It's been awhile since I've seen a DC-unit (C44-9W specifically) leading one of BNSF's manifests on the Moffat. However, a Heritage 2 C44-9W just happens to be on the point of this eastbound Provo-Denver this morning.
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Three units lead BNSF's Provo-Denver, per the usual, as it wraps through the S-Curve in the middle of Arvada, just east of 66th Avenue. Despite it being early November and there being a lot of windy days this week, a lot of trees still have their leaves here.
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Most of the fall colors have faded to fairly dull colors and leafless trees in Arvada as BNSF's Provo-Denver rolls eastbound out of Leyden. A mild fall with no appreciable snow has resulted in a still-bare Long's Peak off in the distance.
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DS-378 routed the Provo-Denver into the siding at Rocky to meet the westbound Zephyr. As it turns out, 31st Street in Denver wasn't quite ready to take the train yet either, so it would end up having to hold here at Rocky for about an hour.
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BNSF's Provo-Denver is really well-blocked today. Tank cars, followed by covered hoppers, follows by tank cars...and a box car on the end. Instead of the power being configured in the standard 3x2, this morning is setup in a 4x1 configuration.
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In the 1990s, Amtrak developed a variation on its Phase 3 paint scheme that it applied to the its fleet of GE B32-8BWH. The design and colors led railfans to adopt the nickname "Pepsi Can" for the scheme. Amtrak has applied a heritage version of the scheme on P42DC #160, leading the train toward Tunnel 1 this morning.
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The morning Zephyr passes by a little red tractor as it also passes by the hotbox detector at MP 22.6, just west of Blue Mountain Drive. Amtrak's "Pepsi Can" heritage unit is leading the train this morning.
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The Zephyr is just starting is journey up and into the Rocky Mountains as it wraps around the curve toward Blue Mountain Drive. The Denver skyline stands tall off in the distance, 23 rail-miles to the east.
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Daylight Savings Time ended this past Sunday, offering a little more light for the morning Zephyr. Here in early November, the shadows have grown quite long as AMTK 160, the "Pepsi Can", leads the train westbound.
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The westbound Zephyr is rolling west on the main at Leyden right on time by the few-remaining fall colors here in early November.
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The conductor on this westbound oil train is on the ground after putting the switch at West Eisele (Clay) in hand throw. The train had to flag by the west switch as a PTC problem prevented DS-378 from getting the train a light. The conductor will reboard the train and it will continue west at restricted speed until encounter a more favorable signal.
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This westbound UP oil train is slowing to a stop on the main at the west end of Eisele. There is a PTC problem at the west switch this morning, and DS-378 cannot set up a signal for the train. The conductor will have to put the switch in hand throw and the train will flag by the signal.
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There had been a bit of a drop off in UP oil trains on the Moffat in the past few months. Rumor had it that UP had redirected them to run over the Overland and then over Soldier Summit. However, recently there seems to be a new increase on the Moffat, hopefully marking a return of UP oil trains in Colorado.
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A UP (tie) work train is climbing west out of Rocky, on its way up Big Ten Loop. Above the work train, in the siding at Eisele (Clay), an eastbound UP manifest is patiently waiting its turn to head east. It has held in the siding for two westbounds (the Zephyr and BNSF's Denver-Provo), and is now waiting on the work train.
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An eight car work train heads west on the main at Rocky. The train, which has the symbol WNYNYT-27, is headed for the siding at Plain. The "W" at the start of the train symbol indicates this is a work train. The "T" at the end of the symbol (before the date: "-27") indicates the work train is a tie train. As you can see, the gondolas are filled with ties.
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