The Royal Gorge Route Railroad owns three F7s (to F7As and an F7B). All three are of Chicago Northwestern heritage. The three are not currently running, perhaps due to mechanical issues. Here, F7A #402 sits with a pair of passengers cars east of the depot.
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The second of two F7As (and the sole F7B) on The Royal Gorge Route's roster sits in the small yard in Canon City. Not entirely sure how long they have been sitting here, but most like they have some mechanical issues that must be tended to prior to the old covered wagons be used on the train again.
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Sitting a few hundred feet away from each other, the Royal Gorge Route's pair of F7As sit idle in the yard in Canon City. It is pretty cool that the Royal Gorge Route decided to honor Rio Grande by painting the F-units in a replica of the "one stripe" scheme that Rio Grande units wore decades ago.
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Former Rio Grande caboose #01516 sits in the yard in Canon City. There is a fair amount of various debris laying along the tracks. The caboose is coupled to a pair of old and rather dilapidated passenger cars.
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I believe these commuter passenger cars came from the Chicago area. They actually sat for years in Union Pacific's North Yard in Denver. Finally, after being purchased by the Royal Gorge Route Railroad, they were moved down to Canon City. They are now sitting in the yard at Canon City, waiting to possibly be refurbished at some date in the future.
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The Royal Gorge Route Railroad has managed to acquire this Missouri Pacific caboose #13554. Other than some graffiti, the caboose appears to be in pretty good condition!
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This shot shows the east end of the siding of Parkdale on Tennessee Pass. This is about as far west as the as you'll see a train still move over the rail of Tennessee Pass. This portion of track is actually owned by the Royal Gorge Route Railroad, and sees a few tourist trains each day.
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The switch at the east end of Parkdale is still active and (fairly well) maintained. When the Royal Gorge Route tourist train exists the west end of the gorge, it pulls up to Parkdale. The crew then moves to the end of the train where an engine is already set, pointed east. The crew climbs onboard and the train departs east back for Canon City.
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A coal train on Tennessee Pass!? Not exactly...when you have miles of inactive track just sitting and collecting rust, it is the perfect place to store surplus railcars! These high side (bathtub) gondolas are now also sitting and collecting rust due to the significant decrease in the demand for coal in the last three years.
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We are looking at the east end of Tennessee Pass, about a mile east of the siding of Spikebuck, in Pinnacle Rock Canyon. For most of the east slope of Tennessee Pass, the tracks follow the Arkansas River.
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A fair amount of foliage is growing alongside the tracks near Spike Buck Gulch along the Arkansas River. While Tennessee Pass has been closed as a through route since August 1997, a handful of trains passed over these tracks for 3-4 years afterward. Still, nothing has rolled over these rails in well over a decade.
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At the west end of Pinnacle Rock Canyon, we find the 6,190 foot long siding of Texas Creek. Look east out of the siding, you can see that mother nature is working hard to reclaim the tracks. The rail head disappears into a sea of weeds. Also of note is the missing bottom head on the signal.
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We may be 6,200 feet above sea level, but that doesn't stop an abundance of plant life from growing along the Tennessee Pass right of way. With plenty of sun and water, the plants are winning the battle over man-made tracks.
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It actually took me a second to spot the remains of the dwarf signal at the east end of Texas Creek. Dandelions and other weeds have largely overtaken the small dwarf. No matter. The guts of the signal have been removed and the housing sits with nothing to do; no purpose left in life.
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Some of the bushes sprouting up along the Tennessee Pass right of way at Texas Creek have grown as high as three feet, largely obscuring the rails from view!
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