The weeds are doing their best to reclaim the land at the west switch of Minturn. Actually, considering there hasn't been a train on these rails in nearly 15 years, things still look pretty descent.
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Even though there hasn't been a train here in just under 15 years, Tennessee Pass is not technically abandoned. Perhaps that is why this sign still exists at West Minturn instructing motorists to call UP if their car gets stuck on the tracks.
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On this particular trip to the Colorado High Country, me and the kids were actually going camping! We took the scenic route to our campsite, driving along Tennessee Pass between Minturn and Buena Vista. Here, my daughter Jaina peeks through the back of a dwarf signal whose "guts" have long since been removed.
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For many, many years the sound of diesel engines (and steam before that) echoed off these rock walls. Gone are those days as the yard in Minturn has been gathering nothing but weeds and rust for almost 15 years now.
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This caught my eye in the yard at Minturn...I found it rather ironic that this derail in the yard is in fact aligned for the derail position! Ensuring the phantom cars do not roll onto the mainline that will have no traffic coming.
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Looking west from the US-24 overpass about two miles east of Minturn, the fall colors are looking mighty fine along the Tennessee Pass mainline. Sure would like to catch an eastbound starting its climb toward the 3% grade here.
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Looking east (into the sun) from the US-24 overpass east of Minturn, the aspens are on fire along the Tennessee Pass mainline. About two more miles to the east in this shot is the start of the 2-mile-long siding of Belden.
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US-24 crossed over the Eagle River and the Tennessee Pass mainline from a very high bridge near Red Cliff, CO. The lighting here is certainly better in the morning, but you can see the signal at east Belden standing around the corner from the switch.
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Near the east switch of Belden, several relatively large rocks have come down on to the siding. During the couple hours I spent along the tracks between Minturn and Buena Vista, this was the most significant instance of rocks on the tracks that I noticed. Granted, I couldn't see every foot of track along the way.
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What I wouldn't have given to have a westbound come winding along the Eagle River here on the approach to east Belden! This is the view from the US-24 overpass high above the valley floor near Red Cliff.
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Even though I never got to shoot a train here personally, Pando has always been among my favorite spots along Tennessee Pass. Looking west toward the US-24 overpass, some major bushes are growing just beyond the overpass that have totally enveloped the siding and are nearing the main.
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Looking east about halfway through the siding of Pando we can see a couple evergreens, in addition to all the weeds, growing in the middle of the siding.
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Apologies for the bad lighting. This is definitely a spot that lends itself to morning light. Regardless, this is looking westbound at Mitchell, just a few miles west of the summit. Once upon a time, there was a siding here which Rio Grande decided to remove.
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This is one of the saddest sights I saw the entire day during the visit to Tennessee Pass! Over the years, UP has been cannibalizing the CTC system on the pass to use the components in other areas. Case-in-point would be the missing signal head from the signal at west Tennessee Pass. The best indication a train could get here is now "where-is-the-signal-head-over-yellow".
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This is the sight eastbound trains would see as they emerged from the Tennessee Pass tunnel at the summit. Well, okay...almost the sight they'd see. Assuming all the masts in the shot actually had their signal heads!
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