Nostalgia & History > my final Tenn Pass line shot

The last photo I took on SP's, exRio Grande, route over Tennesee Pass, Subdivision 4, was this eastbound, train OANSF, taken on July 29, 1995, at Wolcott, CO, appropriately [and lucky for me!], led by exDRGW SD40T-2, #5401.
JB

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This was a very under photographed portion of the tennessee pass line. I'm not sure if it was built in 95' or not, but once the train leaves the wolcott siding just a bit further east the train goes right through the middle of the Eagle Springs golf course. Before the golf course this area was just a giant field which my family (grandpa) owned. During the hay season we would grow hay in those fields. I've watched many trains roll through this area from the seat of a tractor bailing hay in the field. During the winter we would keep cows in here.

One cold winter night someone called my grandpa and said that the cows were on the train tracks. We lived in Edwards so to get to wolcott it takes a good 10 mins. My grandpa, dad, and me hightailed it to wolcott to see what was up and sure enough the stupid things had gotten through the fence and were on the mainline. It was at dusk so it wasn't dark but getting close, it was just bitterly cold as I remember.

We let my grandpa out at the east end of the field where he crossed the eagle river on a pipe to get to the other side, me and my dad drove around the normal way. My dad parked and took off running east down the tracks twords the cows while my grandpa was running west on the other side of them. Wouldn't you know it, the tell tale rumble of emd's became closer and closer.... It sounded like a truck from the interstate but the headlights that came around the corner proved that idea wrong. The cows didn't get it and just before my grandpa and my dad met with the cows running in between them it was too late and they both dove on opposite sides of the train...

It was quite gross, I can't remember how many cows were hit but I think in total 4 were killed. Two went under the lead loco, one got basically cut in half and thrown down the ballast, and one got tangled up in the nearby fence so badly that we had to put her to sleep. It was an unbelievable memory and I still can't believe a train came around the corner. The engineer stopped as quickly as he could but still trains don't stop that quick. He felt so bad and kept apoligizing for hitting them but it wasn't his fault. It was quite a long ordeal and the railroad even paid for the cows that we lost...

Thanks for the wolcott shot 3rdswitch! Thats a good number too, the 5401 is still running strong for the UP, without a patch and all. It wasn't all that long ago when it made a quick appearance back in colorado, making it to phippsburg and leading a ballast train down the moffat.....

TME

Thanks for the narrative! As a matter of fact, I parked in, and, walked through, a part of the golf course to get here, this is, in fact, on/in part of the golf course, which, IF I recall correctly, was just before it was complete?
JB