Colorado Pacific Railroad

Not to be confused with Colorado Pacific Rio Grande Railroad, also owned by the Soloviev Group.
Colorado Pacific Railroad
A grain train in Sheridan Lake, CO
Overview
Parent companyThe Soloviev Group
HeadquartersAlamosa, Colorado
Reporting markCXR
LocaleColorado
Dates of operation2020–Present
PredecessorMissouri Pacific, Union Pacific
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length122 miles (196 km)
Other
Websitehttps://coloradopacificrailroad.com/

The Colorado Pacific Railroad is a shortline railroad operating on 122 miles (196 km) of former Missouri Pacific Railroad trackage in southeast Colorado. It interchanges with Union Pacific and BNSF at North Avondale Junction near Boone and with the Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad at Towner, following state highway 96. It is sometimes referred to as the Towner Line or the Towner Railway.

History

The line was constructed in the late 1880s by the Missouri Pacific Railroad as part of its mainline between Pueblo and Kansas City. As a condition of the 1982 Missouri Pacific - Union Pacific merger, the Denver & Rio Grande Western got trackage rights over this line. The D&RGW merged with the Southern Pacific in 1992.

Southern Pacific's adquisition of Denver & Rio Grande Western made the old MoPac route to Pueblo and the former Rio Grande line from Pueblo to Dotsero via Tennessee Pass SP's preferred Transcon route from the West Coast to the Midwest. By then, the company had its own route from California to Pueblo via Donner Pass, Salt Lake City and Tennessee Pass, in addition to trackage rights on the old MP line from Kansas to Pueblo.[1]

The lowest point for the line came in 1996 with the merger between Union Pacific and SP. Given UP's preference for using the old Kansas Pacific (KP) main line that run directly to Denver without passing through Pueblo, and the Moffat Tunnel Subdivision instead of the Tennessee Pass Sub for traffic to and from California, the old MP line to Pueblo, along with the Tennessee Pass line, once SP's favorite Transcon, became redundants in the newly merged system.

The last revenue trains run on the line in May 1996, and shortly thereafter UP requested that the line be abandoned before the Surface Transportation Board (STB).[2] The STB approved the abandonment as part of the merger.[3][4][5]

The Colorado Department of Transportation purchased the line from UP in 1998 for $10.2 million in hopes of finding a short-line operator to serve farmers and others in small towns along the route.[6] In 2000, CDOT leased the line to the Colorado, Kansas & Pacific Railway. In 2004, the lease was transferred to V&S Railway.[7] However, V&S ownership appeared to locals as intent on scrapping the railroad for immediate cash, and freight tonnage began to decrease. Plus the activity lasted off and on until 2010 or 2011 when service ended and the section from North Avondale to Haswell was only used for car storage.[5]

Soloviev Group ownership

Real estate magnate Stefan Soloviev's Crossroads Agriculture began operating in the area in 2007, and became interested in the railroad line when learning about V&S's intention to scrap it. He decided to purchase the line to facilitate grain transportation at lower costs.[8] Upon discovering Soloviev's intentions, in 2014 V&S began preparing the line to be scrapped by removing tie spikes and anchors, but this was problematic as they had not yet received legal approval from the STB to formally abandon the line. Soloviev asked the STB to force the sale of the railroad. His request was granted, and the sale took place in 2016.[5][9][10]

Over the following years, rehabilitation took place and railroad operations gradually resumed, with plans to expand service as new infrastructure is completed.[11][12]

During the following years, the Soloviev Group would purchase two more railroads in Colorado: San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad (SLRG), which would be renamed Colorado Pacific Rio Grande (CXRG), and the San Luis Central Railroad, which would be renamed Colorado Pacific San Luis.[13][14][15][16][17] The Soloviev Group also tried to buy UP's line from Pueblo to Dotsero through the Tennessee Pass, dormant (but not abandoned) since 1997, although it was not possible to reach a sale agreement with UP, owner of the line, nor with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) which, being the highest federal agency in the matter, had to approve the sale of the line.[18]

In February 2026, farmers who are customers of Weskan Grain, together with that company, which is part of the Soloviev Group, filed a lawsuit in Kansas District Court, alleging that Union Pacific, together with Kansas & Oklahoma, owned by WATCO, have a "secret" agreement that increases the cost of grain shipments from elevators located on sections of the Towner Line in western Kansas that currently belong to K&O, if they are interchanged with Colorado Pacific, preventing or slowing down such shipments from being interchanged with that railroad in Towner. The parties that initiated the litigation indicated that the conduct of K&O and Union Pacifico is clearly monopolistic, which goes against existing antitrust laws.

