Photo ID: 113185 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, September 27, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 197 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The sun has just dipped behind the Rocky Mountains to the west as a single DPU on the tail end of this manifest, headed for Grand Junction, rolls west through Barbara's Gulch. Due to the length of the train (117 cars), there is also a trio of mid-train swing helpers. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113184 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, September 27, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 211 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific It is just moments before the sun dips behind the Rocky Mountains to the west, although direct sunlight is not apparent here as there are clouds in the western sky. This MNYGJ has 117 cars and is roughly 7,000 feet in length as it roles west through Barbara's Gulch. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113183 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, September 27, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 202 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The second of two UP manifests heads west through Barbara's Gulch. This is the first time in I don't know how many years that UP ran two manifests on the same day. Even more impressive is that both ran in daylight. This MNYGJ is headed for Grand Junction. It has 117 cars! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113182 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, September 27, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 230 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific An 84-car extra rolls west on the main at Eisele (Clay). Of the 84 cars on the train, 81 of them are loaded! If you look closely, you might notice a pair of mid-train swing helpers right at the east switch of the siding right now. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113181 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, September 27, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS020 (East Eisele (Clay)) Arvada, CO 206 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Two GEs and an SD70ACe lead a very rare extra manifest at the east switch of Eisele (Clay). The crew for the train went on duty at 12:30pm. Since UP eliminated hostlers in Denver, the crew had to get the power and build the train themselves. That took the better part of five hours to accomplish. The train is setup in a 3x2x1 configuration, and there are 84 cars on the train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113180 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, September 27, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 217 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific At first glance, this might appear to be a unit covered hopper train. While it is almost exclusively covered hoppers, you can see two tank cars off in the distance. This is an extra train, with the symbol MDVBOX-27. All the cars on this train are headed for industries on the Craig Branch. Normally, the cars would be added to the MNYGJ and the cars would be set out at Bond. However, the sheer volume of cars have necessitated this extra train. A rare sight indeed on the Moffat. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113104 Date Shot Photo By Monday, September 15, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 387 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF An eastbound BNSF oil train passes by a UP work train at Plain. UP is in the process of changing out ties on the Moffat. The work train has tie plates in the gondolas, and will drop tie plates in piles along the right-of-way so they are ready to be used with new ties. The conductor from the work train is on the ground, giving a roll-by to the long BNSF oil train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113103 Date Shot Photo By Monday, September 15, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rainbow Cut Arvada, CO 382 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF A trio of GEs, setup elephant-style, lead a loaded oil train east at Plain. The train is on the main as it comes through Rainbow Cut. I really like this perspective as you can see back to the west end of Plain, Tunnel 2, and Tunnel 3. The train is still making its way through both of those tunnels. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113093 Date Shot Photo By Monday, September 15, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS016 (East Rocky) Arvada, CO 352 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The Zephyr has reduced its length from nine Superliners to seven Superliners, cutting one sleeper and one coach. This is pretty common at the end of the summer, when demand for Amtrak rail travel decreases a bit. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113092 Date Shot Photo By Monday, September 15, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS016 (East Rocky) Arvada, CO 387 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Two Patrick Henry cars are catching a ride on the back of the westbound California Zephyr. The Zephyr is taking the siding at Rocky to meet an eastbound BNSF manifest, which you can see holding the main in the distance. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113091 Date Shot Photo By Monday, September 15, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 348 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak AMTK 169 leads the westbound Zephyr this morning, the train coming around the curve at the narrow, west end of Barbara's Gulch. The train is passing underneath CO-93, on the approach to the east end of Rocky. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113090 Date Shot Photo By Monday, September 15, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky (7,330ft) Arvada, CO 444 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF A relatively short BNSF Provo-Denver has slowed to a stop on the main at Rocky. The westbound Zephyr departed just a few minutes late and is on its way west in Barbara's Gulch. Not quite sure why DS-378 held BNSF on the main rather than routing them into the siding. It is also a fairly short manifest today. Maybe 40-45 cars. No DPUs. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113045 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 12, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 364 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr is making track speed here in Barbara's Gulch as it hustles west, right on time this morning. The dust you see is actually from a lot of fresh ballast that was recently laid along the mainline here. Wind from the fast-moving Zephyr is blowing the dust up around the train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113041 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 12, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 396 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific As this westbound coal empty, with four units on the point, heads west on the main at Plain, you might notice that there is ballast that appears much lighter in places. UP is in the process of essentially re-ballasting the entire Moffat right now! A project, along with tie and tie plate replacements, is supposed to last the next three months. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113040 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 12, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 404 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific If you are familiar with the Moffat, then you are probably well aware that in the early 2000s, coal was king on the line. You could expect to see as many as 16-20 coal trains (half westbound empties and half eastbound loads) in a 24 hour period. Now, coal train have essentially become the rarest train type (of the train types that run) on the Moffat. UP 7861 leads this westbound at Plain. Note the missing number board on the engineer's side. there is an array of LEDs providing lights for the should-be number board. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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