Old RR bed in CO?

[AmtrakPDX]

Looking for some history.

On Google Earth, CZ tracks just east of UT/CO state line. Look north of I-70 then just north of state hwy 6. It looks like the remnants of an old RR bed.

Any ideas?

TIA

 

[Montanan]

Looking for some history.
On Google Earth, CZ tracks just east of UT/CO state line. Look north of I-70 then just north of state hwy 6. It looks like the remnants of an old RR bed.

Any ideas?

TIA

If you're seeing what is (roughly) an east-west line, what you've probably got is the original narrow-gauge main line of the Denver & Rio Grande. It was constructed in (I think) 1881, and abandoned in 1890 after the replacement standard-gauge line on the current alignment was finished.

The other abandoned railroad grade in that area is the Uintah Railway, which started in Mack Colorado and headed north through spectacular country into a mining area in northeastern Utah.