Royal Gorge

If either get their wish, trains carrying freight, crude oil and, possibly, passengers, could be rolling through the Royal Gorge, Salida, Browns Canyon, Buena Vista, Leadville, Minturn, Avon, Eagle and Gypsum.

The company estimated in its Feb. 14 application with the transportation board that it would need $278 million to rehabilitate more than 208 miles of track between the Royal Gorge and Dostero.

In 1998, Mark Greksa’s Royal Gorge Express acquired 11.75 miles of Union Pacific track between Cañon City and Parkdale for his tourist trains.

He’s also been busy opening his Royal Gorge tourist train in a pandemic, so he hasn’t weighed in.

Canon City is home to the Royal Gorge, a massive chasm carved out by the Arkansas River and spanned by one of the highest suspension bridges in the world.