I am Ben. I live in Teller County. I do Locksmithery.
I'm based in Cripple Creek, & service the majority of Teller County plus a few slivers of the surrounding counties - mostly the 4x4 trails & Lake George.
I try my best to provide prompt services & upfront prices with NO hidden fees.
The Story
A while back I thought I’d locked my keys in my truck. I hadn’t - my cat had pawed them under a cabinet. But, the search taught me something more useful: there wasn’t a truly local locksmith answering the phone in Cripple Creek. Or Divide. Or Woodland Park. Closest that picked up that day (that was real) was in Colorado Springs (who was absolutely amazing & upfront).
I called the first “Cripple Creek Locksmith” I found - sponsored on Google, hundreds of reviews. It was a call center dispatching "nation wide". Okay - plausable, but I'd rather more local service. So I kept going, about two dozen calls deep. Same opening script, same cadence: but not actually local.
“If nobody’s going to pick up locally, maybe I should.”
Although I finally found my keys, the bigger picture stuck with me: casinos, tourism, neighborhoods on the divide — people here would be better served by an actual person who lives & works here.
Why a locksmith company - & not just car lockouts?
I have thirteen years of experience in electrical engineering, software engineering, & the security industry. I spent over a decade in full‑service security work: locksmithing, rekeying, custom key systems, alarms, cameras, access control - for homes & businesses across the country.
After Covid restrictions essentially halted security services, I shifted back into software engineering. At the same time, I moved from Colorado Springs to Teller County & realized I wanted to offer something useful to the community I’m in every day. So, I "restarted" the security business with a focus on locks & lockouts.
Why “Short Line”?
The name nods to the Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek District “Short Line,” the historic railroad that connected Colorado Springs to the gold camps at Cripple Creek & Victor. It moved people & tools where they needed to be - reliably & without fanfare. That’s the spirit I want in the work: show up, do it right, keep it local.
I also REALLY like trains.