Western Railroad Discussion > Highest Railroad Passes in the US

Maybe this has been done before. What are the highest passes in the US? I did a little research and these are what I came up with.

Tom

Rollins Pass 11,670 DRGW
Hagerman Pass 11,528 Colorado Midland
Boreas Pass 11,481 DSP&P
Marshall Pass 10,856 DRG
Lizzard Head Pass 10,250 RGS
Tennessee Pass 10,202 DRGW
Cumbress Pass 10,015 DRGW
La Veta Pass 9,242 DRGW
Ophir Loop 9,236 RGS
Dallas Divide 8,989 RGS
Donner Pass 7,085 SP
Cajon Pass 4,190 SP
Natches Pass 4,925 NP
Stampede Pass 3,693 NP
Snoqualmie Pass 3,010 NP

I think, in general, the Rocky Mountain passes would the the highest. Logan, Pipestone, and Marias are probably all higher than the Cascade passes. Also, I don't think the railroad (NP)ever went over Naches Pass. It might be fun to also include the Canadian passes too, for comparison. Great research though!

SLM (who just drove over Rainy Pass and Washington Pass TWICE today)

> Rollins Pass 11,670 DRGW
> Hagerman Pass 11,528 Colorado Midland
> Boreas Pass 11,481 DSP&P
> Marshall Pass 10,856 DRG
> Lizzard Head Pass 10,250 RGS
> Tennessee Pass 10,202 DRGW
> Cumbress Pass 10,015 DRGW
> La Veta Pass 9,242 DRGW
> Ophir Loop 9,236 RGS
> Dallas Divide 8,989 RGS
> Donner Pass 7,085 SP

Silver Zone Pass 5,940 WP
Beckwourth Pass 5,218 WP

> Cajon Pass 4,190 SP
> Natches Pass 4,925 NP
> Stampede Pass 3,693 NP
> Snoqualmie Pass 3,010 NP

Raton 7000+

and the highest ACTIVE mainline in the US is...... UP's moffat tunnel sub elev. 9,200ft.

TME

According to:
http://www.crewten.com/engine_laj_abq_tour2.html

Throw in a few more:
Sherman Hill UP 8013
Soldier Summit UP 7440
Continental BNSF 7247
Arizona Divide BNSF 7313
Raton BNSF 7622
Glorieta BNSF 7421
Tehachapi BNSF UPRR 3963
Mountainair BNSF 6470

tom

TrackOne Wrote:
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> Sherman Hill


Of course! Not necessarily a "pass: in the classical sense, 8015 feet at the highest point

Revised list to now:

1. Rollins Pass 11,670 DRGW
2. Hagerman Pass 11,528 Colorado Midland
3. Alpine Tunnel, 11,523 DSP&P
4. Boreas Pass 11,481 DSP&P
5. Marshall Pass 10,856 DRG
6. Lizzard Head Pass 10,250 RGS
7. Tennessee Pass 10,202 DRGW
8. Cumbress Pass 10,015 DRGW
9. Kenosha Pass, 10,000 DSP&P
10. Trout Creek Pass, 9,346 DSP&P/Colorado Midland
11. La Veta Pass 9,242 DRGW
12. Ophir Loop 9,236 RGS
13. Ute Pass, 9,165 Colorado Midland/Midland Terminal/D&RGW
14. Moffat Tunnel 9,094* DRGW/SP/UP
15. Poncha Pass, 9,019 D&RG/D&RGW narrow gauge
16. Dallas Divide 8,989 RGS
17. Sherman Hill 8,015 UP
18. Cerro Summit, 7,958 ft., D&RG/D&RGW narrow gauge
19. Raton Pass 7,588 ATSF/BNSF
20. Donner Pass 7,085 SP
21. Silver Zone Pass 5,940 WP
22. Beckwourth Pass 5,218 WP
23. Bozeman Pass-5,592, MILW?/GN?/BN/MRL
24. Mullan Pass-5,548 ft. MILW?/GN?/MRL/BN
25. Cajon Pass 4,190 SP
26. Natches Pass 4,925 NP
27. Cajon Pass 3,882 (UP), 3,801 (BNSF)
28. Stampede Pass 3,693 NP
29. Snoqualmie Pass 3,010 NP

I have a sinking feeling here:
Salton Sea -160 feet SP Sunset Route

* from http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/us/A0833563.html

Okay folks, how about the lowest. I think that goes to the former SP Sunset Route which is around -160 feet below sea level somewhere around the Salton Sea... Niland.


Todd Clark

SP's Tehachapi Summit , and SFe's Cajon Summit, both at about 4000'prob'ly merit inclusion in listing, just for comparison sake.

Well, a few more from our insane Colorado railroads...

