Possibly the best-known streetcar line in the Black Hills belongs to Deadwood. While the line wouldn’t receive the same recognition that the line in Rapid City did, it would retain its history, partially because of the town’s dedication to their past.
The Deadwood Street Railway would be incorporated in August of 1888, seemingly out of nowhere. In local papers, readers were implored to not overlook the project, and that it would only take a few months for it to be realized.
By October, bids were being taken for the grading of a streetcar line in Deadwood, as well as the grading of a railroad between Deadwood lead, taken by the Deadwood Street Railroad and Deadwood Central Railroad, both fueled by James K.P. Miller, the “savior of Deadwood.”
In charge of the construction of the railway was the civil engineer, A.D. Wilson, who was instrumental in connecting the Black Hills. Wilson made short work of getting both railway lines up and working. By the beginning of 1889, both were taking passengers.
There were high hopes for both railways. But those hopes weren’t fully realized. Instead, both were often seen as being a nuisance. And as with many trolley systems, they just weren’t financially viable in the long run, partially because of the many conditions that came with them.
By 1892, just 4 years after incorporating, the Deadwood Street Railway was under fire. Being a horse drawn trolley system, the tracks quickly became a problem. Coupled with poor grading, the line would become a nuisance, as in many places, the tracks would stick up as much as eight inches, which posed risks to every other vehicle as well as pedestrians.
The city council took action, and they demanded that the tracks to be built level to the street, or they would be torn out. In addition, it was threatened, that if legal, the city would disenfranchise the company if they didn’t comply.
Many began to suspect that Miller, and his syndicate had attempted to double their money with the streetcar line, and once they found that it was an investment that was losing money, they just stopped caring. Because of the state of the Deadwood Street Railway, as well as other investments of theirs, it was said that the syndicate’s motto was “to hell with Deadwood and her people, it’s only her money we want.”
Part of the issue though was that in incorporating, and being allowed to build the streetcar line, part of the deal was that the company not only grade their line flush with the street, but maintain the street as well. The ongoing street repair would end up being a burden on the company. A burden they didn’t maintain well once it was clear that they were losing money.
While the Deadwood Street Railway was bleeding, the Deadwood Central Line was working at expanding. Lines would be added from Pluma to Bald Mountain, as well as from Pluma to Lead City. Further expansion was also being sought, from Pluma to Deadwood, as well as a line to Spearfish.
But by 1893, many of those plans were being scrapped. The Deadwood Street Railway would stop operation, and was dismantled. The Deadwood Central Railroad wouldn’t fair much better.
Services were being discontinued, and the line largely abandoned, as like its sister line, it was bleeding money. Portions of the line, such as between Pluma and Lead were slated to be torn up. There was some hope though that both lines could be sold and converted over to electric motor lines.
The prospect of selling the two lines to an electric motor company appeared very promising, as negotiations were ongoing. A big reason why such a line was expected was because it was thought that an electric line would be exceptionally profitable, or at least it was sold as such.
But nothing materialized. In 1894, the three cars of the Deadwood Street Railway were loaded up on a train car and shipped to Nebraska. Even though the company would fold, for a decade and a half annual board meetings would continue to be held in order to keep their franchise. Eventually, the company would simply vanish.
The Deadwood Central Railroad faired a bit better. On March 31, 1893, it was sold to the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad company. Their goal was to expand their own railway to all the mining companies of the Black Hills.
It would take over half a year for the Deadwood Central to once again be opened for passenger travel between Deadwood and Lead.
Over the next few years, the Burlington railroad would continue extending its lines, at times under the Deadwood Central name.
In 1901, big changes were made when the line would be extended further into Deadwood, and the line, between Deadwood and Lead, converted to electricity. Three electric trolleys would be added to the line, and at its height, ran 14 roundtrips a day.
For more than two decades, the line would remain open. Electric trolleys would travel between the two towns without much of a problem. But in 1924, operation ceased. The reason cited was that the mechanical work needed to continue the line operational just wasn’t feasible.
Some would later make the claim that the automobile was the death of the trolley line, but it wouldn’t be for another decade before cars would really make a massive impact on the area. The death of the trolley had more to do with the system never being very profitable.
However, this wouldn’t be the end to the Deadwood Central Railroad. A century after it was first established, it was revived in 1988. The train was rebuilt, and carried passengers through Kirk canyon, and then back. To get to that point would take 12 years.
In 1976, Martin Guth set out to revive the Deadwood Central Railroad, and had received permission by the city council to begin building a main depot, narrow gauge track, round house, water tank, turntable, coal storage facility, and a loading dock on public land near the Day’s of ’76 Museum. The catch though was that he had to get it all built, and the train running, by May 15, 1977.
Guth was unable to achieve those goals, but for nearly a decade, the city of Deadwood didn’t seem to really care. However, on May 20, 1985, the council revoked Guth’s variance, and had the land return back to public use, while ordering Guth to remove all improvements from the land.
The reason for revoking Guth’s grant? It was probably because a new investor came in who wanted to revive the line. In 1987, it was announced that an agreement had been signed between the Deadwood Industrial Development Corp. and a group of Rapid City investors under the name of Deadwood Central Railroad Corp. The land that was to be used had been bought by the city of Deadwood in 1985, and had been turned over to the Deadwood Central Railroad in the spring of 1987.
On March 5, 1988, the locomotive for the line arrived. A coal-fired, steam powered locomotive, it was a throwback to the early days of the city, and the Black Hills. It was hailed as a new future for the city of Deadwood, as tourism was being focused on, and was going to boom.
And boom it did. Throughout the country, ads and reviews of the train, as well as the other attractions one could see were being boasted about. It was such a big draw that in 1991, the city of Deadwood agreed to purchase the Deadwood Central Railroad for a little over half a million dollars.
Their goal was to continue running the service, but whether they could find the funds to do so was a major threat. What they were going to do with the site wasn’t clear, and the future of the operation was up in the air.
As what to do with the Deadwood Central Railroad was still looming, the Deadwood Trolley was born in 1992. Seeking to continue to capture their history, the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission, with the city of Deadwood, purchased six gasoline powered trolleys.
While the new trolley system would be a great addition to the town, the Deadwood Central Railroad would slowly fade away. In 1996, it was clear it wasn’t going to run again, as part of the rail yard was converted into a city parking lot. While it was a slow death, it did finally come.