Five units lead a westbound BNSF coal empty, wrapped through the curves at Little Ten Curve near West Rocky. The train is currently stopped on the siding as there is maintenance ahead in the Tunnel District. The train will have to sit here for a few hours, waiting for the maintenance window to be over.
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Up the hillside from Eisele (Clay), a herd of elk gathers amongst the foliage and small amount of snow that has not yet melted. Several of the elk take an interest in the buzzing noise generated by the drone taking their picture.
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Shortly after the westbound Zephyr passed by, a herd of elk decided it was time to cross the tracks and head up the hillside. Fortunately this decision was made after Amtrak passed! No other trains were around, so the three dozen or so elk safely crossed the rails.
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As the westbound Zephyr glides along the main track at Eisele (Clay), direct your attention up the mountain to the top of the image. Several folks have some great homes at the top of Blue Mountain Road. Pretty fantastic view out over the plains, as well as the tracks.
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A P42DC and a P40DC lead the westbound Zephyr on this Thursday morning. The P40DC, AMTK 816, had its prime mover replaced about a decade ago as part of a rebuild program Amtrak ran. AMTK 816 now has 4,250 HP like its P42DC cousins, but still has mechanical air brakes instead of electronic air brakes.
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Just west of the east end of Eisele (Clay), the westbound morning Zephyr glides past a heart of Elk. They blend in pretty well with the foliage, but you can see them in the foreground at the bottom of the picture. The conductor on Amtrak made an announcement to the passengers so they can look for the Elk as the train rolls by.
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The westbound Zephyr, running about 40 minutes behind schedule, emerges from an early morning layer of fog that has totally enveloped the lower elevations in the Denver Metro area. By the time to train reaches Rainbow Cut, it will be entirely above the mist.
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An oil train leaves the east end of Plain and descends down in to the fog that has entirely enveloped the Denver Metro area at lower elevations.
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Now that it is back on the mainline, the West Local will be able to speed up to 45 MPH on the track not far ahead. A bit faster than the 5-10 MPH it was restricted to on the Rocky Spur. On the upper-right side of the shot, you can see the grade crossing (protected by a stop light) where the Rocky Spur crosses CO-93. The local was just up at the crossing a short time ago.
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The West Local has received authority to enter the main track at Rocky. The brakeman is walking down from the hopper to throw the switch from the main to the Rocky Spur. In the distance, you can see the mainline just out of the west portal of Tunnel 1.
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At this point in the day, there is only a single dispatcher for the entire former Rio Grande from Denver to Salt Lake City. So, although the West Local has toned up the dispatcher to request permission to enter the main track at Rocky, they have not yet heard back.
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The West Local is backing down the 8% grade toward the main at Rocky. The switch is still locked and the crew will need to tone up the dispatcher and request permission to enter the main track.
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Weeds have somewhat overtaken portions of the Rocky Spur. The West Local is about to back over parts of those stretches of track. In fact, the track the local is starting down carries a rather hefty 8% grade. But no problem for these two peeps, particularly when a single covered hopper is all they have with them.
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There is a circuit in the rails at the CO-72 grade crossing that turn the stoplight red for traffic and green for trains as a train slowly approaches. Such is the case here as the signal for the West Local has turned green. The brakeman is riding on the sole covered hoper to protect the shove and ensure no cars decide to try to beat the train over the crossing.
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The West Local, with a single covered hoppers, backs down the Rocky Spur in the foreground as the relatively new housing development of Candelas in western Arvada is now fully built out in the distance.
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