Photo ID: 105327 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 276 Leadville, CO 2888 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific This is, without question, my favorite picture of my day long journey exploring Tennessee Pass! With afternoon thunderstorms gone, sunlight shines through the valley. A few straggling clouds hang out over the mountains in the distance. The (tallest) mountain peak in the picture is 14,440 foot Mount Elbert, the highest mountain peak in Colorado. All that the scene needs is a westbound climbing through the gentle curves of the track through the meadow. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105325 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Malta Leadville, CO 2210 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific The area around Malta (and Leadville) is arguable one of the most beautiful locations along Tennessee Pass. The tracks follow Sawatch mountain range which includes several of the tallest mountains in Colorado including Mount Elbert (14,440ft / 4,401m) and Mount Massive (14,428ft / 4,398m). 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 2180 (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: 105323 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Malta Leadville, CO 2574 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific A look at the east switch of Malta. The siding is on the far left side of the photo. A stub track, used for loading gondolas, breaks off from the mainline on this side of the grade crossing. Note the derail for the stub track...currently aligned for the main. Unfortunately, there are no cars to keep from rolling off the stub track, so the position of the derail is irrelevant. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105322 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Malta Leadville, CO 2271 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific Many people do not realize that Tennessee Pass never actually enters Leadville proper. The mainline is actually several miles west of downtown and there is no siding called Leadville on the line. There is, however, a small yard at Malta, in which cars could get set out and switched. The Colorado and Southern actually owned a branch line connecting Leadville and the mine at Climax. Until the mine shut down in 1995, the C&S would handle switching at the mine and bring cars to and from Leadville. Rio Grande would interchange with the C&S at Leadville via a connecting track from Malta. The connecting tracks has since been removed. In this picture, the yard at Malta lies empty...one of the tracks covered by small rocks slides over the years. 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 2554 (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: 105320 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Kobe Lake County, CO 2171 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific We are now nearly 9,200 feet above sea level at the east switch of Kobe. That is close to the altitude of the apex of the Moffat Route (inside the Moffat Tunnel)! The tracks continue to climb the steady 1.2%-1.4% grade as they climb west toward Leadville. 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 2522 (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: 105318 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West Princeton Chaffee County, CO 2140 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific The west switch of Princeton appears to be in relatively good shape. At least, externally. The open door on the signal box is an indication that the "guts" of the box have been removed. Either by Union Pacific, or by looters looking to make some money on the copper wiring. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105317 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West Princeton Chaffee County, CO 2390 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific At the west switch of Princeton, the small tributary of Pine Creek joins in with the Arkansas River. A bridge was built over Pine Creek just west of the west switch. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105316 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Princeton Chaffee County, CO 2224 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific The east end of the siding of Princeton is unlike the majority of siding out there in that the siding does not run parallel to the main track. Instead, the two separate for several hundred yards before eventually coming back together about halfway through the siding. Now that we are over 8,500 feet above sea level, the foliage is not having as much success growing within the right of way of the tracks. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105315 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Princeton Chaffee County, CO 1987 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific The siding of Princeton is named after one of the many 14ers (14,000+ foot) mountain peaks in the area. Mount Princeton is 14,204 feet above sea level. It sits among several other 14ers named after prestigious schools. These include Mount Yale and Mount Harvard. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105314 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 249.5 Chaffee County, CO 2058 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific An afternoon rain storm just passed through the area north of Buena Vista. The tracks are getting close to San Isabel National Forest and the last canyon that they will share with the Arkansas River. At this grade crossing the dirt has completely covered the rails. 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 2162 (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: 105311 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Buena Vista Buena Vista, CO 2198 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific During my day long drive over Tennessee Pass, this was the only specific sign of significant erosion that I saw. That isn't to say that there were other spots where erosion has occurred, this is simply the only spot in which I noticed it. The plants have taken over so much of the rest of the line, it would be difficult to see any erosion anyway. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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