Tribute to Tennessee Pass DVD

[ritagrammy]

I grew up here....played in that tunnel as a child...

[wackymac28]

why did they strip this rail line its so cool.

[msk578]

@wackymac28 The line is still there and it's known as "inactive" by UP. If they abandoned it, the rails and all the signals would have been removed a long time ago. They inactivated the line as it became too costly so they run all the trains through Moffat Tunnel, through Denver, south along I-25 into Pueblo. I think it just offsets the costs by having trains go out of the way and clogging up traffic on the Moffat Sub. One of these years I hope they reactivate it again.

[hobbeekid]

What is the state of Tennessee pass now? are the rails still in place?

[Espee9180]

@hobbeekid

Rails still in place, signals have been stripped by people stealing the wiring, lights, etc. UP runs a high-rail truck every now and again. A few years ago they built a new bridge over a road in the Vale/Minturn area. UP wanted to store fright cars in the Minturn yard but people protested.

[seankolker]

i was able to railfan this back in 1994 and 1995 (even though I am a BN fan,I`m glad I did.

[rockguitarist946]

man, why do all the scenic routes have to be closed for the sake of a few dollars? is that all anyone cares about anymore? what the hell is this country coming to?!?!

[ThomasRivette]

I don't understand why it was closed.

[TheMadNorsky]

Economics. 3% grade track, fuel costs for tonnage hauled. Both Tennessee Pass and Moffat Tunnel routes end up at the same point in western Colorado, UP chose to use the route which cost the least to operate. Now, with railroad economies even worse, it will likely never be reopened.

[Intransitman]

Though the line does cut distance.

[FitzNS]

@ 1:10 that is 14,433 ft Mount Elbert

[trainamtrakcsx]

so this is all union pacific?

[BudmanPackfan]

yes, UP owned DRGW/SP/SSW at the time the video was shot. This is the original line for DRGW over the rockies before moffat road and moffat tunnel were completed.

[trainamtrakcsx]

oo ok

[trainamtrakcsx]

is this befor the sp/ssw & drgw was bought by up

[ohiotransit9]

Nope, this was shot in 1998, two years after the 1996 merger.

[trainamtrakcsx]

oo ok

[FlyBikes089]

Southern Pacific!

[trainamtrakcsx]

cool

[railfanmike]

such a beautiful line Its a shame they're shutting it down but they have the moffit tunnel line.

would they still possibly use this line as a emergency line if such a case like the mudslide happened again???

[texaswestern70mac]

this line was mothballed over 12 years ago and is unlikely to see service under the UP name again....... maybe bnsf.... but not UP.... i would've loved to see this line ca 1985......back when it was black and gold and emd ruled

[enr3870]

3% grades? I can understand why they shut it down.

[SPRRguy99]

This is beautiful Pentrex is awesome!!!!!!!!

[seankolker]

i was fortunate to visit this pass in 1995 and 1996,when I was 16 and 17. I`m a BN fan and have been to Marias pass more then this pass but I`m glad I had the chance to see new SP locomotives pull trains on this line,got lots a pics.

[HyperActive7]

Got it and Marias Pass.

[NS6677]

Same Here, Pentrex is on a roll!

[MikeDelic14]

WoW!! this one looks like a must have! looks awesome pentrex!

[NS6677]

Yep Looks Great!

[UPTurner]

Looks awesome Pentrex!!

[ohiotransit9]

1st for everything!!!!!!