| Railroad Name: | Colorado Pacific Railroad |
| Logo Filename: | Colorado Pacific Railroad Blue Logo.png |
| Marks: | CXR |
| Locale: | Colorado |
| Start Year: | 2020 |
| End Year: | Present |
| Predecessor Line: | Missouri Pacific, Union Pacific |
| Hq City: | Eads, Colorado |
| Parent Company: | The Soloviev Group |
| Website: | https://coloradopacificrailroad.com/ |
The Colorado Pacific Railroad is a shortline railroad operating on of former Missouri Pacific Railroad trackage in southeast Colorado. It interchanges with Union Pacific and BNSF at North Avondale Junction near Boone, and with the Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad at Towner. It is sometimes referred to as the Towner Line or the Towner Railway.
The line was constructed in the late 1880s by the Missouri Pacific Railroad as part of its mainline between Pueblo and Kansas City. As a condition of the 1982 Missouri Pacific - Union Pacific merger, the Denver & Rio Grande Western got trackage rights over this line. The D&RGW merged with the Southern Pacific in 1992. In 1996, Union Pacific Merged with Southern Pacific, and the line became redundant in UP's system. The Surface Transportation Board approved the abandonment as part of the merger.[1] [2] [3]
The Colorado Department of Transportation purchased the line from UP in 1998 for $10.2 million in hopes of finding a short-line operator to serve farmers and others in small towns along the route.[4] In 2000, CDOT leased the line to the Colorado, Kansas & Pacific Railway. In 2004, the lease was transferred to V&S Railway.[5] However, V&S ownership appeared to locals as intent on scrapping the railroad for immediate cash, and freight tonnage began to decrease. Plus the activity lasted off and on until 2010 or 2011 when service ended and the section from North Avondale to Haswell was only used for car storage.
Real estate magnate Stefan Soloviev's Crossroads Agriculture began operating in the area in 2007, and became interested in the railroad line when learning about V&S's intention to scrap it. He decided to purchase the line to facilitate grain transportation at lower costs.[6] Upon discovering Soloviev's intentions, in 2014 V&S began preparing the line to be scrapped by removing tie spikes and anchors, but this was problematic as they had not yet revieced legal approval from the STB to formally abandon the line. Soloviev asked the STB to force the sale of the railroad. His request was granted, and the sale took place in 2016.[7] [8]
Over the following years, rehabilitation took place and railroad operations gradually resumed, with plans to expand service as new infrastructure is completed.[9] [10]
The railroad owns two EMD SD40-2s, painted blue and prominently displaying the Colorado Pacific logo.[11] In 2024, four SD70MACs were delivered from the Colorado Pacific Rio Grande shops in Alamosa, Colorado.