Laramie, North Park and Western Railroad
The Laramie, North Park and Western Railroad (LNP&W) ran between Laramie, Wyoming and Coalmont, Colorado, in Wyoming and Colorado. It operated under several names from 1901 to 1951 before Union Pacific Railroad took it over.
The line began in 1901 as the Laramie, Hahns Peak and Pacific Railway Company, started by Isaac Van Horn. He planned to reach mining camps near Gold Hill in the Snowy Range west of Laramie and also invested in Centennial, a mining camp 30 miles west of Laramie. With the Acme Consolidated Gold & Mining Company, they built a sawmill, lumber yard, newspaper, and other improvements, but financial troubles delayed progress. The line to Centennial finally reached in 1907, after mining there had declined, so the company shifted focus south to North Park, Colorado.
The company bought part of a coal deposit near Walden and named it Coalmont. The first train reached Walden in October 1911 and Coalmont in December 1911. Operating in winter was very difficult and expensive.
In 1914 the company could not pay its mortgage, and the Colorado, Wyoming and Eastern Railroad took control. In April 1924 the line was sold to new owners and renamed the Northern Colorado and Eastern Railroad Company. Local residents in Laramie asked to have the town’s name included, so in June it was renamed again to Laramie, North Park and Western Railroad.
David Webster Adamson retired as general superintendent on June 1, 1941. The railroad continued to struggle through the 1930s, and the Interstate Commerce Commission urged Union Pacific to take over. Union Pacific gained control in 1935 and operated the line under the LNP&W name until 1951, when the companies merged and the line became the Coalmont Branch of Union Pacific; the LNP&W depot in Laramie was closed.
The line was bought by Shortline Wyoming Colorado Railroad in 1987 and abandoned in the summer of 1999. Fremont Station opened in 1903 at 499 Fremont Street, west of the Laramie Depot. It was demolished in 1951 and stood in what is now the Laramie West Side Historic District.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 12:24 (CET).