Hello Fellow Members,
I have a question that has been bugging me for a while now and was wondering what you guys think of it.
It is currently known that the Rio Grande built over La Veta Pass with their narrow gauge Fort Garland extension to Fort Garland and eventually to Alamosa. Later on the original La Veta pass line was abandoned and a new standard gauge line was built over Veta Pass to reduce the sharp curvature and steep 4% grades. It is to my understanding that the new line still has 3-4% grades that make the locomotives work to get their trains over the mountain.
The Rio Grande also built its line over Marshall Pass and constructed a branch to Orient to serve the CF&I's Iron Mine from Mears Junction via Poncha Pass to the northern reaches of the San Luis Valley. Later on that line was extended to Alamosa to connect the rest of the narrow gauge network after the La Veta route was standard gauged.
Getting to my question now is why did the Rio Grande never built a standard gauge line from Salida to Mears Junction via Poncha Pass to Alamosa where the former Valley Line ran? It is to my understanding that the route over Poncha Pass is lower with lower gradients that La Veta and Veta passes. Surely it would have made for an easier time running trains over 54 miles of straight track until going over Poncha Pass. Also, Salida was a major terminal/repair center for the Rio Grande and would make sense to have the standard gauge line from there versus Walsenburg, CO at the southern end of the Rio Grande's network. From Salida to Pueblo is an easy down hill trek for the trains to the major rail yards of Pueblo. Instead of building such a line over La Veta/Veta Pass.
In this case what if the line over La Veta/Veta was never standardized and abandoned and the Valley Line was standardized to Salida.
What are your guys thoughts?
Ethan
We have witnessed valley
and plain and crest,
Canon and pass we've scanned;
We have seen the best
of the glorious West,
by the trail of the Rio Grande
-Author Unknown
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2017 11:32AM by Colorado76.
