Here are three things to take away from the Jan. 26 meeting of the Buena Vista board of trustees:
1 Sara Cassidy, a representative from Colorado Midland & Pacific, stopped in on Tuesdayâs Zoom meeting to introduce herself and clear up some misconceptions about CM&Pâs lease of the Tennessee Pass Rail Line.
Later in the meeting, the board further discussed the future of trains in the Upper Arkansas Valley, and voted unanimously to submit comment on behalf of the town on the Surface Transportation Board Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Uinta Basin Railway.
The railway is another project by CM&P that would connect the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah to the existing railway system.
The short line railway recently secured a lease agreement for the line from the owner Union Pacific.
Concerns range from fear of crude oil shipments from Utah to the effect the reintroduction of the train might have on ecosystems and property values.
Sara Cassidy, community liason for the Colorado Midland & Pacific, stated at a recent meeting of concerned stakeholders in Leadville the railway has no intention to operate oil trains across the Tennessee Pass Line.
That speculation is connected to a proposed rail line in Utahâs Uinta Basin which will be operated by Rio Grande Pacific Corp., parent company to Colorado Midland & Pacific.
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Photograph by Myron Wood, from the Myron Wood Collection, courtesy of Pikes Peak Library District, 002-798
A photograph dated July 1981 shows the old Midland School, at 815 S. 25th St. on Colorado Springs’ west side. The three-story red sandstone and brick structure was built in 1902 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, the year before this photo was taken. The 1902 structure replaced the original two-room school built in 1889. Midland in the early 20th century was known for the leadership of its principal, Augusta Kneipp, according to the website for District 11 schools. The school’s growth led to an annex being built on West Broadway Street, and the school eventually moved to that location. The 1902 building, with renovations over the years, has been a private residence and an office building.
After executing an operating agreement with Union Pacific railroad for the Tennessee Pass line through Eagle County, Colorado Midland & Pacific is now in the public outreach phase of its planning process.
Colorado Midland & Pacific community liaison Sara Cassidy visited the Avon Town Council on Jan. 12, where she received no comment from council members (they later voted in favor of hiring an attorney to handle railroad matters), and on Jan. 20, Cassidy visited Minturn, where she recorded questions about the railroad from the town council and the community.
Colorado Midland & Pacific seeks to revive the Tennessee Pass line, which stopped running trains in the 1990s.
Opposition to the plan to revive long-dormant rail traffic on Tennessee Pass is growing by the day.
Residents of Chaffee, Lake and Eagle counties buried the Surface Transportation Board this month with opposition to the plan proposed by a Texas-based, short-line operator to begin running freight and possibly passengers on tracks that last saw trains in 1997. Environmental groups, county commissioners and a competitor on Colorado’s Eastern Plains have joined the chorus of opposition, asking the federal transportation board to either reject or further scrutinize the deal.
Chaffee and Eagle county commissioners are weighing in on Rio Grande Pacific Corp.’s push to run crude oil trains on a proposed new railroad in Utah that might lead to tankers of Uinta Basin crude rolling through Avon, Minturn, Buena Vista, Browns Canyon and Salida.