Photo ID: 105288 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cotopaxi Cotopaxi, CO 2313 (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 2155 (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 2456 (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 2349 (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 2441 (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 2318 (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 2263 (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 2231 (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. Photo ID: 105280 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West Parkdale Parkdale, CO 2376 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Union Pacific 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. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105279 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Parkdale Parkdale, CO 2624 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Canon City and Royal Gorge 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. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105278 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 11, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Parkdale Parkdale, CO 2677 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Canon City and Royal Gorge 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. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104266 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 12, 2012 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Canon City Canon City, CO 2082 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Canon City and Royal Gorge There is a lot of history in this picture! This old SD9 is decades old and just happens to be living out its golden years on familiar rails. This SD9 was delivered to Rio Grande as a high nose unit (that was later rebuilt as a low nose unit). It lived is previous life as DRGW 5305 and can now continue on in a familiar paint scheme on home rails. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104265 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 12, 2012 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Royal Gorge Canon City, CO 1785 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Canon City and Royal Gorge After completing its stop at Hanging Bridge at the base of the Incline Railway, the Canon City Royal Gorge tourist train continues east back toward Canon City where it's passengers will disembark after their 2 1/2 hour tour of the gorge. The train operates in a push-pull fashion, so there are F7A's on either end of the train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104264 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 12, 2012 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Hanging Bridge Canon City, CO 1821 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Canon City and Royal Gorge The Canon City Royal Gorge tourist operation started a few years after UP "railbanked" (or idled) Tennessee Pass. The operated a few passengers trains over the 11-mile stretch between Canon City and Parkdale (and back). Today, they actual own the rails for that 11-mile stretch (although UP still has trackage rights should the line ever reopen as a through route). You can definitely tell the (very classy) tourist outfit respects the history of the Royal Gorge in its paint scheme. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104263 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 12, 2012 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Hanging Bridge Canon City, CO 1981 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Tennessee Pass (UP) Canon City and Royal Gorge The Canon City Royal Gorge tourist train makes a 10-15 minute stop at Hanging Bridge to give people a chance to check out Hanging Bridge and the narrowest part of the gorge. If you are at Hanging Bridge by way of the incline railway (part of the Royal Gorge Park), then you can walk along the tracks right at the base of the canyon. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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