Brief by Central Staff
Transportation – January 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine
When the Union Pacific Railroad swallowed the Denver & Rio Grande Western in 1996, the plan was to abandon the railroad through Central Colorado — that is, the 170 miles from Cañon City through Salida and Buena Vista on over Tennessee Pass.
The federal Surface Transportation Board required UP to leave the rails in place for at least five years. In that time, UP would have to demonstrate it could serve its customers without the Tennessee Pass line, and if so, it could then move toward abandonment.
The deadline has come and gone, but the rails remain in place, and UP hasn’t moved to abandon the line — its official status is “out of service.”
Our spies report that some UP high-railers (heavy pickup trucks which have flanged railroad wheels in addition to regular highway tires) have been spotted along the line in recent months.
Further, there’s talk that UP is having trouble moving all the coal that it’s supposed to move from the North Fork Valley of Colorado (the Paonia area). The Moffat Tunnel route is already pretty busy, so it might make sense to re-open Tennessee Pass.
It’s steep (the 3% grade required helper engines for east-bound trains from Minturn), but that wouldn’t be a major problem if the line were used only for hauling westbound empty cars back to the mines.
We should note that such rumors come and go, and there has been no official announcement from the railroad, one way or another. We also note that Salidans are getting used to the absence of trains, and that the railroad yards are now a popular place for walking dogs (which aren’t allowed in city parks).
