Environment & Energy

Last edited Mon Dec 23, 2024, 10:42 AM - Edit history (3)

There actually was a rail line in the Uintah Basin back in the day. It was called the Uintah Railway and was abandoned in 1939. It hauled Gilsonite.

Also, unlike the far more volatile oil from the Bakken fields, Uintah basin petroleum is goopy and less likely to make a big mess in case of a derailment.

Furthermore, the route where those trains would run are along an established rail route that saw heavy rail traffic for decades (yes, I said DECADES) since its construction in the 1880’s. Admittedly the route hasn’t seen much use in the last 20 years or so, but that’s because the Union Pacific shifted much of its traffic north to its Wyoming main line. The track remained there in case the railroad decided to put it back into use.

I have little sympathy for the NIMBYs making a hue and cry about the resumption of rail service. I suspect that most of them moved in after the UP rail-banked its Tennessee Pass rail line. I doubt most real estate buyers bought their properties sight unseen and had ample occasion to see that the Choo-choo tracks were still in place. They had ample time to think through the implications and to realize that the train tracks might be put back into use. It’s like buying a house downstream from a crumbling dam: a potential risk they shouldn’t have ignored.


EDIT: Buying sight unseen is a little more difficult these days.

While I’m still on a tear about NIMBYs buying real estate with certain annoyances (Like choo-choo train noises), I would point out that real estate buyers with the means to buy real estate along the former Denver and Rio Grande Western’s Tennessee Pass/Royal Gorge route also have the means and opportunity to access 3 D maps that show the terrain where they’d be buying. I just accessed maps of Eagle, Colorado and Minturn, Colorado using (Strudle’s) map function.the train tracks are quite visible.