Walsenberg
Walsenberg is a small town about 45 miles east of Warsaw. Its most important business is a copper concentrator.SX09 It sits on the C&SL Railroad between Warsaw and the Kremmling Branch to its south.
The Walsenberg Fire Department responded to the big Warsaw Fire in 1981. Because of the blizzard conditions, instead of taking two or three hours by road, it was a six hour struggle. The fire chief at the time was Cliff Sprague.SX05 They had a total strength of 21 go to Warsaw, although 8 were striken by carbon monoxide poisoning from polluted air tanks early in the fight.SX09
One nearby employer is the Summit Pit for Summit Limestone just to the east.AF15 They were an important early customer of the C&SL when it first started business in 1975 as the D&O Railroad wanted to drop the run.SX01 Of course, this was a seasonal business. The pits would close during the winter.SX22
The popularity of the 100 mile Warsaw Run dogsled race had inspired consideration in 1993 of making a 200 mile version that would extend out to Walsenberg. Josh and Tiffany Archer "had even made a demonstration run one weekend the year before, just to prove it could be done, but there wasn't enough enthusiasm for it just yet."RM12 The route would have gone from Spearfish Lake through Warsaw and Walsenberg, then follow the C&SL tracks to Kremmling and Hugo, then back on logging trails and the NCT. Greg Mears was working on getting a sanctioned version to run in March 1994RM12
