhat expensive for the area, but appear to be high quality. That section of the canyon is quiet too.
Here's the link: http://hisegalodgebnb.com/
Big Bend (mp 16):
I do not yet know much about this part of the railroad. Currently, Big Bend is a small collection of subdivisions outside Rapid City. I imagine that this place had a siding. Nearby, downgrade 1/4 of a mile is Powerhouse Gulch. Perhaps there was a power station there with a railroad siding?
More investigation is needed for this area.
Johnson Siding (mp 18):
Johnson Siding, as the name suggests, was an important stop for the Crouch Line. the siding let trains pass when necessary and served as a team track for local businesses, especially the sawmill operations in the area. Freight and passengers were picked up and dropped off from this point.
Pactola and camps (mp 23):
Rapid Creek opens into a large valley at this point along the line. The town of Pactola, now underwater because of the Pactola Dam, was a small town with placer mines dotted around the valley. A CCC camp, Camp Wanzer (for disease recovery),and several Christian camps were located in the area as well. The daily passenger and mixed trains made stops at these camps regularly through the 1940's.
Silver City (mp 27):
Next to Mystic, Silver City has the most information available. A local historical group has done an excellent job putting together a website about the area's history. Silver City had many small mining operations and saw mills running. A nearby sawmill had a loading platform on a railroad siding in town. A platform is used as a railroad station for passengers and freight.
Canyon City (mp 28):
From what I am able to gather, Canyon City was simply a stop on the line for local placer mining activity. Other than that, there is not information that has been found yet.
Castle Creek Junction (mp 32):
This may not be the official name, but it is the spot where the Crouch Line joined the CBQ Deadwood Branch for the final two miles to Mystic. There was no siding or spur here, as there was no room, just a divergent switch off the CBQ line that ran down a 3-4% grade to meet Castle Creek.
From Rapid City to Castle Creek the line was sectioned off via signals thereby protecting the sole train on the route.
Mystic (mp 34):
Mystic was the western terminus for the Crouch Line which had a two track interchange yard and a 65 foot turntable to turn the small locomotives (the crews didn't want to back down the canyon, I wager).
Early in Mystic's history, a large electro-cyanide refinery for minerals was established. This was the first such mill in North America. While the process worked, it was too expensive at the time and so the refinery closed down. Later, the technology which was pioneered at Mystic would be used for mining operations in Cripple Creek, Colorado and Lead, South Dakota as well as many other places in North America.
Later the closed down mineral mill was re-purposed as the Frink Sawmill. The sawmill transported cut lumber by the Crouch Line and CBQ railroad, generating an important source of traffic for the lines.
The little town of Mystic also had a CBQ/Crouch Line two story depot which handled frieght, passengers, and mail from both railroads.
Today, much of Mystic remains and the CBQ tracks have been converted to the George S Mickelson trail.
In time I will have many more posts about these towns as well as photos and video. For historical photo integrity purposes, I will not be posting historical photos more than necessary.
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