Rio Grande’s Tennessee Pass - Out Now!

10,221 feet high. Little short of two miles in elevation. Even on the Rio Grande, arguably America’s quintessential mountain railroad, that was high. And such was the altitude at the rail summit of legendary Tennessee Pass atop the Colorado Rockies.

Tough, scenic, steep, and extraordinary, Rio Grande’s renowned Tennessee Pass route now comes to Train Simulator Classic packed with memorable steam-to-diesel transition-era railroading! Available now on the Steam Store.

Created by accomplished developer Milepost Simulations, the Tennessee Pass route for Train Simulator Classic extends 62 main line miles from Buena Vista to Minturn, Colorado, includes the famed Rio Grande (D&RGW) Leadville Branch (stretching five miles from Malta to Leadville), and brings to life memorable steam-to-diesel transition-era railroading featuring Rio Grande’s massive and powerful Alco-built L131 2-8-8-2 articulated steam locomotive plus stylish Rio Grande Electro-Motive F7 and GP7 diesels!

In the late 1870s, two great western railroads – the Rio Grande and the Santa Fe – battled toe-to-toe in a quest to acquire the best route across the spine of the Colorado Rockies. Santa Fe won legendary Raton Pass, while the Rio Grande gained control of a route westward from Pueblo, along the Arkansas River and through the magnificent Royal Gorge. Extending westward toward a rail link with Salt Lake City, Utah, the Rio Grande in the early 1880s pushed farther west along the Arkansas River and across towering Tennessee Pass, which rose to an elevation of more than 10,000 feet above sea level. Rio Grande’s chosen route extended northwest from Salida via Buena Vista, Malta, the summit of Tennessee Pass, and Minturn to Glenwood Springs and beyond.

To conquer Tennessee Pass was a monumental undertaking that required tracing the path of the Arkansas River; numerous tunnels, cuts, and fills; and, to reach the summit, lengthy main line grades of up to 3 percent. Indeed, D&RGW’s Alco L131 2-8-8-2s were designed and built specifically to tame the grades of Tennessee Pass and when constructed were the most powerful locomotives in North America. Even then, however, it regularly took three, or even four, of the massive articulated locomotives to lift tonnage up the unforgiving 3 percent eastbound climb from Minturn to the 10,221-foot summit of Tennessee Pass.

In the era modeled by Milepost Simulations for Train Simulator Classic, the route was operated with a mix of train orders, Absolute Block Signals (ABS), and Centralized Traffic Control (CTC). Along with the line’s blend of single- and double-track, the route delivers diverse and challenging operations. The line via Tennessee Pass remained D&RGW’s primary standard-gauge path across the Rockies until the opening of the Moffat Route and the Dotsero Cutoff in 1932, and thereafter continued to serve as a busy freight artery even after Rio Grande was merged into Southern Pacific in 1988. With SP’s merger into Union Pacific in 1996, however, the line became largely redundant and today remains in place but inactive.

Thanks to Milepost Simulations’ Tennessee Pass route for Train Simulator Classic, we can return to the glory days of the D&RGW during the 1940s and 1950s when a steady flow of heavy tonnage climbed over the heights of the Rockies, powered by massive steam and brand-new diesel locomotives. In addition to stunning and dramatic Rocky Mountain scenery, the route features detailed and authentic re-creations of D&RGW yards, structures, and servicing facilities at locations including Minturn, Malta, Buena Vista, and Leadville. The diesels included with the Tennessee Pass route are dressed in Rio Grande’s beautiful “as delivered” black-and-gold liveries, and the route also features a selection of eleven types of freight rolling stock in the colors of D&RGW and other era-appropriate railroads. Among the selection of equipment are Rio Grande steel and wood cabooses.

With the Tennessee Pass route for Train Simulator Classic, you will climb aboard steam and diesel power and get right to work thanks to a selection of eight career scenarios and two free-roam scenarios, plus the route is also quick-drive enabled.

