The rail yards in Minturn, Colorado have been quiet since 1997, which is the year that the Tennessee Pass line was shut down by the Union Pacific. The rail yards began in 1887 when the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad arrived in the town of Minturn. In the 1980’s and 90’s you could find many D&RGW and Southern Pacific engines in these yards, staged as helpers to muscle loaded coal and freight loads up and over the 10,400 foot Tennessee Pass. A ‘Minturn’ search in the Railpictures archives will turn up many photos from the likes of Mike Danneman and James Belmont, who captured the height of diesel power in Minturn. Today the rails are slowly being absorbed into the landscape, with the number of rusting switch stands baring some indication of the level of activity that once occurred in the yard. Eventually the shuttered D&RGW depot will likely meet its fate at the hands of a demolition team.
