The upper level of my two-level layout is all narrow gauge, depicting a portion of the former Denver & Rio Grande Western’s Fourth Division line in southwestern Colorado and northern New Mexico.
D&RGW’s Tennessee Pass Line (CO)
The Tennessee Pass line runs from Pueblo CO (elevation 4,662’), west up the Arkansas River valley through the Royal Gorge, past Leadville, and over Tennessee Pass (elev. 10,227’), and down along the Eagle River to Minturn and to the confluence with the Colorado River at Dotsero (elev. 6,150), a distance of 222 miles. For the railroad, the route east from Pueblo is a steady climb following the Arkansas, often at a 2% grade, including passing through the spectacular Royal Gorge. At the summit of Tennessee Pass and Continental Divide, the line goes through a 2,577’ tunnel and begins a steep descent along the Eagle River to Minturn, where there was an important helper terminal. At Dotsero on the Colorado River, the line connects to the Moffat line which runs west from Denver.
This line was great for railfans, especially the stretch of 3.0% grade between Minturn and summit of Tennessee Pass. This was the steepest mainline grade on the standard gauge D&RGW system, and it required a fleet of locomotives dedicated as helper units to push the trains up the hill. Helpers were added at the rear of the train, or in the middle, or both. This was real mountain railroading – quite a change from my experience in upstate NY along the New York Central’s “Water Level Route”.
While I made several visits to Minturn, the unforgettable highlight was witnessing in 1997 one of the last freights climbing the hill at Mitchell, just below the summit. While it was a UP and not a D&RGW train, the show was everything I had hoped for. Shortly after that visit, Union Pacific mothballed the line, as discussed at the bottom of this page, and it remains idle to this day.
Go to the bottom of this page for more information.
Minturn CO
Minturn (elev. 7,861’) was a true railroad town and helper terminal on the west side of Tennessee Pass, and was critical to getting freight up the 3.0% grade, 2,366’ elevation gain and 22 miles to the summit. Even in the final years when distributed power units (DPUs) were common, this climb required manned helpers on all trains.
Click on each image for caption with more info
Curves at Mitchell near Tennessee Pass Summit
In July 1997, I was fortunate to photograph an eastbound coal train climbing the 3% grade through the 10 degree S-curves at Mitchell CO, only a mile or so from the crest at Tennessee Pass. The train crawled up the grade at perhaps 10 mph, in spite of having both swing (mid-train) and rear helpers, totaling 9 locomotives and a whopping 39,600 hp. There were no Rio Grande units on the train, unfortunately, but it was still an unforgettable show and earthshaking experience. After passing through the tunnel at the summit, I watched the helpers cut out of the train at Tennessee Pass siding on the east side of the summit. The following sequence of photos captured the event.
Click on each image for caption with more info
Helpers Cut Off at Tennessee Pass
In this sequence, first the mid-train or swing helpers cut out of the train, then the rear helpers were cut out. Both sets of helpers returned to Minturn for the next train.
Click on each image for caption with more info
Arkansas River Valley and the Royal Gorge
The most notable feature to the east of Tennessee Pass is the famous Royal Gorge. Years ago, the D&RGW’s train #2 was aptly named the Royal Gorge, and I was lucky enough to ride on that train in July 1966, just months before it was discontinued. I was not so lucky with the photos, as light leaked onto the undeveloped film before it was processed, so please pardon the image quality.
Today, one can ride on the Royal Gorge Route RR to experience this spectacular canyon.
Click on each image for caption with more info
Royal Gorge RR Today
One can still enjoy the beauty and majesty of the Royal Gorge today, by riding on the Royal Gorge Railroad. Operating on the former D&RGW rails, the train runs from Canon City CO to Parkdale and return. Quite a few more frills compared to yesteryear, it’s still a thrill – especially in the open car. See https://royalgorgeroute.com/ for details.
Click on each image for caption with more info
I have additional photos of these locations. If you are interested, please contact me.
Background History
The Tennessee Pass line has an interesting pass, including a court decision which changed the paths of the early railroads in the west. The story began with General William Palmer building the narrow gauge Denver & Rio Grande south from Denver to Pueblo CO in 1871-2. Everything was halted by the Panic of 1873, but financing and construction resumed in 1878. The D&RG wanted to build to Mexico City but had to battle the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe to cross Raton Pass in northern New Mexico first. Both railroads also wanted to build up the Arkansas River to the booming mining town of Leadville, via the narrow Royal Gorge, and they fought with guns (deaths did occur) and in court. Ultimately, in 1878 the Santa Fe won the Raton Pass route, and the Rio Grande won the Royal Gorge route, but the dream of Mexico City was dashed. The first D&RG rails were narrow gauge, extending to Leadville and later over Tennessee Pass to Glenwood Springs in 1887. By 1890, the rails were re-gauged to standard gauge, all the way to Salt Lake and Ogden UT. This was now the mainline of the Denver & Rio Grande Western RR for several decades.
In 1934, the D&RGW built a line, called the Dotsero Cutoff, from the Tennessee Pass line at Dotsero near Gypsum, to connect to the newer Denver & Salt Lake. The D&SL had just completed building the Moffat Tunnel west of Denver, so this cutoff shortened the Denver to Salt Lake route by 175 miles. With that, all traffic west from Denver used the D&SL line (merged into the D&RGW in 1947), and most traffic on the Tennessee Pass line, while still substantial, was connecting traffic in Pueblo with the Missouri Pacific, the Colorado & Southern and the Santa Fe.
Things changed rapidly after the Union Pacific merger in 1996. The UP began re-routing traffic off the former Rio Grande in favor of its Overland Route through Nebraska and Wyoming, and it mothballed its former Missouri Pacific connection at Pueblo. The high operating costs of helper service between Minturn and the pass, and diminished traffic, led to the UP taking the line out of service; the last train ran on August 23,1997. A short section of rail was removed to reduce tax liability, but the bulk of the line is now rusty and overgrown with weeds. Today the section through the Royal Gorge is operated by a tourist line (and is worth riding on), but the fate of the line overall is yet to be determined – possibly partial or total divestiture, or outright abandonment.
While there are several videos available documenting Tennessee Pass, my favorite is Tribute to Tennessee Pass by Pentrex.