East Grand Junction Classification Yard

: West Yard
: East Yard
: 1963 Track Chart of the yard

This is one of the Rio Grande original facilities remained along its route in Colorado; classification yard at Grand Junction.


Grand Junction was one of the strategic points among D&RGW route between Denver and Salt Lake City. Accordingly, many facilities were built.

Grand Junction still hosts two railroad yards east and west of the depot today: while West Yard is used as unused locomotives storage, East Yard is used as the terminal for several local trains as well as laying North Fork Branch coal trains.

East Yard was established in 1952. It was formerly the D&RGW’s only hump yard, exclusively breaking eastbound trains into two: one bound for Denver and the other for Pueblo[1]. Unfortunately, however, the hump was abandoned in 1997 due to the closure of the Tennessee Pass route to Pueblo[2]. But several Rio Grande original facilities are still in use including the yard tower.

The Classification Yard Tower was designed in 1951 by Wheeler & Lewis Architects of Denver: it was their first project[3]. The structure of engine maintenance shed closed in 2016 also remain adjunct to the yard tower[4]. Fuel & sand service tracks and Rio Grande original MOW equipment stored west of the shed are surviving so far.

[1] Jan. 13, 1952 Salt Lake Tribune;
[2] Rhodes, Michael, (2014) North American Railroad Yards, Quarto Publishing Group
[3] O’Dwyer, Colleen M., (2006) Architects of Colorado Biographical Sketch, Colorado Historical Society;
[4] Feb. 26, 2016 The Daily Sentinel;

: yard tower
: engine service track


旧D&RGW沿線に今も遺るRio Grandeの遺物を紹介している。

この施設は、元Rio GrandeのGrand Junction Classification Yardである。Grand Junctionには駅の東西二カ所にヤードがある。現在、西側のヤードには余剰機関車が留置されており、東側のヤードにはローカル貨物列車が発着する。東側のヤードはRio Grande唯一のハンプ式操車場で、1952年の開設。専ら東行き列車を仕分・組成していたが、1997年、テネシー・パス経由路線の休止と同時に用途廃止された。

東側のヤードは、敷地の関係からか、東行き列車を仕分するにもかかわらず、到着線群がハンプの東側・仕分線群がハンプの西側にあった。ハンプは撤去されたが、タワーや機関車に給油・給砂を行う施設は遺っている。先に紹介した操重車編成もこちらに在駐する。