DRGW Tennessee Pass new agreement

BoxcabE50 Jan 4, 2021

  1. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I was just reading an email railfan newsletter, which I receive every month. In it is an announcement that apparently there is an agreement, at least tentative, between UP and a subsidiary of Rio Grande Pacific Corp (The Colorado, Midland & Pacific Railway Company), to re-open more of Tennessee Pass. It states this would be Canon City to Eagle.

    Anyone know more about what this subsidiary would be doing? Freight? Passenger/tourist? A map of that line, showing this segment of track?
     
  2. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    Eagle is not all the way to Dotsero but is about where Sage is on this map. Tennessee Pass route is the dotted red line.
    UP-Denver-Area.JPG
    The railroad roughly follows I 70 and US 24 on this map.
    Screen Shot 2021-01-04 at 11.40.11 AM.png
     
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  3. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Russell- Would the location of Eagle be close enough that the entire route would then be open again?
     
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  4. HemiAdda2d

    HemiAdda2d Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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  5. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    That is my assumption.
     
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  6. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Is there currently any freight service reaching Canon City?
     
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  7. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    In 2015 there was still a gypsum mine being serviced outside of Canyon City.
    [​IMG]
     
  8. HemiAdda2d

    HemiAdda2d Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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  9. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member

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    Here is a little more info on this
    Colorado Midland & Pacific strikes deal with UP to run trains on Tennessee Pass - Real Vail
    Make sure to read thru all the comments. Some very interesting stuff at the bottom.
     
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  10. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member

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    Sage is the first station/siding east of Dotsero. The track is in service to Eagle Gyp (a wallboard plant), which is just west of Sage.
     
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  11. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member

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    As I understand it, The entity trying to block this via STB, is the original outfit that has put a chunk of RR back in service in western KS and eastern CO. They have been trying to access/buy TP for years. UP is using this/their "new player" to kind of "checkmate" the original buyer. Typical corporate stuff.
     
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  12. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member

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    In a word yes. I dont know how much traffic is there, but dont forget BNSF has trackage rights to Canon City, which goes back to the RR war between AT&SF and RG for access to the Royal Gorge.
     
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  13. James Fitch

    James Fitch TrainBoard Member

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    Interesting stuff!
     
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  14. ddm502001

    ddm502001 TrainBoard Member

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    Brought this up awhile back, never thought would get this intense!! As far as CGRX, they have been financially strapped for a decade or more, facilities going to rot, materials in use barely moving around here. Can see them dumping for cash their rights to trackage.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2021
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  15. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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  16. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Gilman: Where a well known scene from the movie "Under Siege- Dark Territory" was filmed. :)
     
  17. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    Indeed, the Santa Fe built the line. The Rio Grande built one too, but there was only room for one bridge at the tightest spot, and the Santa Fe built it. The court awarded that to the Rio Grande, but let the Santa Fe keep Raton Pass.

    Since it comes out of Pueblo, this route saves a lot of time between the old Santa Fe and MoPac mains across Kansas and points west.
     
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  18. ddm502001

    ddm502001 TrainBoard Member

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    Been articles in local papers there as to Soloviev the owner of CB&G waging war to stop this and failing. He wanted to keep the line just for his grain routes but would never offer up the cash to rebuild it.
     
  19. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    That is somewhat like what the planners of CR faced as they worked out the system's Preliminary System Plan, where shippers that rarely if ever used the railroad voiced their opposition to abandonments. They wanted the weedgrown line intact only for negotiating leverage with truckers. Thankfully the Staggers Act of 1980 put an end to that nonsense and opened a new era of modern railroading.
     
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  20. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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