Rocky Mountaineer ‘Rockies to Red Rocks’ trips to serve Denver Union Station

DENVER — Although seasonal revenue round trips between Denver and Salt Lake City won’t debut until April 2026, Rocky Mountaineer single-level SilverLeaf equipment will make a six-day training round trip to the Utah capital next week.

It will also be the tour train’s initial departure from Denver Union Station. Beginning this year, passengers will leave from the restored downtown commuter rail, transit, and Amtrak hub. Since its “Rockies to Red Rocks” excursion began in 2021, passengers have been transferred by bus from the front of the station to a Union Pacific rail yard [see “Rocky Mountaineer’s Colorado Adventure,” Trains Magazine, May 2022, and “Rocky Mountaineer debuts excursions …,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 16, 2021].

In an interview with News Wire, company CEO Tristan Armstrong says it was necessary to get agreements from all government and corporate entities with jurisdiction over station concessions and rail operations, as well as working collaboratively with the Regional Transportation District transit agency, Union Pacific, and Amtrak. “It’s a site where thousands of people go through on a daily basis,” he says, “so we had to make sure what we were doing was not going to limit what pre-dates us, but also be part of the future going forward.”

The first train movements between UP’s 36th Street yard and the station are slated to take place Thursday, March 20, to prepare for a training run by this year’s onboard and operating employees. That will be a preview of the 2026 Denver-Salt Lake City round trips, when the operation will be known as Canyon Spirit [see “Rocky Mountaineer U.S. operations …,” News Wire, March 18, 2025].

Departing Wednesday, March 26, that trial run will operate as is planned for next year, with overnight stops at Glenwood Springs, Colo, and Moab, Utah [see table at right]. Union Pacific’s ex-Denver & Rio Grande Western route is the same as that used by Amtrak’s California Zephyr with one exception. At Brendel, Utah (85 miles west of Grand Junction, Colo., and 22 miles east of Green River, Utah), the train switches to the Cane Creek branch and trundles about 20 miles to a Rocky Mountaineer bus transfer platform built adjacent to the Seven Mile passing track.

This is where current two-day excursions terminate; buses take passengers from the train to Moab-area hotels and bring travelers headed back to Glenwood Springs and Denver for the same-day eastbound departure. Those trips will run this year from April 9 to Nov, 19 and continue into 2026, when the three-day journey to Salt Lake City will also be offered.

Armstrong clarified for News Wire that both the two-day and three-day options “will still be in the Rockies to Red Rocks moniker. ‘Canyon Spirit’ will refer to everything we operate in the Southwest United States. Over time,” he adds, “our ambition is that we would like to continue new routes, whether from Denver or Salt Lake City, or whichever direction they might go.” After the current transition year, “Rocky Mountaineer” will only refer to the three existing Canadian routes:

— “First Passage to the West” (Vancouver-Kamloops, British Columbia.-Banff, Alberta)

— “Journey Through the Clouds” (Vancouver-Kamloops-Jasper, Alta.)

— “Rain Forest to Gold Rush” (North Vancouver-Whistler- Quesnel, B.C.; Jasper)

Meanwhile, the name of the umbrella company overseeing operations in both countries has been officially changed this week from Rocky Mountaineer to Armstrong Collective.

Tristan, son of company founder Peter Armstrong, says expansion to Salt Lake City was triggered in part by the difficulty in getting guests to and from Moab, relying mostly on customer-driven rental cars and overcoming “airlift challenges” from the small airport. “I can confirm that we did look at Las Vegas, Nev., as a possible destination; we ran test trains. Going Salt Lake City-Moab matched the first two days we operate now,” he says, adding, “Utah has done such a great job marketing ‘The Mighty Five’ national parks — Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Arches — we just think it is a logical next step for us.”

The company’s glass-topped SilverLeaf coaches are uniquely equipped to allow travelers a view of peaks towering over the region’s colorful canyons; the 2026 extension will add Castle Gate and Soldier Summit, highlights that today’s California Zephyr often passes in darkness.

Regarding GoldLeaf bilevels Rocky Mountaineer features in Canada, Armstrong says the big cars do fit through most of the current route’s many tunnels, “but there is not enough clearance to operate safely. We are exploring ways to offer a GoldLeaf level of service with the existing equipment. What I like about Rockies to Red Rocks is the depth of scenery diversity we are able to offer on the different days in Colorado and Utah. That’s what has given us so much confidence in continuing to grow.”