A westbound Southern Pacific freight exits Tennessee Pass tunnel. It was common to set air in the tunnel then pull the train out of the portal onto the 3% grade. This set of air insured the brake... (more)
With the upper signal mast of the West Tennessee Pass siding signal now gone— it’ll be a while, or forever—before the next eastbound train gets a high green cresting the summit of one of Col... (more)
Flowers begin to grow between slag ballast and rusty 136-pound rails laid by Rio Grande in 1970’s, as nature slowly reclaims what is hers on top of Colorado’s Tennessee Pass on August 12, 2015... (more)
Even though the passage of the last train was 18 years ago, the summit tunnel on Union Pacific’s former Rio Grande line over Colorado’s Tennessee Pass appears in remarkably good shape as seen ... (more)
A stormy afternoon on Tennessee Pass. The thunder heard from the cut on Kindig's Curve however is a westbound coal load with 8 GE's and one EMD Tunnel Motor in Run-8!!!! Oh what a place it was!!!!... (more)
A Southern Pacific coal load climbs the steep Tennessee Pass Subdivision a mile or two below the summit on a sunny March 29, 1997 afternoon. The 100 car train had three AC4400CWs on the point, fou... (more)
A snow squall hits 10,424 ft. Tennessee Pass while the SGVCC glides through the famous Mitchell curves on Sept. 26, 1996.
Tennessee Pass. Mitchell, Colorado. June 1996. If memory serves correctly this eastbound coal load was one of the first Test DPU coal trains run over the Pass. This 2x2 configuration eliminated ... (more)
It was 1997, Tennessee Pass had a new owner Union Pacific. On this day it still looked and operated like the Southern Pacific, as three almost new AC4400's tackled the 3%.....
SP141, still looking fresh and clean, leads an eastbound coal load up the 3% at Mitchell, CO. SP173 is the second motor and looks as if it has taken a few more trips over the Moffat with its dirt... (more)
Looking thru my slides I certainly shot a handful of trains at Mitchell. Here is another coal load climbing the 3% on a Colorado July Morning. Note the new CTRN hoppers.
A battle worn Tunnel Motor screams up the 3% with a heavy lumber train.
SP396 has cut out its swing help and now heads west downgrade towards Leadville.
SP274 climbs the 3% at Mitchell in a driving rain storm.
SP125 battles Tennessee Pass on a stormy August afternoon 1996.