Photo ID: 105295 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West Vallie Vallie, CO 1961 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific The tracks curve around toward the west switch of Vallie (that spelling is correct) on Tennessee Pass. We are around 6,500 feet above sea level for this shot. The signal, still in descent shape (on the exterior), stands dark at the west end of the siding. 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 2190 (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: 105293 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Vallie Vallie, CO 2123 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific I can only imagine what it must have been like to shoot trains on Tennessee Pass. The line traverses such a beautiful part of Colorado. Here, the tracks at Vallie are parallel to the Arkansas River and the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. The mountain peak in the distance is named (rather unfortunately) "Nipple Mountain". Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105292 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Vallie Vallie, CO 2004 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific We are at milepost 198 on Tennessee Pass, at the siding of Vallie. While the main track is relatively unobstructed in the foreground, it enters in to a forest of bushes in the distance. The siding has already succumbed to the foliage, completely obstructed from view off to the left on the image. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105291 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West Cotopaxi Cotopaxi, CO 2084 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific Looking west along the tracks from the grade crossing at Cotopaxi, the main track is more or less visible. The siding, on the other hand, is completely buried in weeds and bushes! In this picture, the siding is on the right side. Getting it cleared would be quite a chore! Note the signal in the distance, standing dark and unpowered. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105290 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cotopaxi Cotopaxi, CO 2089 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific A switch stand! But to what? If you look closely, you will see switch points through the weeds. This is the west entrance to the house track at Cotopaxi. The bush in the middle of the siding is at least five feet tall at the top! Ironically, if you look closely at the switch stand, you'll notice that it remains locked with a standard switch padlock. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105289 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cotopaxi Cotopaxi, CO 2125 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific Here is a depressing sight for railfan eyes! Evidence of the mainline and the siding at Cotopaxi is almost non-existent, covered by years of weed growth. "The siding?", you may ask. While the mainline isn't too hard to spot toward the right side of the picture, you may not have noticed the rail head for the siding, just barely visible on the far left side of the image. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105288 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cotopaxi Cotopaxi, CO 2196 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific In the town of Cotopaxi, you will find this rather ironic sign at the grade crossing. No train has passed over these rails in over ten years, but because the line isn't officially abandoned, buses must still observe the standard safety rules at the crossing. The town of Cotopaxi was established by Jewish-Russian immigrants that sought to be farmers. With only four months of the year suitable for farming, most went on to work on construction of the rail line that now lays dormant. As of the 2010 census, there were 47 people living in Cotopaxi, named after the largest volcano in Ecuador. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105287 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Texas Creek Texas Creek, CO 2042 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific It has been nearly 18 years since the last through train ran over these rails. While Tennessee Pass hasn't been officially abandoned, it might as well be! Weeds have grown up through the ballast and are taking over the rails, still lying silent in the Arkansas River Valley. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105286 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Texas Creek Texas Creek, CO 2195 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific 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! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105285 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Texas Creek Texas Creek, CO 2226 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific 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. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105284 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Texas Creek Texas Creek, CO 2327 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific 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. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105283 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Texas Creek Texas Creek, CO 2206 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific 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. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105282 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 174 Spikebuck, CO 2124 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific 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. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105281 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 174 Spikebuck, CO 2112 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific 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. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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