Alpine Tunnel, 11523ft., DSP&P
Marshall Pass, 10856ft., D&RG/D&RGW narrow gauge (edit: oops, dup!)
Kenosha Pass, 10000ft., DSP&P
Trout Creek Pass, 9346ft., DSP&P/Colorado Midland
Ute Pass, 9165ft., Colorado Midland/Midland Terminal/D&RGW
Poncha Pass, 9019ft., D&RG/D&RGW narrow gauge
Cerro Summit, 7958 ft., D&RG/D&RGW narrow gauge

Finally, sort of a cheater... Fremont Pass, 11318ft. The DSP&P/DL&G/C&S reached the summit at Climax from Leadville to serve a molybdenum mine, but never went "over" the pass. The line continues to operate (at least in part) as the Leadville, Colorado & Southern scenic railroad.

Minor correction to the Cajon Pass, Interstate 15 has a pass elevation of 4190 feet (southbound) northbound is about 20-30 feet lower. The railroads mainlines are even lower, UP - 3882 ft., BNSF - 3801 ft.


Also a few MRL ex BN passes, to remember:

Bozeman Pass-5592 ft. at the tunnel's west entrance.
Mullan Pass-5548 ft. also at it's west entrance


Robby F. (Mr. MRL)

actually both rio grande which had a branch to Dillon, and the south park whos main came fom south park thru dillon operated over fremont. That southpark line was almost as twisted as me, and it easy to forget about that actual routing and figure it came in from east of leadville via some direct pass (weston type)from the east. my mind always straightened it out.


Cumbres has 2 train movements a day all summerlong, cept fri.

veta has 2 movements 5 days a week

there is another rollins pass on the bnsf

palmer lake is a pass, on the divide

Oops, that's what I get for writing without pulling out a few old maps, Dan's absolutely right. I had the DSP&P map wrong in my head, and I forgot about the Grande branch entirely. *smacks self on side of head* Thanks!

dan Wrote:
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> actually both rio grande which had a branch to
> Dillin, and the south park whos main came fom
> south park thru dillon operated over fremont.

The sad part is that only #5 is still visited by trains. #8 could be but it's ranking shows why it is not. The highest active one in use is #9*, followed by more "reasonable" heights at #12*, #15, #18 and #20 (which they keep trying to kill off). Sigh , #15, #18 and #20 are where I like to hang out the most....

1. Rollins Pass 11,670 DRGW
2. Hagerman Pass 11,528 Colorado Midland
3. Alpine Tunnel, 11,523 DSP&P
4. Boreas Pass 11,481 DSP&P
5. Fremont Pass 11,318 DSP&P/Leadville, Colorado and Southern Railroad
6. Marshall Pass 10,856 DRG
7. Lizzard Head Pass 10,250 RGS
8. Tennessee Pass 10,202 DRGW
9. Cumbress Pass 10,015 DRGW
10. Kenosha Pass, 10,000 DSP&P
11. Trout Creek Pass, 9,346 DSP&P/Colorado Midland
12. La Veta Pass 9,242 DRGW
13. Ophir Loop 9,236 RGS
14. Ute Pass, 9,165 Colorado Midland/Midland Terminal/D&RGW
15. Moffat Tunnel 9,094 DRGW/SP/UP
16. Poncha Pass, 9,019 D&RG/D&RGW narrow gauge
17. Dallas Divide 8,989 RGS
18. Sherman Hill 8,015 UP
19. Cerro Summit, 7,958 ft., D&RG/D&RGW narrow gauge
20. Raton Pass 7,588 ATSF/BNSF
21. Donner Pass 7,085 SP
22. Silver Zone Pass 5,940 WP
23. Beckwourth Pass 5,218 WP
24. Bozeman Pass-5,592, MILW?/GN?/BN/MRL
25. Mullan Pass-5,548 ft. MILW?/GN?/MRL/BN
26. Cajon Pass 4,190 SP
27. Natches Pass 4,925 NP
28. Cajon Pass 3,882 (UP), 3,801 (BNSF)
29. Stampede Pass 3,693 NP
30. Snoqualmie Pass 3,010 NP

I have a sinking feeling here:
Salton Sea -160 feet SP Sunset Route

*Thanks to Mr Holmes, I forgot about these!

Whitetop Station VA Elevation 3576
www.mtbr.com/trails/Virginia/VirginiaCreeperTrail.html

Cumbres and Veta are both still in active service. Cumbres for the C&TS and Veta in standard freight service for the San Luis Rio Grande (RailAmerica).

Nathan

NDHolmes Wrote:
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> Cumbres and Veta are both still in active service.
> Cumbres for the C&TS and Veta in standard
> freight service for the San Luis Rio Grande
> (RailAmerica).
>
> Nathan

Sheesh, I am just not thinking clearly tonight! I fixed the update, how often do these passes see trains?

I believe Bozeman Pass and Mullan Pass are ex-NP, not GN. Also I don't see Marias Pass listed--GN's crossing of the continental divide.

D&RGW never ran over Rollins Pass.