Western Railroad Discussion > Autumn at Minturn, CO

Union Pacific Railroad Tennessee Pass line is railbanked between Parkdale, CO, milepost 171.9 and Gypsum, CO, milepost 336. Autumn splendor was nearing its peak at milepost 301 - Minturn, Colorado, September 28, 2014.

Forecast called for snow in the Rocky Mountains September 29, 2014.

---

Nice Photo!

Every time I drive from Canon City to Salida - I "wish" a train could be seen on the tracks across the river..
Still makes that drive more enjoyable - to me, than having the tracks ripped out..

cozephyr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Union Pacific Railroad Tennessee Pass line is
> railbanked between Parkdale, CO, milepost 171.9
> and Gypsum, CO, milepost 336.

Was that a directive by the State of Colorado or the STB? Why was the Tennessee Pass line railbanked but the Modoc and Mop Pueblo Line were not?

Who is/was making the decisions on all this?

It was a decision made by Union Pacific Railroad. They received permission to abandon the line despite loud calls from the State of Colorado.

The decision to rail bank occurred about the same time as the railroad's meltdown in 1998.

At this time I think the U.P. has demonstrated it doesn't need the line. I would guess they will reapply for abandonment within the next 5 years.

Dan Quiat

Originally the UP wanted to abandon and tear up the tracks when they first took over the line but it was then Colorado Governor Roy Romer who made the UP sign an agreement to leave the tracks in place for a year and just turn off the signal system. The thought was that if the UP should need the line for any reason it would be easy to reactivate. If after a year they didn't need to activate the line, they could do whatever they wanted. I'd heard that after a year, the UP decided that holding onto the line in that same condition would be best rather than tearing up the rails. While it would be a challenge to get the line open now in the case of an emergency, I've been told that the UP could do it if necessary within 24 hours. Trains would run on track warrants at 10 or 15 mph with limited passing locations.

In 16 years, they've never needed the line for an emergency but seems that UP is too afraid to take the risk of tearing up the track.

There was also a rumor many years ago that BNSF wanted the line because it can handle double stacks whereas the Moffat Line cannot. UP didn't want to sell the line to the BNSF and knew that if they filed for official abandonment that the line could be open to the highest bidder. The thought was that BNSF would snag it immediately and UP didn't want BNSF to have the line and possibly charge the UP later for trackage rights. This rumor seems to have turned out to be false but really hard to know for sure.

I've also heard rumors that the Rails to Trails folks have been trying to persuade the UP to give up the line to them for a bike path. Something that the UP is also apparently not interested in doing.

Sure sucks that the tracks just sit and rust as this line is extremely scenic and would make for one heck of a great tourist train ride. The 3% grade on the west side of the Tennessee Pass tunnel is probably such a huge liability though that it would be financially impossible to pay for the insurance. Still fun to dream!

Lee Ryan - Rio Grande Fan
Denver, CO

I rather the rails sit and rust, than be torn out... No one can tell what the future holds. Who would have known 10 years ago the old Fort Collins Branch and Julesburg line would be sitting on top of one of the biggest oil discoveries of our time....

Maybe in 15-30 years they will figure out a way to get oil from the shale locked in the rocks outside Grand junction... It is the biggest oil field known on Earth if they can figure out how to get it out.... Best way from Utah to Texas is over Tennessee Pass. They would be smart to hold on to it, just in case. It is too hard to get back once its gone in this day and age.....

That is a good point! Many a time the tracks for a line were torn up only to have a short time later a need for the service. The cost of rebuilding is substantially higher than the cost of leaving it in place, or the $ benefit from removing it.

Last I heard, an estimated cost to reopen the line in a first class Union Pacific fashion was $200 million. Ironically, M-O-W services continued to the end.

DQ

The engineers on the Tennessee Pass line would probably have to carry along an axe or two -- there are some rather large trees now growing between the rails in some spots south of Leadville.

Couldnt you at least wait for the train to show???!!!! Would have made for a better pic!

RioGrandeFan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> I've also heard rumors that the Rails to Trails
> folks have been trying to persuade the UP to give
> up the line to them for a bike path. Something
> that the UP is also apparently not interested in
> doing.
>
There's a simple solution to this - a velocipede. UP appreciate having the rails remaining in place and hard-core, very healthy cyclists would have the ride of a lifetime, especially in the higher altitudes near Leadville!

Hey I missed the 1997 excursion over Tennessee Pass and I would do this after getting myself into better shape!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/14 20:44 by RuleG.

Yes! A Velocipede would definitely be a blast on TP. https://www.flickr.com/photos/billward/5216656861/in/photostream/

Lee Ryan
Denver, CO