The route is 4.5 miles (7.2 km) long and ascends an elevation of 640 feet (195.1 m) through mountainous terrain along with trestles, cuts, fills, and a grand loop.

This spectacular stretch of 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railroad, built by the Georgetown, Breckenridge and Leadville Railway,[5][6] 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.

Between 1906 and 1918, the Georgetown Loop connected with the Argentine Central Railway in Silver Plume, by which tourists could continue onward to the summit of Mount McClellan.

The line was dismantled in 1939, but was restored in the 1980s to operate during summer months as a tourist railroad, carrying passengers using historic 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge steam locomotives.

Modern development had cut off the route to the old depot in downtown Georgetown, so the new track terminated just below the Loop at Devil's Gate (about 3/4 miles southwest of the city).

The 3-mile (4.8 km) restored segment, opened on March 10, 1984, is at the upper end of the historic Colorado Central main line up Clear Creek Canyon west of Golden.

[10][11] In 2009, the Colorado Historical Society decided to terminate the contract with Railstar and award the remaining time to a new operator, run by a local Georgetown businessman.