FOR THOSE WHO LIKE THE WHOLE STORY!

ALL OF THE REVIEWS OF:

ROAD TO RICHES

The Great Railroad Race to Aspen

1.    Charles Albi, Historian, Colorado Railroad Museum.

This entertaining novel is based on the famous 1887 railroad race to Aspen, Colorado.  The authors' historical research is first rate.

2.    Donna Daniels, Glenwood Springs Post Independent, June 6, 2003

Clamp and Adams tell a fictional story based on historical events.  In the late 1800's, the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad and the Colorado Midland Railroad battled it out to be the first to extend their tracks to the rich mining towns of Colorado.  Part of that battle involved a race to Aspen that has all the ingredients of a good story: political backstabbing, sabotage and fighting weather, terrain and each other.

In 1887, Colorado was in the midst of a mining boom.  People and supplies came to the mining camps via  wagon and stage, a long hard trip over the Continental Divide.  Although the Colorado Midland had a head start in providing an easier means of travel, it was the D&RG that eventually won the race.  In March of 1887, the D&RG began laying track at the town of Red Cliff, near Minturn, using 1,000 men and 600 animals.  The first train rolled into Aspen on November 1st of that year.

Clamp and Adams took sketchy details about the building of the railroad to Aspen and combined them with known historical figures into a lively account in novel form.

3.    Sybil Downing, Denver Post, August 10, 2003

Road to Riches: The Great Railroad Race to Aspen" (Western Reflections, 176 pages, $14.95), by Cathy L. Clamp and C.T. Adams, traces the amazing 1887 battle between the Denver and Rio Grande and the Colorado Midland as each tries to reach the riches of Aspen's mines first.

A veteran of the Civil War, Luke Ballister is summoned to the Denver office of David Moffat and William Jackson, the D&RG powerhouses, and offered a job of project boss of an immense undertaking.  Using 1,000 men and more than 600 animals, through all kinds of weather, he is to overcome cruelties, politics and greed and lay D&RG track from Red Cliff, near Vail, over the 86 miles to Aspen and do it before their competitor.

Carefully researched with a nice bit of romance in its midst, the novel will be particularly enjoyed by railroad buffs.

4.    Kendal Hemphill, Brady Standard Herald, October 31, 2003

Cathy’s book is called ‘Road to Riches,’ and it’s the story of the race between two railroad companies, the Denver & Rio Grande and the Colorado Midland, to be the first to lay track to Aspen, Colorado in 1887. The book contains no bad language and no loose morals, although there is a lot of loose rock involved.

Although ‘Road to Riches’ is a novel, it is historically accurate. Cathy and her coauthor, C. T. Adams, dug up old newspaper articles, company records, and telegrams from the construction crews to piece the story together. The book also includes actual photographs taken at the actual jobsites. The conversations and some of the people are fictitious, added to make the novel enjoyable, but Clamp and Adams stuck tightly to the facts for the main story.

5.    Jason Midyette, The Colorado Time Table, December 8, 2003

Road to Riches is a novel that takes a look at the construction of the Denver & Rio Grande's line to Aspen in 1887.  At the time, the D&RG was racing against the Colorado Midland to become the first railroad to reach Aspen, a race that the Rio Grande would ultimately win.

Road to Riches tells the story of the line's construction through the eyes of Luke Ballister, a gang boss hired away from the Santa Fe by the D&RG to lead a 1,000-man construction crew building the line through Glenwood Canyon.  Ballister is a fictional character, but many of the people he interacts with and the overall story of the railroad's construction are true.

The story follows Ballister as he accepts his new job and rides a pay train to the construction site where he leads the construction of the line.  The story ends with the Rio Grande reaching Aspen.

I enjoyed reading the book as it provided a look at railroad history from a different point of view than most historical texts and gave a feeling for the daily lives and thoughts of the men who built the railroad.  The book was well researched and stayed true to the timeline of the Rio Grande's construction to Aspen and seemed to jive with my limited knowledge of 19th century railroad construction techniques.  Road to Riches was a fun book to read.  It would make a nice gift this holiday season.

6.    Patti Thorn, ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, April 23, 2004

COLORADO AUTHORS - Road to Riches: The Great Railroad Race to Aspen

By Cathy Clamp and C. T. Adams (Western Reflections, $14.95) Grade: A

Railroad building dominated much of the 19th century settlement, expansion and commerce as companies ruthlessly competed for new territory and wealth. This absorbing book captures the challenges involved in the Denver and Rio Grande's race to reach Aspen before the Colorado Midland did.

Utilizing extensive research into railroad archives, the authors breathe life into both the larger names from history books and several Irish and Chinese laborers who are composites of the 1,000 men who arduously struggled through forbidding walls of rock to travel 86 miles from Red Cliff to Aspen in just eight months.

Colorado weather and geography were not the only obstacles the D & RG folks faced. Theft of essential supplies (including fodder for the 600 animals), political jockeying and sabotage impeded efforts, as did a public relations stunt to send tourists to a dangerous construction site.

The authors have successfully balanced the human element with details of blasting and moving rock in a fast-paced story that will give readers a newfound appreciation for those hard-working 19th century individuals who connected all of Colorado.

7.    MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW, Vol. 3, No. 4, April, 2004

Road To Riches
Cathy L. Clamp and C. T. Adams
Western Reflections Publishing Company
219 Main Street, Montrose, CO 81401
1890437840 $14.95 1-800-993-4490

The collaboration of Cathy L. Clamp and C. T. Adams, Road To Riches: The Great Railroad Race To Aspen is an historical novel set in late 1800s America, and about the men of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad who put their backs into a no-holds-barred race against the Colorado Midland Railroad to determine who would be the first to reach Aspen Colorado in 1887, and with that achievement, reap the rich rewards of serving as transportation for tourists, businessmen, and anyone who would buy a ticket. An enthralling, original, deftly woven tale of cut-throat competition, backstabbing, war against the elements, amazing human feats and so much more, Road To Riches is exceptionally well crafted and highly recommended reading.

8.    Historic Rail.com, May 21, 2004

This novel - a mix of history and fiction - relives the race between the Denver & Rio Grande and rival Colorado Midland to be the first railroad to reach the rich mineral mines in Aspen.  You'll follow the gang boss and his crew as they battle Mother Nature, rockslides, and sabotage in their quest to lay "an iron highway" through the mountains.  Using actual newspaper accounts, archived company records and surviving telegrams, the authors blend true-to-life events with a mix of colorful fictitious characters to create a story as grand as the railroad itself.  180 pgs., 20 B&W photos.