Western Slope Derailment Dumps Crew, 4400 Gallons of Diesel Into Gunnison River

On a remote stretch of former Rio Grande rails in Mesa County, a Union Pacific train struck a rock slide and derailed, dumping the locomotives, the crew, the fuel and at least a few hoppers in the lower Gunnison River. Denver's 9News said the sheriff's office had to use a drone to locate the train owing to the remote location of the derailment. Tom Hesse of Colorado Public Radio reported of the snowy rescue of the crew by hi-rail truck. 

Animas River Over Tracks At Needleton

Weeks of tropical moisture rolled up into southwestern Colorado earlier this month, causing flooding of the San Juan River in Pagosa Springs and the Animas River along the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, severing the line temporarily at Needleton. The railroad ran trains as far as Cascade Canyon for a few days until the line could be restored, resuming full service to Silverton today hopefully to finish the 2025 summer season.⚒

Colorado Seals 25 Year-Deal With Union Pacific For Moffat Line

The State of Colorado has signed a lease with Union Pacific of the former Denver & Salt Lake main line in lieu of rent for the Moffat Tunnel between Tolland and Winter Park for 25 years. This follows a memorandum of understanding that was issued from Governor Polis' office on December 23rd last year.

High piles of snowmelt sit beside the railroad tracks at the Amtrak depot in Fraser, Colorado on April 10, 2025. The spring zephyrs have yet to warm this little icebox and melt all of winter's icy grip. Amtrak's train 5 the westbound California Zephyr awaits departure. Photo: Steve Walden

The contract allows for 3 daily trains executing roundtrips from Denver. Stations in Fraser and Granby would already use the Amtrak stations in place, and this operation should begin next year, according to Gov. Polis. There are plans for stations 

• Denver A
• Arvada
• Rollinsville 
• Fraser A
• Granby A
• Hot Sulphur Springs
• Kremmling
• Oak Creek
• Steamboat Springs Resort
• Steamboat Springs Downtown
• Hayden
• Craig

A - existing Amtrak service via California Zephyr

All stations for cities without existing Amtrak service will need to be built, and there is no exact timeline, or indeed any active contract for building these stations. Gov. Polis believes the trains will be in service next year. Hopefully, Colorado's "Mountain Rail," a restoration of local passenger rail transportation, is finally becoming a reality. 

At the risk of naming chickens before they're built, maybe we can name one of the three daily trains for the Rio Grande's Yampa Valley Mail? ⚒

All the news coverage by:

• Colorado Newsline (um, Colorado?)
• Colorado Sun (Steamboat focus)
• CBSNews Colorado (Denver)
• Colorado Public Radio (Denver)
• Sky-Hi News (Grand County)
• Craig Daily Press (Moffat County)
• Yampa Valley Bugle (Routt County)
• Trains 🔒paywall

Amtrak's Cal Z Helps Keep Travel For Travel's Sake

People magazine is not my first choice for railroad news, but something got my attention in this article. The traveler, from western Europe, writes, 

“Traveling by train is about fully accepting where you are — not counting down the time until you get ‘there.’ This feels very different from flying, where it’s all about getting to your destination as fast as possible. I’ve noticed that I don’t even check the time while being on this train,” she wrote. 

“People here seem more open to talking to strangers, exploring, playing cards and engaging in real human interaction instead of staring at a tiny screen," she says. "They may not realize it, but they are fully present in this moment. Not trying to kill time, because on these trains, it feels like time doesn’t exist.”

The place she wrote this insight, the article says, occurred between Denver and San Francisco. That train can only be number 5, the California Zephyr. I have ridden the portion between Denver and Glenwood Springs more than once and I can attest this is a beautiful experience worth every moment.