Rio Grande

This page continues along the mainline from the Moffat Tunnel westward.

The west portal of the Moffat Tunnel.  The Winter Park ski area is just to the west.  Not much happening when I was there.

  The Rio Grande station Granby.  Painted up for the 1976 Bi-Centennial ?

  Amtrak train #5 rolls to a stop at Granby on 9-11-1989.  The three F40's have some material handling cars and a long train.

  West of Granby the train approaches the Byers Canyon area.

  Looking almost like an HO scale model, #5 threads the canyon.

    More in Byers Canyon.  A gravel road parallels on the opposite side of the river.

  Back out into the open lands of mid-Colorado.  These open areas in Colorado are commonly known as 'parks'.

  Mother Nature has done a magnificent job of painting the rock in this area.  Yarmony, CO.

    Number 5, the California Zephyr passes through the remote junction town of Bond.  The branch to Craig swings up
and off to the right.  9-11-1989.

  A ground level view of the small facility at Bond.  Note the Craig branch up on the hill to the left.  Quite a steep grade!

  Train 707, an empty coal train, picks up some units for the climb up the Craig Branch.

      Train 707 works hard pulling up the hill out of Bond.

Click here for the Craig Branch photos.......

    5344 leading train number 136 east departs Bond. on 9-12-1989.

  5409 is leading train number 187 departing westbound out of Bond.  We will follow this train to Dotsero.

The following series of images is of this westbound train along what is known as the Dotsero Cutoff.  There is little in the way of civilization out here, so there are
very few specific landmarks to note.  Anyone wishing to help add some comments as to locations is welcome.

                   The scenery alone is worth a thousand words.  I did take note of one thing that bothered
me as I traveled along that gravel road.  Much of land had barbed wire fences with No Trespassing signs.  Unless I am wrong, wouldn't all this land be open federal
land for anyone to use.  If the ranchers pay a small token to lease the land, why all the signs?  It isn't their land.

   Looking geographically south, but railroad west, this is Dotsero Jct.  The mainline curves to the right toward Glenwood Springs and Utah.
The track swinging off to the left goes toward Minturn and the Tennessee Pass line.  More on that on another page.

        Amtrak train number 5 swings around the junction coming off the cut-off and heading west to
Glenwood Springs on 9-13-1989.  The third picture has been cleaned up a bit thanks to Adobe Photoshop.

  The railroad is not the only junction located here.  The Eagle and the Colorado Rivers join together here.

On to Glenwood Springs very soon.

Back to the Rio Grande Main Page, Click Here...............