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Colorado tourism supporters work to revive the ‘Ski Train’
Sounds great. Just a minor correction - the rail line to Denver Airport is not light rail.
Good timing to try to negotiate a restart, as coal train starts on the Moffat Line are down, and the airport link is going into service soon.
Just a wild thought. Build rail to other Colorado ski resorts. Steamboat Springs and Vail come to mind. Steamboat Springs is on the Craig branch and Vail is a eight miles from Minturn.
I would hope that the community of Winter Park would provide some financial assistance to building the siding and heated platform. It would be a win-win for them, and they can use the tax revenue from the ski resort to cover costs.
Since the airport link is a heavy-rail commuter line, I wonder if it would be possible to thru-run the ski-train from DIA through DUS to Winter Park?
Unfortunately a run through could never happen. RTD would never allow it, and the demand is just not there. The ski train would have to use single level coaches because of the catenary wires above the tracks, ruling out the use of Amtrak equipment. The old route is the better option for everyone. The transfer from commuter to ski train is not difficult at all, and the whole journey is probably just as fast as a run through would be.
I believe the commuter line uses high level platforms? If I’m right, this would prohibit superliners if the line was through routed.
Having lived in the Denver Metro Area, I would like to add a bit of information.
First, at least part of the Winter Park ski area is a Denver Mountain Park. That means that the city of Denver owns part of the ski area, but not the town. However, if this increases tourists coming into Denver, then they should be able to justify at least some funding for the siding and platform.
Second, you mention the operation by Ansco, which I assume is one of Phillip Anschutz’ operations just as the Denver & Rio Grande and SP were, but you do not mention the attempt by Ed Ellis and Iowa Pacific to restore the train a few years ago. I believe the coal traffic on the line was heavy enough to be a concern. As a comment below indicates, that coal traffic is down.
I can recall when there were no (zero, zip, nada) I-70 traffic delays between Stapleton and Vail, but that was back in the mid-1970s. Vail lift tickets were $22.00! $16.00 for afternoons. And Garton’s Slope Lounge had 50 cent drafts between 2:00 and 4:00.
This weekend, there is a new toll lane opening on I-70. A beer in Vail is $8.00.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/mountains/tolls-start-on-i-70-mountain-express-lane-saturday
It would seem there is demand for renewed rail service to Winter Park, particularly since WP is not directly adjacent to I-70.
As for the idea to build rail to other ski resorts – nice dream, and very doable IF you have a few billion (with a “B”) lying around…and want to fight an epic 20-year battle with environmental regulations and the NOPE* crowd. I’d rather try to build a coal-fired electric generating station.
- NOPE = Not On Planet Earth
Don’t forget the BANANA crowd also (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody). I hope they can at least get the Winter Park service running again.
@ Arthur JJ Miller, Ski Trains to Minturn (Vail) and Aspen would use already-existing rail lines - look at a map of Colorado railroads!
(Merrill Perkins from Connecticut): I believe the rail line to Aspen (Ex D&RGW) is long gone below Woody Creek (?) to Aspen (abandoned in the mid 1970s?) and it is now a bike trail. Minturn is on the mothballed ex D&RGW Tennessee Pass line …
In addition to NIMBYs, BANANAS and NOPES, don’t forget CAVEs and CAVE-INs:
CAVE = Citizens Against Virtually Everything
CAVE-INs = Citizens Against Virtually Everything In Numbers