3090, 3112, 3085 and 3100 are about to enter the tunnel at Tennessee Pass with the second half of 790 eastbound coal from Cameo.

3008, 3030 and 3104 approach Minturn with a westbound freight.

5413, 5412 and 3039 slip under the I70, as they follow the Eagle River into Minturn, with #36 eastbound freight. The first and last locomotives, I believe, are still with us today, 5413 with the W... (more)

3090, 3112, 3085 and 3100 await crew change at Minturn Yard with the second half of #790 eastbound coal. In the distance the 8 helpers prepare to be cut in (3002, 3060, 3021, 3051, 3059, 3025, 311... (more)

Photographer unknown. From my collection.

Southern Pacific, SP SD45T-2 9254, with a westbound rack train on the D&RGW's Tennessee Pass Route, Minturn, Colorado. May 10, 1996. Jack D Kuiphoff © photo

When I first visited the USA toghether with a friend in summer 1991, we stopped our camping bus at the Tennessee pass railway of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad overnight. In the mornin... (more)

Rio Grande EMD SD40T-2 No. 5382 and EMD SD50 No. 5515 wait for a call to duty in front of the small enginehouse at Minturn, Colorado, at the foot of the famed grade over Tennessee Pass.

For years, Colorado’s Minturn yard has sat empty, rusty and forlorn, as seen on June 4, 2018. The sand tower is now gone and weeds grow between the rails that once supported interstate commerce.... (more)

DRGW 3082 leads an eastbound manifest uphill into Belden siding. A downhill helper set waits on the track along the Eagle Mine. View from Highway 24 high above.

An eastbound Rio Grande manifest pauses at Minturn before climbing the steep grade to Tennessee Pass.

One of the huge losses insofar as scenic lines was the Rio Grande route via Tennessee Pass that carried just enough traffic to keep things interesting. I was working as relief agent at Minturn and... (more)

With the former Rio Grande route over Tennessee Pass now dormant since the last Union Pacific train operated over it in 1997, nature has been taking over portions of the route. On the east switch ... (more)

A eastbound Climbs Tennessee pass at east belden

Severed—forever?
In early March 2014, a 30-foot boulder came crashing down the mountainside above Minturn, slamming onto the Tennessee Pass main line below while breaking in two and de... (more)