North Park’s relative solitude changed in 1911 when the railroad came to the valley, bringing the noise of construction and a new link from Laramie, Wyoming, to Coalmont, Colorado. The line greatly facilitated shipment of North Park commodities, and for the next 80 years trains hauled coal, livestock, and timber to distant markets. After mining closed in Coalmont in 1964, the line was pulled back to Hebron. Traffic later declined, and the tracks were eventually removed in the 1990s. The route crossed what is now Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge on its way to Coalmont, and its abandoned grade remains visible west and south of this site. Before becoming the Coalmont Branch of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1951, North Park’s railroad had five earlier names: Laramie, Hahn’s Peak & Pacific Railway; Larimer & Routt County Railway; Colorado, Wyoming & Eastern Railway; Northern Colorado & Eastern Railroad; and Laramie, North Park & Western Railroad.