Both Union Pacific and K&O quickly moved to refute Weskan Grain's accusations. UP argued that the STB is the only competent authority to arbitrate in the situation, while K&O preferred not to comment on the matter.[19][20]

Rolling stock

The railroad owns two EMD SD40-2s, painted blue and prominently displaying the Colorado Pacific logo.[21] In 2024, four SD70MACs were delivered from the Colorado Pacific Rio Grande shops in Alamosa, Colorado.

References

  1. ^ "The most spectacular trains in the world". Rail. No. 319. December 3, 1997. pp. 22–24.
  2. ^ "The most spectacular trains in the world". Rail. No. 319. December 3, 1997. pp. 22–24.
  3. ^ "Towner Railroad: status/future?". Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  4. ^ Surface Transportation Board Decision (PDF) (Report). Surface Transportation Board. January 26, 1998. Docket No. AB-3 (Sub-No. 130). Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Waggoner, Priscilla (February 14, 2018). "'I Hear That Train A-Comin'...' The Story Behind the Story". Kiowa County Independent. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  6. ^ Miniclier, Kit (April 27, 2000). "Towner Rail Line revs up for the real thing". The Denver Post. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  7. ^ Surface Transportation Board Decision (PDF) (Report). November 13, 2012. Docket No. FD 35664. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  8. ^ Blevins, Jason (December 31, 2023). "The New York billionaire looking to change agriculture with Colorado farmland". The Colorado Sun. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  9. ^ Clark, Patrick (September 9, 2019). "How a Manhattan Scion Built a Rural Empire". Forbes. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  10. ^ KCVN, LLC and Colorado Pacific Railroad, LLC-Feeder Line Application-Line of V and S Railway, LLC, Located in Crowley, Pueblo, Otero, and Kiowa Counties, Colorado (Report). Surface Transportation Board. April 15, 2016. Docket No. FD 36005. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  11. ^ Waggoner, Priscilla (December 18, 2019). "It's Official and this is What It Looks Like!". Kiowa County Independent. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  12. ^ "Behind the Scenes at Colorado Pacific Railroad". Kiowa County Independent. March 23, 2022. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  13. ^ Lopez, C. (September 12, 2022). "Denver-based OmniTrax to purchase San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad". Alamosa Citizen. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
  14. ^ Waggoner, Priscilla (November 17, 2022). "Colorado Pacific RR wins SLRG auction". Valley Courier. Archived from the original on December 25, 2022. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  15. ^ Ferrell, Lyndsie (December 9, 2022). "Bankruptcy judge approves bid for SLRG railroad". The Monte Vista Journal. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  16. ^ Blevins, Jason (December 31, 2023). "The New York billionaire looking to change agriculture with Colorado farmland". The Colorado Sun. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  17. ^ "Filings". Surface Transportation Board. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
  18. ^ "Colorado Pacific says it would offer passenger service as part of new bid for Tennessee Pass line". Trains. November 2, 2020. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  19. ^ Watson, Rip (February 2, 2026). "Lawsuit claims UP, short line blocked grain moves via alternate route". Trains. Retrieved February 19, 2026.
  20. ^ Kirkpatrick, Marion (February 2, 2026). "Antitrust Lawsuit Targets Union Pacific, K&O Railroads Over Grain Shipping Fees". www.rfdtv.com. Retrieved February 19, 2026.
  21. ^ Barnett, Betsy (September 21, 2022). "New Locomotives on Colorado Pacific Railroad Signals Big Changes". Kiowa County Independent. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
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