The decline of Gunnison actually began much earlier than what the other folks have indicated, on the day that the first standard gauge train crossed the new Tennessee Pass line in 1890. With that, all transcontinental traffic originating in Ogden that previously was carried on the Utah Extension (the D&RG's name the Third Division, for everything between Salida and Grand Junction) was now redirected via Glenwood Springs/Tennessee Pass and traffic declined considerably; the Utah Extension became nothing more than a branch line with local traffic only.
Naturally there were further downward steps into the 20th century that resulted in the closure of the 3rd Division including, the improvement of U.S. 50, the growth of automobile and truck traffic, and the decline in coal production being a few.
A good history of the Utah Extension/Third Division hasn't yet been written as far as I know. If somebody else doesn't tackle it in the near future I might, because it's so inextricably tied to my research into the original Denver & Rio Grande Western Railway (the Utah company) that I've already compiled quite a bit of data, but Colorado isn't my specialty so it's kind of a side note right now.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/16/2024 12:46PM by D&RGW 223.