Railworks America

EAGLE COUNTY, Colo. — Rio Grande Pacific has announced that it has entered into a commercial agreement with Union Pacific to lease the iconic Tennessee Pass route through Colorado. The former Denver & Rio Grande Western route over the Continental Divide in central Colorado has sat dormant for nearly a quarter-century and has long been considered one of the most iconic pieces of mountain railroad in the American West.


http://railfan.com/rio-grande-pacific-t ... MtHUhqHS8Q

Someone will have to dust off the route!

The line is in really really rough shape. The railfan in me is pleased to hear that it has more of a future, but I can't possibly see what ROI this company will get out of operating it.

this is good news for the area and bringing back a ledgendry route back to live

Incredible news I was there "railfanning" the pass four years ago. Like Boosted said, its in really really rough shape and will require a huge amount of work before anything can run safely on it. Cant wait to see trains running the pass again. Saving up money for future trip.

I took a train out to visit my sister fifty years ago who at that time lived in Rifle Colorado just down the road a piece from Glenwood Springs. Beautiful ride through the mountains.

Not sure if they intend to just stick stored cars on the line or what. Some sections of track will probably need to be entirely replaced before a train can run. There's a couple boulders on the line in different places and most of the track is just incredibly rough from almost 25 years of no maintenance. Like Boosted, I'm not sure what kind of return on investment these dudes expect.

According to a press release, Rio Grande Pacific subsidiary, Colorado Midland & Pacific Railway (CMP), will lease a majority of the line and file for common-carrier authority with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to operate it. Officials said that CMP will “assess the interest of the communities served by the Tennessee Pass line” for both freight and passenger service.

CMP will lease the line from Milepost 171.90, at Parkdale, Colo., to Milepost 335.00, near Sage.

So absolutely no information at all on potential ROI or even information on customers interested on line. Seems pretty cart-before-horse to me.

There is a plan. We just have not been let in on it yet.

Check this out. I think we have our ROI. Now this is starting to make sense.

https://coloradosun.com/2020/07/06/colo ... le-return/

cnwfan wrote:Check this out. I think we have our ROI. Now this is starting to make sense.

https://coloradosun.com/2020/07/06/colo ... le-return/

^ The lease to Rio Grande Pacific is a move to block the advances of the Colorado Pacific to buy/lease the route. Colorado Pacific has a legitimate plan to use the route to connect their existing lines the transcontinental network. The lease to RGP allows UP to avoid the ICC intervening on behalf of the Colorado Pacific, regarding the UP blocking their advances to use the route. I would bet that the RGP does nothing towards actually running trains over this line.

This has been a dream of mine for this route to re-open. I never got to the pass before it closed. I was hoping it would be UP firing the route back up instead of selling it. That's because the smaller railroads aren't likely to send the same length and tonnage of trains that UP would. But hey.... open with trains running on it is better than UP sitting on it.

Next up.... re-open Saluda Grade!