Colorado Pacific Railroad, the rail enterprise of Colorado billionaire Stefan Soloviev, is no longer pursuing purchase of the former Denver & Rio Grande Western Tennessee Pass line, according to the nonprofit website Colorado Newsline.
The railroad’s general counsel, William Osborn, told the site Soloviev — a major New York developer and chairman of Crossroads Agriculture, which Newsline says is the 26th largest landowner in the U.S. with holdings in Colorado, New Mexico, and Kansas — instead purchased the former San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad. Colorado Pacific purchased that former Iowa Pacific property in a bankruptcy auction last year [see “Late bid leads to new owner …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 19, 2022]. It is now operating as the Colorado Pacific Rio Grande Railroad. The company also operates the Colorado Pacific, a former Missouri Pacific line from Towner, Colo., near the Kansas state line, to NA Junction, some 27 miles east of Pueblo.
Colorado Pacific and parent company KCVN at one point offered Union Pacific $10 million for the out-of-service Tennessee Pass line, then attempted to force UP to sell them the route in 2020. That effort was rejected by the Surface Transportation Board [see “Regulators toss out effort …,” News Wire, March 18, 2020]. They sought to block a UP lease agreement with Rio Grande Pacific to operate the line announced the following year [see “Colorado Pacific files objections …,” News Wire, Jan. 11, 2021]. That plan has been dormant since Rio Grande Pacific’s request for an exemption to allow the transaction to go forward was rejected by the STB [see “Federal regulators reject short line plan …,” News Wire, March 26, 2021].
Residents along the Tennessee Pass route are concerned the line, if revived, would be used to transport oil from the planned Uinta Basin Railway in Utah, which also is a Rio Grande Pacific project. Rio Grande Pacific has said it has no such plans, and was willing to have the STB exclude transport of oil as part of its exemption to operate the line. Eagle County, Colo., and a coalition of environmental groups have sued over the STB’s approval of the Uinta Basin project [see “Environmental groups sue …,” News Wire, Feb. 14, 2022]. Colorado Newsline reports the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington last week heard oral arguments in that case last week.
Just guessing, but Mr. Soloviev may have found out the actual cost of restoring the Tennessee Pass line and decided to just say no. I knew a BNSF official who, in the 1990s, had asked his opposite number at the UP in Omaha what figure they used internally for putting that line back in service. It was $1 million per mile. At 100+ miles, that’s an impressive chunk of change. Throw in staffing, facilities, and inflation, it might not be worth it even to a billionaire. And that’s a shame, as it could be a really impressive tourist line, with the Arkansas River and the Collegiate Range in view for most of the ride.
If they are using $1 million a mile as the benchmark to reopen that line, it will never reopen. Ever.
Remember Mr. Stefan Soloviev is not a quitter. Just becuase it didn’t work out this time, probably means he has another way in mind. Don’t count him out, he is a “scrapper” as we used to say in rugby.
There are six refineries in the Salt Lake City area, four of which are set up to handle the Uintah Basin “Black Wax” crude. Why ship thousand of miles when the local refineries can take all you can produce without much additional effort? The “Greenies” in Colorado have no standing in their suit because it is all based on “what if” rather than salient facts and it is entirely within the State of Utah. Kind of like the little hen who went around yelling, “the Sky is falling, the Sky is falling,” when in actuality, no such thing was happening. They are just throwing roadblocks in the way to delay the project, (first the Forest Service suit and now this) but it is already going forward with the engineering and final route surveys. It will be more than just oil as already plans are being made for an extension into the Vernal, UT area for other minerals, agriculture and general merchandise.
Vincent this line is in Colorado. I think you are talking about a new proposed line in Utah for most of your post.
Jacob is right, Vincent. You’re referring to the proposed Unita Basin Railway,
Like the DM&E’s fantasy expansion into the Powder River Basin, this SO was never going to happen.
With coal prices kaput, and the RCPE needing state dollars (again) to fix the line east of Rapid City, the RRIF fund DME was trying to tap to finance it would be well under water by now.
At least DME was *trying* to provide new services, fortunately they changed their mind before coal prices hit the dumpster and CP helped them soften the blow.