Editing East Regional (section)

== History ==

=== Discontinuation of the ''Ashwood & Quincy Special'' (1971) ===
On October 3rd, 1971, the A&SE had discontinued their premier passenger line, the ''Ashwood & Quincy Special'', due to it underperforming as most people traveling between Ashwood and Quincy opted to use personal vehicles for transport. During its last year, the service only saw around 1,700 passengers, compared to the previous year with around 10,000 passengers. After the service ended, Ashwood & Southeastern would sell off the remaining passenger equipment to companies in the US and Canada. The old stations at [[Brook]], [[Sterry]], [[Deadwood]] and [[New Limon]] would be most demolished save for the depots in Brook and Deadwood. The two terminus stations, [[Union Station (Ashwood)|Ashwood Union Station]] and [[Union Station (Quincy)|Quincy Union Station]] remained as is. Ashwood still saw use by other lines and Quincy was still used by the [[Bridgewater Red Mesa Railroad#QSR Acquisition (1997 - Today)|Quincy Southern]] and eventually the [[Quincy Transit Authority]] would use the station for their light rail.

=== Service Revival (Late 2000's-2019) ===
In the late 2000’s, interest in reviving or opening a new service between Ashwood and Quincy was growing. The only alternative to driving by that point was either taking a bus or flying from the [[Copper Mountain International Airport|Copper Mountain Airport]] to [[Quincy-Limon International Airport|Quincy International]], which was very impractical and costly. When higher ups at ASER were asked about it, they said they would “consider it”. In early 2012, work on improving the track between Ashwood and [[Evergreen]] went underway. On March 29th, 2014, ASER announced that they would begin working on a new line to bypass [[Sierra Pass]], a mountain pass that was a huge obstacle for fast passenger service. Work on the new line, dubbed the “Sierra Cutoff” began on April 18th, 2014. Construction was completed on September 3rd, 2016. At the same time, ASER fully unveiled the complete plan for a new passenger service called the ''East Regional.'' Work began on restoring the old stations and building new ones. The first version of the service, the ''East Regional'', running between Ashwood and Quincy, with stops in Brook, Sterry, Deadwood, [[Silver Ridge]] and New Limon, started daily service on June 11th, 2017. A stop in Evergreen would later be added on July 18th, 2019. The second version, the ''East Regional Express'', opened on April 30th, 2018, which provided a faster “express” service, bypassing stops in Brook, Sterry (after 2023), Deadwood (before 2023), Evergreen (after 2019), and New Limon. The third and final version, the ''East Local Regional'', opened on August 23rd, 2019 as a frequent commuter rail service between Ashwood and Deadwood, serving all existing stops in between. All three services proved to be a success, with the ''East Regional'' and ''East Local Regional'' becoming very popular with tourists and commuters respectively.

=== ''East Local Regional'' Expansion (2021-2026) ===
On July 9th, 2021, Ashwood Southeastern announced that they would be double tracking the line between Ashwood and Sterry to allow for more frequent service on the ''East Local Regional'' and to allow less delays between passenger trains and freight trains that used the same route. Part of the plan was to finally move all main rail traffic away from Sierra Pass and on to the Sierra Cutoff. A new stop in [[Sterry Valley]], a town between Brook and Sterry, was also proposed but has yet to get the green light to begin construction. Work on double tracking and rebuilding parts of the right of way began in fall 2021. The biggest challenge was double tracking and regrading the line between Ashwood and the railroad location Cutoff Junction. The whole right of way had to be basically entirely rebuilt. Work on that part was completed in 2025. The old route over Sierra Pass between Big Ten and Sierra (Sterry Valley) was leased to the [[Sierra Valley Railroad]]. The new double track on the entire line save for a small part in Sterry was completed in early 2026. A new [[Deadwood Transit Center|transit center]] in Deadwood was completed by 2023, featuring several new bus platforms, two track platforms, a new plaza mall and a connection to [[Copper Mountain Transit Authority|CMTA]]’s subway service.