The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, often shortened to Rio Grande, D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a 3 ft narrow-gauge line running south from Denver, Colorado, in 1870. It served mainly as a transcontinental bridge line between Denver and Salt Lake City, Utah. The Rio Grande was also a major origin of coal and mineral traffic.
The Eisenhower Tunnel, officially the Eisenhower–Edwin C. Johnson Memorial Tunnel, is a dual-bore, four-lane vehicular tunnel in the western United States, approximately 60 miles (97 km) west of Denver, Colorado. The tunnel carries Interstate 70 (I-70) under the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains. With a maximum elevation of 11,158 feet (3,401 m) above sea level, it is one of the highest vehicular tunnels in the world. The tunnel is the longest mountain tunnel and highest point on the Interstate Highway System. Opened in 1973, the westbound bore is named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, the U.S. President for whom the Interstate system is also named. The eastbound bore was completed in 1979 and is named for Edwin C. Johnson, a governor and U.S. Senator who lobbied for an Interstate Highway to be built across Colorado.
The Denver and Salt Lake Railway (D&SL) was a U.S. railroad company located in Colorado. It was incorporated in 1902 as the Denver, Northwestern and Pacific (DN&P) Railway with the goal of connecting Denver, Colorado with Salt Lake City, Utah. It underwent numerous reorganizations throughout its financially troubled history and, by the time it was acquired in 1931 by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, it had advanced only as far west as Craig, Colorado. After its acquisition, it was connected to the D&RGW main to give the D&RGW a more direct route to Denver via the eastern half of the DS&L. The portions of the D&SL still in use today comprise the Moffat Tunnel Subdivision of Union Pacific Railroad's Central Corridor, and Amtrak’s California Zephyr uses a portion of the former D&SL between Denver and Bond.
The Winter Park Express is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on winter weekends between Denver Union Station and Winter Park Resort, Colorado. The scenic 56-mile (90 km) route uses the same line as the California Zephyr, climbing 4,000 feet (1,200 m) into the Front Range and passing through 30 tunnels—including the historic 6.2-mile (10.0 km) Moffat Tunnel under the Continental Divide—before dropping passengers within 100 yards (91 m) of Winter Park's ski lifts. Trains run five times a week from January to March.
Tennessee Pass elevation 10,424 ft (3,177 m) is a high mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado in the United States. The pass was named after Tennessee, the native state of a group of early prospectors.
Argentine Pass, elevation 13,207 ft (4,025 m), is a high mountain pass that crosses the Continental Divide in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado in the United States. Argentine Pass is located on the crest of the Front Range along the boundary southwest of Georgetown and is the highest named vehicle-accessible pass in the state.
Rollinsville is a census-designated place (CDP) and post office in and governed by Gilpin County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Rollinsville post office has the ZIP Code 80474. At the United States Census 2020, the population of the Rollinsville CDP was 194.
The Georgetown Loop Railroad is a 3 ft narrow gauge United States heritage railroad located in the Rocky Mountains in Clear Creek County, adjacent to Interstate 70 in Colorado.
Rollins Pass, elevation 11,676 ft (3,559 m), is a mountain pass and active archaeological site in the Southern Rocky Mountains of north-central Colorado in the United States. The pass is located on and traverses the Continental Divide of the Americas at the crest of the Front Range southwest of Boulder and is located approximately five miles east and opposite the resort in Winter Park—in the general area between Winter Park and Rollinsville. Rollins Pass is at the boundaries of Boulder, Gilpin, and Grand counties. Over the past 10,000 years, the pass provided a route over the Continental Divide between the Atlantic Ocean watershed of South Boulder Creek with the Pacific Ocean watershed of the Fraser River, a tributary of the Colorado River.
The Colorado–Big Thompson Project is a federal water diversion project in Colorado designed to collect West Slope mountain water from the headwaters of the Colorado River and divert it to Colorado's Front Range and plains. In Colorado, approximately 80% of the state's precipitation falls on the West Slope, in the Rocky Mountains, while around 80% of the state's growing population lives along the eastern slope, between the cities of Fort Collins and Pueblo.
Alpine Tunnel is a 1,772 ft (540 m) narrow gauge railroad tunnel located east of Pitkin, Colorado, on the former Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad route from Denver to Gunnison. At an elevation of 11,523 feet (3,512 m), it was the first tunnel constructed across the Continental Divide in Colorado and was the highest railroad tunnel in North America at the time of its construction in 1882. The line was abandoned less than 30 years later, in 1910, after a series of accidents and problems in and around the tunnel. Now the tunnel is sealed, and the remaining trackbed serves as a trail for hikers and bicyclists.
Dillon Reservoir, sometimes referred to as Lake Dillon, is a large fresh water reservoir located in Summit County, Colorado, United States, south of I-70 and bordered by the towns of Frisco, Silverthorne, and Dillon. It is a reservoir for the city of Denver, and its waters are under the control of Denver Water. Popular ski areas are close to the reservoir, including Copper Mountain, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin, and Breckenridge.
David Halliday Moffat was an American financier and industrialist, who was one of the original pioneers of Denver, Colorado.
Bond is an unincorporated community and U.S. Post Office in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The Bond Post Office has the ZIP Code 80423. Although Bond has never had a sizable population, the town has significant railroad history, and once was a stop for most of the passenger trains along the Denver and Rio Grande Western's main line.
Eldorado Mountain is a mountain summit on the eastern flank of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 8,344-foot (2,543 m) peak is located 8.1 miles (13.1 km) south by west of downtown Boulder, Colorado, United States. The mountain is largely in Boulder County but it straddles the border and its southern flanks are located in Jefferson County. Its name was probably borrowed from the nearby community of Eldorado Springs.
Marshall Pass, elevation 10,842 ft (3,305 m), is a mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of central-southern Colorado, US. It lies in northern Saguache County on the Continental Divide between the Sawatch Range to the north and the Cochetopa Hills to the south. The pass is part of a backcountry alternative to U.S. Highway 50 between Salida and Gunnison.
The Central Corridor is a rail line operated by the Union Pacific Railroad from near Winnemucca, Nevada to Denver, Colorado in the western United States. The line was created after the merger with the Southern Pacific Transportation Company by combining portions of lines built by former competitors. No portion of the line was originally built by the Union Pacific; in fact, some portions were built specifically to compete with the Union Pacific's Overland Route. The line is known for significant feats of engineering while crossing the Wasatch Mountains of Utah and the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. The line features numerous tunnels; the longest and highest of these is the Moffat Tunnel.
Jones Pass, elevation 12,454 ft (3,796 m), is a mountain pass that crosses the Continental Divide in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado in the United States.
The California Zephyr is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area, via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At 2,438 miles (3,924 km), it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overall after the Texas Eagle's triweekly continuation from San Antonio to Los Angeles, with travel time between the termini taking approximately 511⁄2 hours. Amtrak claims the route as one of its most scenic, with views of the upper Colorado River valley in the Rocky Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada. The modern train is the second iteration of a train named California Zephyr; the original train was privately operated and ran on a different route through Nevada and California.
