Photo ID: 105782 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, February 7, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Burnham Shops Denver, CO 1736 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots Union Pacific, Rio Grande A Rio Grande caboose and a green maintenance of way boxcar sit on the west side of the yard at Burnham. All the power that had been stored here has already been moved elsewhere in preparation for the shop closing for good seven days after this picture. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105420 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 9, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS012 (East Leyden) Arvada, CO 1581 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific, Rio Grande It's 2015 and classic Rio Grande (well, Denver and Salt Lake) searchlight signal still stands at the east switch of Leyden. It was once explained to me by a member of UP's signal gang that the signal somehow ties in with the grade crossing at 80th Avenue, making it difficult to replace. I have no idea if that information was accurate, but regardless, it is good to find one spot that still has a classic signal standing! 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. Photo ID: 105351 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Minturn Minturn, CO 2343 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific, Rio Grande A classic view from the yard in Minturn. Minturn was ground zero for eastbounds ready to start the assault on the 3% grade up the west slope of Tennessee Pass. Up until the closing of the line in 1997, helper sets were stationed here, ready to assist any train that needed it up the mountain. As many as nine mid-train swing helper would be cut in to eastbound coal loads! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105337 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West Tennessee Pass Lake County, CO 2348 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific, Rio Grande If, by some miracle, Tennessee Pass was ever put back in service, it would not be with a functioning CTC system. At least, not with the remaining equipment from the original CTC system! As you can see in this picture, this power switch at the east end of Tennessee Pass has been cannibalized. Such is the case with most of the equipment left behind on the pass. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105335 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tennessee Pass Tunnel Lake County, CO 2663 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific, Rio Grande Similar to the Moffat Tunnel, Tennessee Pass Tunnel has a curtain! You are looking at it here, rolled up outside the east portal. However, the purpose of the curtain is quite different from that of the Moffat. Whereas the curtain at the Moffat is designed to help vent the tunnel of exhaust, the curtain at Tennessee Pass is used to keep snow and ice out of the tunnel during the winter. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105331 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tennessee Pass Tunnel Lake County, CO 2378 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific, Rio Grande Anybody have a light? At 2,550 feet long, Tennessee Pass Tunnel is just shy of a half mile long. It has been said ice has built up in the center of the tunnel, covering the rail head and making passage by rail impossible and passage by foot extremely treacherous. I didn't proceed any further into the tunnel, so I am not sure if the rumor is true or not. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105324 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Malta Leadville, CO 2115 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific, Rio Grande The shell is about all that remains of this dwarf signal at the east end of Malta. You can see that the cabinet door (on the far side of the signal) has been opened and parts removed. The light itself has been removed as well, and only the housing remains. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105321 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Malta Leadville, CO 2456 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific, Rio Grande A pair of (very old) D&RGW hoppers were, at some point, setup as a loading platform at Malta. The hoppers were laying on the ground and were filled with dirt. To the left of the hoppers is a man-made ramp, constructed out of dirt and rocks. It appears as though trucks and tractors could drive up on the platform and dump their load into gondolas parked on the track. This operation continued for a short time after Tennessee Pass was officially closed. UP's Malta Local ran from Pueblo to Malta until March of 1999. The last local, picking up the final few cars, departed for Pueblo on March 9, 1999. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105319 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East of Kobe Lake County, CO 2379 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific, Rio Grande Everything about this shot screams Rio Grande! The most common ballast found along Rio Grande tracks was a black volcanic scoria, which the railroad received from a mine near Crater on the Craig Branch. The sign with the "35" on it indicates that the maximum speed for all trains is 35 miles per hour at that location. While Southern Pacific started a program to add welded rail to Tennessee Pass, the line was closed before the project could be completed. As you can see here, the main line is cleared jointed rail. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105313 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 242 Buena Vista, CO 2068 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific, Rio Grande, CRM A few miles west of Buena Vista finds Tennessee Pass running parallel to the Arkansas River on one side and County Road 371 on the other. For 34 years, between 1886 and 1920, there were tracks where County Road 371 lies to the right. This is part of the original grade for the Colorado Midland. The two railroads paralleled each other between Buena Vista and Crystal Lake (just south of Leadville) prior to the shutting down and abandonment of the Midland. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105307 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Salida Salida, CO 2103 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific, Rio Grande As a general policy, I do not edit the content of the pictures I shoot. However, I didn't want the obscenity painted on the side of the hut to appear on my site. Based on the first letter and the blurred portion of the image, you can infer was is written. I included the shot because I like the classic Rio Grande milepost marker. Milepost 215...downtown Salida! We are a little over 7,000 feet above sea level. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105300 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 201.4 Fremont County, CO 2268 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific, Rio Grande A set of intermediate signals sit quietly along Tennessee Pass. No power has been provided to these signals in nearly 18 years! The lower head on the signal to the right could only show a single color: lunar. When a westbound came past the signal (headed uphill), the upper head would turn red and the lower head (lunar) would illuminate. This would allow any following westbound to proceed past the red signal without stopping. At all other times, the lower head would remain dark. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105294 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Vallie Vallie, CO 2191 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific, Rio Grande This sign was a "blast from the past" for me. These D&RGW "No Trespassing" signs used to be a dime a dozen along the right of way. They have long since been replaced along active portions of the former Rio Grande (such as the Joint Line and the Moffat). But along Tennessee Pass, you can still find them! Time has taken its toll on this sign, as the paint has badly faded over the years. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104625 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO 2121 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific, Rio Grande More often than not, the engine assigned as the Colorado Springs switcher is a GP40-2. Indeed, a lot of the time, it is not only a GP40-2, but a former Rio Grande GP40-2! Such is the case on this day as UP 1349 (ex-DRGW 3128) sits idling near the Colorado Springs depot. I'm not sure where the time goes, but it has been nearly seven years since UP 1349 received a full repaint! UP's Drake coal train, with "CSUX" hoppers, slowly enters the grounds of the power plant in the distance. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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