Photo ID: 111363 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, November 27, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden to Rocky (MP 13.4 to MP 17.4) Arvada, CO 286 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific 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. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111362 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, November 27, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden to Rocky (MP 13.4 to MP 17.4) Arvada, CO 334 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific 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! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111361 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, November 27, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden to Rocky (MP 13.4 to MP 17.4) Arvada, CO 310 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific 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. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111360 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, November 27, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden to Rocky (MP 13.4 to MP 17.4) Arvada, CO 382 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific 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. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111359 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, November 27, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele to Plain (MP 21.8 to MP 24.0) Arvada, CO 421 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak 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! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111358 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, November 27, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Blue Mountain Drive (MP 22.43) Arvada, CO 435 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak 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. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111357 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, November 27, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Blue Mountain Drive (MP 22.43) Arvada, CO 460 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak 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. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111356 Date Shot Photo By Monday, November 25, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 299 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak AMTK 168 and AMTK 81 lead the westbound Zephyr along the north edge of Big Ten Curve. It is the week of Thanksgiving, so the Zephyr is probably pretty booked with passengers making their way to friends and family for the holiday on Thursday. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111355 Date Shot Photo By Monday, November 25, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 303 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Just west of Rocky, the Zephyr is making its way up the roughly 2% grade of Big Ten Curve. As the elevation slowly increases, so does the morning frost, clinging to the foliage. In short order, the frost will completely melt under the morning sun. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111354 Date Shot Photo By Monday, November 25, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky (7,330ft) Arvada, Co 319 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak A fairly decent sized herd of elk are enjoying the morning on the north side of the rails. The engineer let the conductor know so, in turn, the conductor could announce the herd to the passenger so they could try to get a view of them. The Zephyr is on time on the main at Rocky. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111353 Date Shot Photo By Monday, November 25, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky (7,330ft) Arvada, CO 230 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak 90 minutes before this picture was taken, there was a thick layer of low clouds completely obscuring this view. The cold also contributed to a bit of frost that has formed on a lot of the foliage. The sun has now burned off the clouds as the morning Zephyr charges west on the main at Rocky alongside the house track. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111352 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, November 20, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 331 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The wind is only gusts to about 15 MPH right now. However, the forecast says there could be wind gusts of up to 40 MPH. Consequently, UP currently has a 10 MPH slow order around Big Ten Curve. The Zephyr is creeping along on the south end of Big Ten now, running about 10 minutes early. When departing Denver, the Zephyr usually has to realign some switches behind it. That was not the case today, allowing the train to get out of Denver quickly. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111351 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, November 20, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 358 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The morning Zephyr is actually running a few minutes early as it makes its way around the open hoppers serving as a wind break on Big Ten Curve. These hoppers have been here for over fifty years, and will likely remaining for decades...if not centuries...to come. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111350 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, November 20, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 433 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak As we continue to closer to the shortest day of the year, now about a month away, the tracks around Big Ten Curve are closer to being in the shadows in the morning as the Zephyr climbs westbound. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111349 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, November 20, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS016 (East Rocky) Arvada, CO 475 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak AMTK 170 and AMTK 82 leads the westbound Zephyr through a clear (green) signal at the east end of Rocky. AMTK 82 is, of course, sporting the new Phase 7 paint scheme. This is the first non-Phase 5 unit on the Zephyr in at least a couple of weeks. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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