In its heyday, Blair Street reveled around the clock. No less than thirty-two establishments lined its two gay blocks and beckoned from the fringes of the side streets. The gambling houses carried such names as Mikado, National, Diamond, Sage Hen, and Bon Ton. Sporting houses were as easy to identify—Lola’s, Diamond Kate, Big Mollie, Diamond Tooth Lil’s, and so on. On this street a dozen dance halls employed over three hundred girls. There was night life for all, and plenty of participants, with ample reserve in the nearby hills. However there was very little trouble, as the people made their own laws and upheld them. An example was in December of 1882 when a bartender sold a drink to a minor. Instantly the town was up in arms. They gathered and destroyed his stock of liquor valued at $3,000.00. [Illustration: The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad at the Rockwood Cut] The building of the D. & R. G. Railroad started northward up the Animas Canyon, a natural route, soon to be blasted out by the construction force. This closed the toll road, as much of the road was to be used for the railroad bed. The train reached Silverton July 18, 1882, over forty-five miles of one of the D. & R. G.’s most scenic routes. The first steel rails made by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Works of Pueblo went into this track at a price of $70.00 a ton. Previously, all rails had been made of iron. The pioneers thought their transportation troubles were over, but they soon learned the elements were unbeaten. Snowslides, washouts, and floods were unconquered, and there were plenty of all before too many years. However, the “Silverton” has the longest record of continuous operation of any narrow gauge railroad in the country, and does the greatest passenger business per mile of any scheduled train in the United States. Silverton’s first telegraph came with the arrival of the train service. [Illustration: Toll Road Between Ouray and Silverton. Present Day Million Dollar Highway]