Nice view, Kevin.
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| Posted by on May 28, 2020 | |
You can see there used to be a crossover there between the lines. You can still see the grade and former bridge abutments, wonder when/why that was taken out
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You are absolutely correct Troy! Rio Grande originally built a line through here. The line was where the front of the coal load is in the distance and where the front of the grain train is in the foreground. Santa Fe came along second and built their line. Their's was where the back half the grain train was and flew over Rio Grande's main to where the back half of the coal load is.
During World War 1, when the government took over the railroads, they forced Rio Grande and Santa Fe to scrap operating competing lines between Denver and Pueblo and had them operate both lines together, directionally. The three flyovers that existed between Denver and Pueblo (where Santa Fe had gone over Rio Grande) were remove and the lines became parallel. The western main, Main 1, became the southbound main and the eastern main, main 2, became the northbound main.
Ownership of each track still switched between Rio Grande and Santa Fe at the former locations of the crossovers. That is still the case today. Each of these trains are half on track owned by UP and half on track owned by BNSF.
Until about 20 years ago, the mileposts on each main changed when the ownership changed. This was especially confusing as Rio Grande mileposts counted up from Denver south and Santa Fe mileposts counted down from Denver south! So, on Main 1 (for example), the mileposts leading to Sedalia were 21, 22, 23, 24, 712, 711, 710, and so on. BNSF and UP agree to change the mileposts on both mains to start at 0 in Denver and count up heading south, alleviating some confusion.
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The same photographer took this picture and included information about the crossover in an interesting caption.
https://railpictures.net/photo/737619/
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| Posted by Rob S on November 3, 2020 | |
That's great info and a great shot, Kevin. I lived just off the joint line for four years and still miss the whistles in the valley north of the AFA. Great stuff!
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