The Denver & Rio Grande Western's very first SD40T-2, number 5341, leads a westbound manifest down Tennessee Pass near Leadville, Colorado, on a September 1991 afternoon. The grade at this spot, not far from the pass' 10,293-feet (3137 meters) summit, is a respectable 3% - a grade that crews had better respect! This was also the location of the 2.6 mile long Mitchell Siding, which was the first CTC installation west of the Mississippi, and the Rio Grande's first foray into signaling. Mitchell Siding was removed in 1962. Behind the 5341 is a GP40 and a pair of GP35s.
