Photo ID: 110953 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, August 22, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 343 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The morning Zephyr makes its way up the north edge of Big Ten Curve under overcast skies. The cloud cover is resulting in cooler temperatures, and it is a comfortable 72°F (22°C). The train departed Chicago yesterday with a trio of P42DCs, including AMTK 203, which sports the Operation Lifesaver scheme. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110952 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, August 21, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele to Plain (MP 21.8 to MP 24.0) Arvada, CO 380 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak It isn't too often that you find sequential units on any train, so it rather cool to catch AMTK 171 and AMTK 170 together on the head end of the westbound Zephyr this morning. In this shot, the train is just west of Tunnel 1, on the approach to Plain. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110950 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, August 21, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Detector (MP 22.6) Arvada, CO 346 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Generally speaking, in the summer, the skies in the Denver area are clear in the mornings and clouds typically role in from the mountains in the afternoons. In an interesting reversal of the norms, the morning has been overcast and is only now starting to clear a bit before 10am. The head end of the Zephyr passes by the hotbox detector at MP 22.6. The tail end of the train is crossing Blue Mountain Drive. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110949 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, August 21, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Blue Mountain Drive (MP 22.43) Arvada, CO 236 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr makes its way around the curve at Blue Mountain Drive on its journey west. The train departed Union Station right on time this morning, and made very good time getting out of Denver. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110948 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, August 20, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 212 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Two SD70ACes with an ES44AC spliced in between climb up and around Big Ten Curve with a very heavy coal load in tow. The crew just informed DS-380 that they'll be making a max of about 13 MPH on the climb up to the Moffat Tunnel. The dispatcher is working to figure out where the coal load will meet the eastbound Rocky Mountaineer. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110947 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, August 20, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky (7,330ft) Arvada, CO 229 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Two SD70ACes and an AC4400CW bring up the tail end a loaded BNSF coal train. The train met a Provo-Denver manifest that had no crew onboard at the time. You can see the derail is set in the foreground. The train is tied down and waiting for a relief crew, which is already been called. The train will be headed for Denver in another 90 minutes or so. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110946 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, August 20, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 242 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF In the narrowest part of Barbara's Gulch, BNSF 8780 leads two other units on a heavy, loaded coal train. When BNSF sends units west on a train to Utah, they typically return to Denver fairly quickly. BNSF 8780 led the Denver-Provo west out of Denver just five days earlier. The train must have made it to Provo, and the unit immediately sent back on a Provo-Denver. With this coal load going to Nevada, it'll probably be a bit longer before this unit is back in Denver. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110945 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, August 20, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 218 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF The further away from the summer solstice we move, higher quality of light in mid-day slowly starts to return. A westbound BNSF coal load, in a 3x3 configuration, makes its way through Barbara's Gulch when the sun is near its apex in the sky. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110944 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, August 20, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden to Rocky (MP 13.4 to MP 17.4) Arvada, CO 247 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Mid-August is the time of year when sunflowers typically bloom in Colorado, and this August is no exception. The mainline is lined with lots of sunflowers as a BNSF coal load passes by a clear (green) intermediate signal at MP 14.5, just west of Leyden. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110943 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, August 20, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden to Rocky (MP 13.4 to MP 17.4) Arvada, CO 256 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Three units on the head end of this coal load (yes...a load...) work hard to keep the train moving just west of Leyden. The coal was sourced in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, and is headed for the Valmy power plant in Nevada. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110942 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, August 20, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 1 (MP 23.4, 366 ft) Arvada, CO 214 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific 20 years ago, when coal was just about at its peak on the Moffat, who would've thought that oil would essentially replace coal as the energy sources rolling on the rails of the Moffat!? While oil trains are nowhere near as numerous as coal was 20 years ago, there still seems to be 2-3 oil trains, on average, every 24 hours on the Moffat. One such example would be this empty, with an ET44AC on the point, approaching the east portal of Tunnel 1. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110941 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, August 20, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS022 (West Eiesle (Clay)) Arvada, CO 213 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific On a mostly clear morning, a westbound UP oil empty heads out of Eisele (Clay), heading around the curve that will take it over to Blue Mountain Drive and the climb up to Tunnel 1 and beyond. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110940 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, August 20, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 200 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Following about 20 minutes behind a westbound BNSF manifest, a westbound empty oil train (with five units on the point) makes its way around Big Ten Curve. This perspective, looking east towards the plains, really helps to exemplify the amazing architecture of the Moffat route as it climbs to the Rockies, barely exceeding a 2% grade on the climb. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110939 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, August 20, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky (7,330ft) Arvada, CO 230 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF A trio of similarly-numbered ES44ACs are the power on the Provo-Denver this morning. Alas, the crew had to tie the train down here at Rocky as BNSF's 31st Street Yard said there was "no room at the inn" for the train, despite the crew having nearly an hour left on the clock. So, the train will wait here until a relief crew is available (and space is available in the yard) for the train to continue east. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110938 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, August 20, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky (7,330ft) Arvada, CO 244 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF An eastbound BNSF Provo-Denver is getting tied down and the crew will wait for a van to pick them up and take them to their hotel in Denver. In the distance up at Eisele (Clay), the westbound counterpart, the Denver-Provo, is on the main, a pair of SD70ACes bringing up the rear of the train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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