Photo ID: 112614 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, June 15, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Little Ten Curve (MP 18.7 to MP 18.9) Arvada, CO 82 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The eastbound Zephyr, which departed Fraser about an hour late, is doing a good job of making up some time as it wraps around Little Ten Loop on the main at Rocky. The train would end up arriving in Denver only 20 minutes late! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112613 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, June 15, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 94 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Alas, five minutes after the Zephyr came through this scene, the sun broke out through the clouds. Alas, that's the way things break sometimes. Regardless, in the shot here we get a good look at the work Union Pacific has done on Big Ten Loop. A lot of rock has been added to reinforce the tracks on the grade here. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112612 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, June 15, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele to Plain (MP 21.8 to MP 24.0) Arvada, CO 96 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The scenery in the Denver area is as green as I can ever remember this May and June, thanks to a wetter than normal spring. The eastbound Zephyr makes is way east of Blue Mountain Road under partly cloudy skies. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112594 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, June 14, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Detector (MP 8.4) Arvada, CO 65 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific UP's MNYGJ is typically called (and departs) Denver west after sunset. It's possible that, with the days almost at their longest, the train is departing just prior to sunset. It's also possible that it just happens to be early on this Saturday evening. Either way, four units lead the manifest west in Arvada. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112593 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, June 14, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Detector (MP 8.4) Arvada, CO 56 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific There is a relatively narrow cut in the middle of Arvada between Carr Street and 68th Avenue. This time of year, when the trees have all their leaves, it appears as though trains just barely squeeze through. Here, UP's MNYGJ is on the roll westbound. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112592 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, June 14, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Detector (MP 8.4) Arvada, CO 62 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific After meeting the eastbound Zephyr at C&S Junction, UP's MNYGJ is now on the move westbound through Arvada. The train is passing through the high/wide detector at MP 8.4. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112591 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, June 14, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Arvada to Leyden (MP 7.5 to MP 11.9) Arvada, CO 75 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak With thunderstorms building to the north, the eastbound California Zephyr is about 50 minutes late as it rolls through Arvada. As we move closer to summer, the heat has been increasing, and UP has been putting out a lot of 10 MPH slow orders due to the possibility of sun kinks in the rails. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112590 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 13, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Arvada to Leyden (MP 7.5 to MP 11.9) Arvada, CO 75 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF BNSF's Provo-Denver is relatively short today, but still running in a 3x2 configuration. Despite being slightly shorter than normal, the train is still primarily composed of tank cars as it rolls through Arvada on the final 10 or so miles of its trip. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112589 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 13, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Arvada to Leyden (MP 7.5 to MP 11.9) Arvada, CO 82 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Two units, an NS "catfish" and a BNSF Heritage 2 unit, bring up the tail end of BNSF's Provo-Denver. The Norfolk Southern unit is called a "catfish" as the white stripes on the black unit kind of give the appearance of a catfish. As the train rolls by, the owner of the field works to mow the grass. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112588 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 13, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Arvada to Leyden (MP 7.5 to MP 11.9) Arvada, CO 70 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF A trio of SD70ACes lead BNSF's Provo-Denver eastbound through Arvada. The train spent about four hours tied down in the siding at Rocky, waiting for a fresh crew to take the train the rest of the way into Denver. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112587 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 13, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Arvada to Leyden (MP 7.5 to MP 11.9) Arvada, CO 87 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Rocky Mountaineer Afternoon clouds roll through the area as the Rocky Mountaineer heads east on the main through Arvada between Leyden and Arvada. RMRX 8021, the other GP40-3, is in UP's North Yard, receiving some maintenance. In the meantime, The RM's leased SD40M-2 (ex-SD45), RMRX 8600, is leading the train east. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112562 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 9, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele to Plain (MP 21.8 to MP 24.0) Arvada, CO 94 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Just west of Tunnel 1, the morning Zephyr is running about 45 minutes late. You can see Canyon Pines Drive, the road that accesses the new Arvada neighborhood of Canyon Pines. The neighborhood will have custom home builds, but several years into the project, no houses have actually popped up just yet. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112561 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 9, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 1 (MP 23.4, 366 ft) Arvada, CO 91 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr approaches the east portal Tunnel 1 above CO-72 at the base of Coal Creek Canyon. When the Denver and Salt Lake (or, at the time, the Denver, Northwestern, and Pacific) first started investigating routes to head west through The Rockies, Coal Creek Canyon was one of the routes surveyed. The route would have necessitated a 2-3 mile long tunnel. As such, the route along the Front Range and South Boulder Canyon, through the Tunnel District, was chosen instead. Today, of course, CO-72 heads west up Coal Creek Canyon. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112560 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 9, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Blue Mountain Drive (MP 22.43) Arvada, CO 78 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak This spring has been quite a bit cooler in the Denver area than the average area, and it certainly has been a wetter spring than on average. In May, 3.9" of rain fell in Arvada, nearly double the average of 2.2" for the month. The result has been the greening up of the area. The valley here at Blue Mountain Drive looks fantastic and alive as the morning Zephyr heads west. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112559 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 9, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 68 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Since COVID in 2020, the Zephyr has pretty consistently been running with a baggage car and seven Superliners. A few weeks ago, a third coach started appearing on the Zephyr, increasing the length of the train to eight Superliners. On this particular morning, as the Zephyr heads west on the main at Eisele (Clay), the train is a bit longer with nine Superliners in tow. Granted, the very last car is a sleeper that is just deadheading out to California. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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