San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad May Have A Buyer But Questions Remain

SL&RG 1744 steams eastward into the sunrise toward La Veta Pass
Photo by Mike Danneman

After an auction ordered earlier this summer by a bankruptcy judge, the San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad, operating for years without an owner in the San Luis Valley, may actually have new life and a new owner. Officials are quick to stress that nothing is final or binding, but the details are being ironed out with long-time Great Western Railway of Colorado owner OmniTrax. 

Another company, North Central Railcorp headed by Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Inc. President Tim Tennant, has indicated its interest to Roni Wisdom, Alamosa County Administrator, and should be working with the court and trustees, says Alamosa News. 

Hopefully, in OmniTrax we have a clear winner. Even if we do, the possibility exists that if OmniTrax fails in the San Luis Valley, it could file to abandon the historic branch like it did recently. According to AlamosaNews.com, 

On Aug. 9, 2019 – just three years after purchasing the line – OmniTrax and CTXR petitioned STB to abandon the line, citing the loss of millions of dollars in acquiring and operating the line and asserting the cost of continuing to maintain and operate the line far outweighed the potential revenue from shippers. STB approved the petition, and the line was abandoned.

That is not to say that the San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad would be in the same boat as the Central Texas and Colorado River (CTXR) Railroad, which was purchased by OmniTrax on the assumption demand for fracking sand would drive their railroad's profitability. When the demand didn't materialize in 2017, the railroad stalled. The San Luis & Rio Grande has the demand already in hand.

The rising sun glints off the special photo freight of the SL&RG
Photo by Mike Danneman

One question would be whether OmniTrax, if awarded the sale, can couple the existing demand for the valley's agriculture with its existing business model of rail-driven real estate. Having a client commit to using OmniTrax in the San Luis Valley would settle a lot of nerves. So would public funding or tax breaks to spur new business growth. But no one can expect either to show up on demand.

On the other hand, one thing is certain: If SL&RG were to shut down for any reason, Coors' Rocky Mountain barley and other clients' products would be forced over La Veta Pass via US 160, and I know from personal experience the highway would never handle such a load without tens or hundreds of millions of dollars spent to improve it. Thus, the San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad had better keep those steel wheels rolling, whatever happens. We can't afford for it to stop. ⚒

V&S Scrapping Towner Line Without Approval?

You may remember a post and a follow-up in late 2011 about the state trying to save the "Towner line" from being carved up by its erstwhile benefactor V&S Railway. Yesterday, Nathan Holmes of DRGW.net has posted news* and photographs showing recent activity, all of them destructive or foreboding to the former Missouri Pacific main line that once connected Pueblo and Denver with Kansas City and St. Louis.

Mr. Holmes was also out there in July covering a series of washouts that occurred July 15, when he also took a sharp picture of Union Pacific's sharp-looking heritage unit only a few miles from its former home rails. The MoPac as it is known is far from forgotten, with an historical society and an employee association and quite a few fans. Along with the Rio Grande and Western Pacific, the Towner line served to connect Gould's railroads to threaten the Union Pacific and all other transcon routes.

There is, DRGW.net says, at least one offer in front of the Federal Surface Transporation Board to buy the line outright. The worrisome sightings by Holmes and others interested in this line are indicative that V&S intends to scrap the line outright, regardless of its legal obligations. Why else place the scrapping equipment in key areas? It's like finding a circular saw and saw horses along a fence a neighbor wants to remove from your common property line. What are they planning? Wouldn't you ask your neighbor about his intentions?

One final bit of thought, and it is directed at those who might file Towner Line under "so what?" Once rights-of-way are gone, they are next to impossible to recreate or recover. If Pueblo wants east-west passenger service, Towner would be much easier to keep than to buy space on BNSF.

A message sent to V&S seeking a statement about the Towner Line via their site has yet to be returned.◊

* -  No direct link provided. If not visible, click here to search DRGW.net for the latest news regarding the Towner line

Union Pacific Railroad honored Missouri Pacific in 2006 with a heritage unit. Today, the transcon link is being chipped away by those who would sell Colorado short.
Photo: terry cantrell via Wikimedia Commons