A fuel spill following a tanker-truck, passenger-train collision in Rifle Wednesday morning put a spotlight on the dangers of transporting fossil fuels in and around Union Pacific's train tracks that follow the Colorado River through Eagle County.
As rail advocates continue to beat the drum for increased passenger-rail service between Denver and Salt Lake City, one success story they've pointed to – besides Amtrak's daily California Zephyr between Chicago and California's Bay Area – has been the high-end Armstrong Collection.
Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Armstrong operates the Canyon Spirit train between Denver and Salt Lake City with stops in Glenwood Springs and Moab, Utah. The Canyon Spirit was involved in Wednesday's collision, with no passenger injuries reported.
“We are aware of an incident has taken place on our Canyon Spirit train this morning, which has caused the train to come to a stop,” Armstrong spokesperson Dallas Carlson wrote in an email Wednesday afternoon. “At this point, thankfully, no injuries have been reported by our guests or employees.
“All of our guests and employees have now been detrained and are traveling via motorcoach to Moab, Utah, where the train was originally traveling to,” Carlson added. “Emergency services are on site, and we are working with the authorities. Our thoughts are with everyone involved.”
According to the Garfield County Sheriff's Department Facebook page on Wednesday morning, Highway 6 in Rifle was closed in both directions “due to a crash involving a train and a tanker truck. Emergency crews are on scene and working the incident. At this time only minor injuries have been reported.”
The amount of damage to the Union Pacific tracks was unclear initially, with a Union Pacific spokesperson referring inquiries to the Canyon Spirit operators. Canyon Spirit reported it will provide additional information as it becomes available on its website at https://www.canyonspirit.com/travel-updates.
“Amtrak service by Trains 5 & 6 is disrupted by a temporary track closure on the Union Pacific route in Colorado,” Amtrak's Marc Magliari reported in an email. “Amtrak passengers are being transported on chartered buses between Grand Junction and Denver, with no service today at Granby and Fraser/Winter Park.”
Neither the two Armstrong Collective trains nor Amtrak's California Zephyr stop on their way through Eagle County but they are a common sight for boaters on the Upper Colorado River – as are oil trains transporting Utah crude in heated tanker cars on their way to Gulf Coast refineries.
Fearing oil spills and wildfires, Eagle County officials have spent more than $1 million suing to stop an increase in oil-train traffic on the line that runs through remote canyons before heading down to Denver after transiting the state's Moffat Tunnel at Winter Park Resort.
Prices for the two- and three-day Canyon Spirit and Rocky Mountaineer trains run between $1,700 and nearly $3,000.
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