No trains have passed this way recently! In early March 2014, a 30-foot boulder came crashing down the mountainside above Minturn, Colorado, just west of milepost 301 on this famous Rio Grande main line that Union Pacific stopped operating in 1997. The huge rock slammed onto the main line, breaking in two and destroying part of the siding, stopping short of the Eagle river and homes just the other side of it. Reportedly, some local residents thought it was an explosion, while others thought it was fireworks or the sound of blades on a low-flying helicopter when it fell. The giant boulder was once a good portion of a local landmark called Lionshead Rock that has stood above the mountain town for countless years. The locals may miss their icon that roared down the mountain, but I miss the trains that once roared up the mountain over those twisted rails so many years ago.
