#Denver&RioGrandeWestern

[railwayhistorical]

Tennessee Pass

An eastbound train is seen here on the Denver Rio Grande & Western line over Tennessee Pass. This specific locale is just north of Leadville, Colorado, near MP 284—Google Maps has it as Piney Gulch.

A Wisconsin Central EMD SD45 is on the point along with at least one unit from Conrail. This steep grade over the Great Divide demands a lot of horses and so there are two Southern Pacific units working hard at a mid-train position in addition to the six up front. At the time, this was the highest active mainline railroad mountain pass in the United States, but it is currently embargoed, though the tracks are still in place.

I saw a (FB) post of the pass by James Belmont today and so dug around to find these. This was never my turf, and I just happened to be there with my father, medium format camera (filled with Plux-X) in hand. I should say, those eight locomotives were screaming for all they were worth, and the train was moving at about five miles an hour.

Two images by Richard Koenig; taken in the summer of 1996.

[tsmrr]