Photo ID: 107476 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 6, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Minturn Minturn, CO 1243 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Rio Grande, Union Pacific When a multi-ton boulder came crashing down on the mainline on Tennessee Pass at Minturn, it created a mini crater in places. One such place was right in the middle of part of the mainline. It made it easy to get this shot at the railhead eye level, looking east. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107475 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 6, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Minturn Minturn, CO 1261 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Rio Grande, Union Pacific The welded rail of the mainline of Tennessee Pass lies pinned and broken underneath a boulder that came tumbling down from the hillside near east Minturn. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107474 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 6, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Minturn Minturn, CO 1238 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Rio Grande, Union Pacific Despite how indestructible rail seems when you are standing next to it or touching it, Mother Nature reminds us just how insignificant something like iron rail really is! A huge boulder that landed on the mainline here did not directly touch the siding. But the shifting dirt away from the rock push the siding past its breaking point. Both rails were snapped in half like wood matchsticks! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107473 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 6, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Minturn Minturn, CO 1167 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Rio Grande, Union Pacific When this boulder came crashing down on the mainline near east Minturn, the north-most rail was squished by the rock. Both the rail and many of the tie plates were ripped right out of their ties. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107472 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 6, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Minturn Minturn, CO 1191 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Rio Grande, Union Pacific A look up the hillside from where this huge boulder came from. Must have been a terrifying thing to witness in person! You can see the ties and rails of the mainline underneath part of the rock. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107471 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 6, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Minturn Minturn, CO 1150 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Rio Grande, Union Pacific When this boulder came down off the hill and landed on the mainline, it also shifted a lot of earth around. The rails of both the mainline and the siding were severed as a result of the impact. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107470 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 6, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Minturn Minturn, CO 1286 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Rio Grande, Union Pacific Just in case you were wondering how little UP invests in doing any maintenance on Tennessee Pass, this should be a good answer! Mother nature did what it always does and eroded enough of the hillside to dislodge this massive boulder. It came rolling off the hill sometime around 2013 and landed right on the mainline near the east end of Minturn. Five years later, the boulder continues to rest in its new home. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107469 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 6, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Minturn Minturn, CO 1171 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Rio Grande, Union Pacific When starting on a grade, trains will often times use sand to help them gain traction and start (or keep) moving. Engines have nozzles that aim right between the wheel and the rail and can blast sand out at the point where they meet. Due to the 2.3% grade at the east end of Minturn, nearly every train would need sand to help it start rolling. So much sand, in fact, that there is still plenty of evidence of it along the siding twenty years later! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107468 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 6, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Minturn Minturn, CO 1162 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Rio Grande, Union Pacific We are 301 miles away from Denver...if you go through Pueblo first, that is! When the Denver & Rio Grande built its original line south of Denver, they turned west at Pueblo and, as we know, built over Tennessee Pass. The mileposts just kept increasing along the way as this was once the primary route for the railroad. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107467 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 6, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Minturn Minturn, CO 1166 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Rio Grande, Union Pacific Looking east at the east switch of Minturn, you can see right through the head of the dwarf signal on the siding! The lens and all the "guts" from the head are no gone, and there is an empty hole through the middle of it. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107466 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 6, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Minturn Minturn, CO 1193 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Rio Grande, Union Pacific Trains descending the 3% grade of Tennessee Pass would see this view all the time as they approached the yard at Minturn. This is the east switch, which looks like it is in relatively good shape at first. But, look a little closer, and you'll see the lenses have been removed from most of the signal heads. The electrical equipment (wiring) is all long gone, too. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107465 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 6, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East of Minturn Minturn, CO 1155 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Rio Grande, Union Pacific This shot looks east from (near) the east switch of Minturn. The tracks here have become a very common hiking trail for residents in the area. When out taking picture today, I came across two sets of people on a rail hike along with their dogs. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105355 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West Minturn Minturn, CO 2124 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific This shot looks toward the west end of the Minturn Yard. Westbound, having descended the steep 3% grade, would continue west for the 38 miles to Dotsero along a fairly consistent 1.3% grade. The tracks follow the Eagle River until it connects with the Colorado River at Dotsero. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105354 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Minturn Minturn, CO 2109 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific Toward the west end of the yard at Minturn, the tracks lay relatively unobstructed from weeds. The jointed rail of the siding and the yard tracks add to the dynamic of this rather sad sight. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105353 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Minturn Minturn, CO 2427 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific, Rio Grande The Minturn Depot still stands along the mainline, but it is now boarded up with limited access. The main is closest to the depot, with the 10,660 foot long siding sitting next to it. The other tracks in the shot are all apart of the yard. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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