YOUR AD HERE »

Winter Park Ski Train may roll again

Drew Munro
Sky-Hi Daily News/ with wire reports
Grand County, Colorado
Byron Hetzler/Sky-Hi Daily News File Photo
Sky-Hi Daily News | Sky-Hi Daily News

The Winter Park Ski Train may be back this winter after the Union Pacific Railroad agreed to let a new owner use its tracks between Denver and Winter Park Resort, but some details remain to be worked out.

“We’re hopeful that it could return this season,” said Jennifer deBerge, Winter Park Resort communications manager. “We just finalizing the plan with Amtrak.”

She said the parties to the pending deal are optimistic.



The special passenger train that serves resort skiers was in danger of dying when the previous owner folded the operation and sold the equipment last spring after a 69-year run.

Chicago-based Iowa Pacific Holdings, which operates freight and excursion trains in six states including Colorado, wants to take over the service.



On Thursday, Omaha-based Union Pacific agreed to let Iowa Pacific use the same route the previous Ski Train owners used.

Iowa Pacific President Ed Ellis says the train would use his company’s equipment and Amtrak would provide the crews.

He says his company is still working to finalize a deal with Amtrak.

“There’s a lot big components that are still missing” for the deal to be finalized, deBerge said, but the parties are hoping to reach a more solid agreement by next week.

An Amtrak spokesman said Friday the company is reviewing Iowa Pacific’s proposal but no decision has been made.

– Check skyhidailynews.com and future editions of the Sky-Hi Daily News for updates to this story


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

The Sky-Hi News strives to deliver powerful stories that spark emotion and focus on the place we live.

Over the past year, contributions from readers like you helped to fund some of our most important reporting, including coverage of the East Troublesome Fire.

If you value local journalism, consider making a contribution to our newsroom in support of the work we do.