As the early phases of work to reactivate the Tennessee Pass Line begin, local and regional officials are voicing concerns about the proposal to once again run trains along the
The Tennessee Pass rail line along the Eagle River, I-70 and Highway 6 in Dowd Junction.
Warren Zevon sang it best: “Send lawyers, guns and money,” he bellowed in his hit song of the same title. He might have thrown in “public affairs consultants and politicians” had he been referring to the Colorado railroad wars shaping up over the long-dormant Tennessee Pass Line.
The guns may not be necessary as Colorado Pacific Railroad takes on Colorado Midland Pacific in parallel bids to revamp the long-languishing line that bisects Eagle County, but the lawyers are already making bank, with a big Denver firm set to start billing both Avon and Eagle County.
While many unknowns still linger about the lease of the Tennessee Pass rail line announced on New Yearsâ Eve, rafting outfitters are concerned about the return of train service on the tracks along the Arkansas River, which have been unused since 1997.
âWe were kinda hit by it at the 11th hour, basically,â said Bob Hamel, executive director of the Arkansas River Outfitterâs Association. On Tuesday, the AROA voted unanimously to write a letter of opposition to the lease.
âWeâre obviously very concerned about what the cargo is,â Hamel said. âWe know we have this rail line here with the potential that it could open again, after millions and millions of dollars of repair and upgrading. But our biggest concern is the type of cargo it might present.â
Daily file photo
A Dec. 31 deal between Union Pacific Railroad and the Colorado, Midland & Pacific Railway Company is already generating opposition.
The biggest player among the opponents is the Colorado Pacific Railway, a firm that hauls grain in eastern Colorado and western Kansas. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board in March of 2020 rejected Colorado Pacific’s offer to purchase the line. At the time, the bid was rejected as incomplete.
Colorado Pacific owner Stefan Soloviev, who also has large agricultural holdings in eastern Colorado under the company name KCVN, said in a phone conversation he wants the line to haul grain more easily from eastern Colorado to western markets.
Union Pacific tracks along the Eagle River through Dowd Junction.
Colorado Pacific Railroad on Saturday announced it will challenge a deal between Union Pacific and Rio Grande Pacific to possibly rehabilitate the Tennessee Pass Line and offer passenger and freight service through Eagle County.
In a brief press release, Hayden Soloviev, Vice Chairman of New York-based Solow Building Company and Crossroads Agriculture – the parent companies of Colorado Pacific Railroad – made its plans known Saturday afternoon after Rio Grande Pacific subsidiary Colorado, Midland & Pacific Railway Company announced its deal with UP on Thursday.
Here’s the statement from Soloviev in its entirety: