"The Royal Gorge Route has, quite possibly, one of strangest histories of the entire Rio Grande system." The details of the "Royal Gorge War" can be read at the Royal Gorge Route Railroad Wikipedia article. After months of legal hassling, construction resumed and the D&RGW made it to Granite and reached Leadville on July 20, 1880. The line remained narrow gauge until 1888, when it became one of the first routes converted to dual gauge. In part this was done to handle the heavy freight coming out of Leadville, but primarily it was done to provide a standard gauge route west in order to compete effectively with the ever-expanding Colorado Midland.