The Denver and New Orleans Railroad was chartered in January, 1881 by Governor John Evans and associates.This line was one segment of an ambitious scheme to build divergent railroads from Denver to Duluth and Puget Sound to Texas. One branch of the latter was to terminate in Galveston, Texas and the other in
New Orleans, Louisiana. Operation of the standard-gauge rail from Denver, Colorado commenced in May, 1882. A four-mile branch was also extended in 1882 from the mainline to coal mines at Franceville in El Paso County, Colorado. A nine-mile branch, completed in 1883, gave railroad access to Colorado Springs. The Denver, Texas, and Gulf Railroad purchased the D&NO at a foreclosure sale in 1885. The men who controlled the DT&G had been, with few exceptions, the
originators and incorporators of the D&NO.