Not too far west of the west switch of Leyden, a BNSF manifest is on clear (green) signals as it passes by the relatively new neighborhoods of Leyden Rock and Leyden Ranch. The Provo-Denver is quite lengthy today, which is probably when there are four units on the head end, rather than the typical three for the manifest.
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An eastbound BNSF manifest rolls along CO-72 in western Arvada. Arvada is continuing to expand, even today. A new neighborhood of multi-family homes has started construction on the north side of CO-72. You can see the first few (blue-ish) units center-right in the frame.
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MRL 4319 brings up the tail end of BNSF's Provo-Denver at the base of Coal Creek Canyon. I was excited when I got the tip about the MRL unit, but was a little disappointed to find it facing into the train. Still, anything different is welcome on the Moffat, or in the railroad world in general! When almost everything in Colorado is either UP yellow or BNSF orange, an MRL blue SD70ACe is very welcome.
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While I've never been a fan of EMD's latest nose, which includes the "notch" on either side for visibility, I will say that the ubiquitousness of SD70ACes in railroad today has allowed me to get used to the nose. While not at the top of my list of favorite diesel locomotives, I do not mind the look of the SD70ACe at this point. A BNSF SD70Ace and an MRL SD70ACe bring up the tail end of this Provo-Denver manifest.
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Three ES44s and an SD70ACe lead a fairy lengthy BNSF Provo-Denver manifest down from Tunnel 1 toward the base of Coal Creek Canyon. There is not much snow left here as we have had about a week of clear, sunny weather. In the background, no construction has started on houses in the Canyon Pines neighborhood.
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Six units lead this BNSF oil empty as it approaches the east portal of Tunnel 1. Because the train is indeed empty, it is (relatively) light and, consequently, does not have any issue maintaining track speed.
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A westbound BNSF empty oil train rounds the bottom of Big Ten Curve just west of the west switch of Rocky. Indeed, the back half of the train in this shot is still between switches on the main at Rocky. You can see a covered hopper buffer car on the tail end of the train, headed for the transload oil facility at Wellington, UT.
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UP 6891 is sporting the newest UP paint scheme, which has done away with wings on the nose and returned to the simple UP shield. It is the sole DPU on the tail end of a 6,000-foot MGJNY manifest, rolling east on the main at Leyden.
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A single C44ACM brings up the tail end of UP's MGJNY in a snowy scene just west of Leyden. UP 6891 was originally UP 7003, and was one of a handful of AC6000CWs from the mid-90s when 6000 horsepower was a goal UP gave both EMD and GE. The 6000 horsepower units did not work out from either manufacturer, and 4400 horsepower became the standard that still remains as the standard today, roughly 30 years later.
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UP's MGJNY is crossing over Indiana Street, just west of the west switch of Leyden. At some point, once funding becomes available, this scene will change a bit as there is a push to widen Indiana Street to four lanes. That will necessitate the rebuilding of the bridge to accommodate four lanes. Of note, the second unit (UP 6331) is used to the rails as it was once SP 281!
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After an overnight and morning storm, the clouds cleared out and the sun has already started to melt away the fresh powder. However, there is still plenty on the ground as UP's MGJNY approaches the west switch of Leyden.
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UP's only-remaining manifest that runs on the Moffat runs six days a week. The train alternates west and east every other day, with one day where it doesn't run at all. The train runs from North Yard to Grand Junction and back. Here, the eastbound version has five units on the point. The train is right around 6,000 feet long.
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Just west of Blue Mountain Drive and the hotbox detector at MP 22.6, the westbound Zephyr is having no issues moving along at track speed in the continually-falling snow. Without question, passengers aboard the Zephyr are going to have a better experience on the trip west today compared to folks driving in the high country on I-70!
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AMTK 140 and AMTK 207 have the duty to lead the westbound Zephyr this morning. The train is approaching the Blue Mountain Drive grade crossing in a winter wonderland as fresh snow continues to fall.
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A pretty substantial snow storm has set in along the Front Range. A total of 5-6 inches (12-15 cm) is forecast to fall, with right around 3 inches (7 cm) having fallen so far. The westbound Zephyr is indifferent to the snow, however, as it approaches the Blue Mountain grade crossing, moving along at track speed.
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