Rio Grande's Incredible Tintic Branch
The photo above is from James Belmont, a remarkably talented photographer who documents railroads in Utah. In 1998, Belmont, Blair Kooistra and Dave Gayer published a book entitled Crossroads of the West, A Photographic Look at Fifty Years of Railroading in Utah.
It was a dark and stormy night...
Or, some people are real buttheads...
Given the intrigue to the story to follow, the start of this blog could begin either way:
Often overlooked, the Denver & Rio Grande Western's Tintic/Goshen Valley Branch gets my vote for being among the more interesting locales for the 1980's-era Rio Grande. The branch has an aesthetic that is truly anachronistic to the present. It consists of a shallow right-of-way through marsh and fields and over mountain grades. It meanders from one canyon wall to another with an inefficiency that has long been lost from contemporary railroads.
The branch is currently in disuse. However, opportunistic businesses tease ventures that would reopen the line, and as such, the branch is a coquette to Utah-area rail fans. Local enthusiasts hope for the slow moving trains to return to the pile trestles and operate past the old mine load-outs. And one day, it could happen. There is still rail on those old wooden ties.
Enter the buttheads:
In an article published by KSL on August 31, 2016, two local buttheads, Alan Dean McKee and Gary Anderson, employed a local contractor to scrap the Tintic branch. The problem is, McKee and Anderson do not own the line, and they acted without the permission of Union Pacific Railroad. It is speculated that McKee and Anderson did so to pay the legal fees for a lawsuit in which they "impersonat[ed] high-ranking officials of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to legitimize" a project for which they were seeking investment capital.
To read the full article, please click here.
Seven miles of track were removed before Union Pacific Police Department and Utah County Sheriff's Office intervened. Now, any chance that D&RGW's Tintic Branch would reopen is probably a little further away.
7 Responses
James Fitch
While the cat’s away the mice will play. Would the existing track been usable if it had not been torn up?
Bernard Kempinski
Certainly there has to be easier ways to steal than to hire someone else to scrap a railroad without permission. The gall of some people astounds me.
Paul Liddiard
I just wonder sometimes where people think they could do that without contacting the owners!
Nathan Pettit
Hadn’t heard about the idiots trying to scrap the line, unbelievable. I never did get to chase a train along the line when it was active, no car in college. But I do remember seeing a great photo from James Belmont with DRGW GP30’s on the Tintic branch crossing over a UP freight on the line from Provo to Lynndyl.
JW
To start with sentence them, and a few other deserving cohorts, to relaying the rail (by hand) and for an added touch have them start it during the summer, and finish during the winter.
Darrell
Link to the full article doesn’t work…
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R.I--DRG>-HOGHEAD
October 13, 2016
wouldn’t the contractor also be responsible,this is unconscionable……..get those gandy dancers workin’…