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UP finds use for Tennessee Pass line

Brief by Central Staff

Transportation – May 2002 – Colorado Central Magazin

While our side of the Tennessee Pass rail line has been out of service for a couple of years,. the Union Pacific has found a use for its tracks on the west side — storage for several 100-car coal trains, like these sitting between Wolcott and Edwards.

 Empty coal cars sitting on track. Photo by Allen Best.
Empty coal cars sitting on track. Photo by Allen Best.

The cars are parked because demand is down, on account of a depressed Asian economy (a major market for low-sulfur Colorado coal) and a warmer-than-usual winter in the Midwest, which caused electrical generating plants there to burn less coal.