First opened in 1884, the Georgetown Loop Railroad is a 3 ft narrow gauge railroad still in operation today. This photograph was taken by Evan Lewis ca. 1899-1902.

The Georgetown Loop Railroad was one of Colorado’s first visitor attractions. This spectacular stretch of 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railroad, built by the Georgetown, Breckenridge and Leadville Railway, was completed in 1884 and considered an engineering marvel for its time. The thriving mining towns of Georgetown and Silver Plume lie 2 miles (3.2 km) apart in the steep, narrow canyon of Clear Creek in the Rocky Mountains west of Denver. Engineers designed a corkscrew route that traveled nearly twice that distance to connect them, slowly gaining more than 600 feet (183 m) in elevation. The route included horseshoe curves, grades of up to 4%, and four bridges across Clear Creek, including the massive Devil’s Gate High Bridge. – Wikipedia (2024)

Evan Lewis: 1856-1904

Obituary: The Auk: A Quarterly Journal of Ornithology: Vol. XXII, April, 1905 p. 229

NOTES AND NEWS.

Evan Lewis died in Pasadena, California, October 23, 1904. (1.) He was born in Berks Co., Pa., April 3, 1856, and there acquired his fondness for bird study which clung to him through his subsequent life. In 1881 he removed to Colorado, where he has since resided, in the vicinity of Idaho Springs.

Here he was engaged in mining interests, and his opportunities for observing the birds of that locality were exceptionally good, and most of his spare time was devoted to them. Probably few persons know the birds of a given district better than Evan Lewis did in his chosen field. His fondness for them frequently led him into the higher mountain regions where the White-tailed Ptarmigans make their summer home. He found numerous nests of these interesting birds, and secured a fine series of photographs, showing the female bird on the nest; the eggs and young ; as well as many interesting facts relating to their nesting habits. Eggs of this species taken by him, are in the Smithsonian collection, as well as in the private collections of J. P. Norris of Philadelphia and T. H. Jackson of West Chester, Pa.

Evan Lewis was an enthusiastic student of Nature. No climb was too difficult, no hardship too great to deter him from the pursuit of his favorite object, and his death will be felt as a distinct loss to those who knew him or of his work. — T. H. J.     

1. Evan Lewis’s brother John Lewis, writing from Denver, stated he died October 22, 1904 in Pasadena, CA. (Shields’ Magazine April, 1905, p. 63)