Taking the throttle of a leviathan Alco-built 2-8-8-2, climbing aboard a gleaming new F7, clawing up or carefully descending unrelenting 3 percent grades, all the while experiencing railroading in the great amphitheater of the Rocky Mountains … that’s what awaits you with Milepost Simulations’ magnificent new Rio Grande Tennessee Pass route for Train Simulator Classic – now available at the Steam Store!

Taking the throttle of a leviathan Alco-built 2-8-8-2, climbing aboard a gleaming new F7, clawing up or carefully descending unrelenting 3 percent grades, and experiencing railroading amid the great American Rocky Mountains … that’s what awaits you with the new Rio Grande Tennessee Pass route for Train Simulator Classic! Near Kobe, Colorado, on the east slope of Tennessee Pass, steam- and diesel-powered freights meet.

Created by talented developer Milepost Simulations, the new Tennessee Pass route for Train Simulator Classic brings to life memorable steam-to-diesel transition-era railroading featuring Rio Grande’s powerful Alco-built L131 2-8-8-2 steam locomotive plus stylish Rio Grande Electro-Motive F7 and GP7 diesels in “as delivered” liveries. Note: Screenshots may depict content while in development.

The superb new Tennessee Pass route for Train Simulator Classic extends 62 main line miles from Buena Vista to Minturn, Colorado, and also includes the Rio Grande Leadville Branch (stretching five miles from Malta to Leadville). At the east end of the route, massive Alco-built D&RGW 2-8-8-2 No. 3600 departs Buena Vista (above), while in a scene along the Arkansas River, a D&RGW steel caboose carries the train’s markers (below).

Working westbound tonnage, Rio Grande L131 No. 3600 rolls along single track (above and below) near Americus. Alco (American Locomotive Company) constructed ten of the D&RGW L131-class 2-8-8-2s at its Dunkirk (New York) plant in 1927, and the big articulated steam locomotives were built specifically to handle tonnage on unforgiving Tennessee Pass. Another ten nearly identical locomotives, classed as L132, followed in 1930 and the locomotives served D&RGW until 1956.

Malta, Colorado, was a servicing point on the D&RGW’s Tennessee Pass main line. With no need for coal, an A-B-B-A set of Rio Grande EMD F7s (above) glides past the tipple still needed to serve steam power during the route’s modeled era of the late 1940s and early 1950s. Malta also served as a junction between Rio Grande’s Tennessee Pass main line and the railroad’s branch to famed Leadville, Colorado. D&RGW EMD GP7 5102 (below) is arriving at Malta after its short journey from Leadville.

Near the summit of Tennessee Pass, eastbound L131 2-8-8-2 No. 3606 meets a westbound sister (above), then clears Tennessee Pass Tunnel (below). The new Tennessee Pass route for Train Simulator Classic includes not only three types of locomotives but eleven types of freight equipment and a selection of realistic scenarios.

The western slope of Tennessee Pass, from Minturn to the summit, was the toughest and most daunting portion of the legendary route, with eastbound trains struggling up lengthy grades of 3 percent. Near Pando, it is taking all the muscle of three potent L131-class steamers to lift a long reefer train up the line’s twisting 3 percent grade (above and below).

Remote high in the Rockies, Belden was a mining town snuggled amid the towering cliffs of Tennessee Pass. Rio Grande L131 No. 3606 ducks through a tunnel as it nears Belden (above), then makes its way through the diminutive mining town that stood astride the Eagle River (below).

Minturn, Colorado, was the heart of Rio Grande operations across Tennessee Pass and was home to a roundhouse, a coal tipple, a yard, and various facilities. A snow-dressed winter day at Minturn finds a set of Rio Grande F7s ready to do battle with Tennessee Pass. You can experience all the drama and challenges of Rio Grande railroading in the magnificent Rockies with the new Tennessee Pass route for Train Simulator – now available at the Steam Store!