With a bit of brutal backlighting, the Rocky Mountaineer starts yet another trip west, passing by the Stock Yards (an interchange with the short line Denver and Rock Island) on the Belt Line.
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The morning Rocky Mountaineer makes its way across the South Platte River on UP's Belt Industrial Lead. The Belt line connects UP's Greeley Sub (and 36th Street Yard) with the Moffat Sub (and North Yard).
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A pair of UP units slowly back up away from the camera. The train is actually a yard job, transfer cars from UP to the short line Denver and Rock Island. The train is on DRIR tracks right now. After delivering these cars, the UP power will pick up a string of cars ready to depart Denver, and return to North Yard.
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It took a little extra time to get out of the station today, but the Rocky Mountaineer is on the move with RMRX 8020 (a GP40-3) and RMRX 8600 (an SD40M-2) for power. RMRX 8021 is currently in the shop. The Mountaineer does not have trackage rights on BNSF, so it has to the take the long way out of town, heading northeast toward UP's 36th Street Yard, and eventually west across the Belt Industrial Lead.
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The California Zephyr is working on getting out of Denver with nine Superliners in tow. The train is briefly stopped at Prospect Junction, waiting for a conductor to reboard the train after aligning a switch on the Buck Lead.
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Tried something a little different here, and took a wide shot with the drone. To accomplish this, the drop actually takes 21 pictures and then using internal AI to stitch them together into a wide angle shot. Here, we can see Coors Field, the Denver skyline, and the tracks leading in to Denver Union Station.
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A handful of units sit in the fuel tracks at BNSF's engine house, getting serviced and waiting for their next assignment. Toward the top of the frame, a yard job works on switching out one of the 43 yard tracks.
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As the westbound Zephyr heads out of Union Station, three RTD commuter rail trains are on the roll. On the far left, an A-Line train from Denver International Airport approaches Union Station. It is meeting an N-Line train that is headed out toward Thornton. On the right, above the Zephyr, a G-Line train is arriving from Arvada.
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Denver Union Station is just a couple blocks away from Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies. In this shot, as the westbound Zephyr is departing from Track 4, the train passes by the stadium. From this vantage point, you can see the grounds crew working on the infield.
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Starting this season, the Rocky Mountaineer is actually loading and unloading passengers on Track 5 at Union Station. Here, the westbound Zephyr is on Track 4, nearly ready to depart. The Rocky Mountaineer is running a few minutes late, but is getting ready to depart as well.
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The eastbound Zephyr is on the main at the south end of North Yard, alongside a lot of double stack containers in BNSF's Rennicks Yard. One of several thunderstorms has moved east and is continuing to drop a lot of rain on the eastern plains. The train is approaching an approach signal at Fox Jct.
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A massive summer thunderstorm has passed through the area and is moving out onto the eastern plains. The sun is breaking through the clouds to the left, offering some great storm lighting as the eastbound Zephyr passes alongside North Yard and Rennicks, just about 15 minutes away from its station stop at Union Station.
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The eastbound Zephyr departed Fraser almost an hour late, but made up about 45 minutes on the trip down the Moffat. Here, it is on the main, coming by North Yard (UP) and Rennicks (BNSF). Tracks 1-5 are all empty of cars this afternoon.
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UP 1820 is a snoot nosed SD40-2. Or rather, it was originally. UP has rebuilt it and it is now designated as an SD40N. This month, June 2025, the unit will celebrate its 51st birthday, with its entire life spent on Union Pacific's roster.
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UP 1212 is 41 years old, having been delivered to MKT in April 1984 as a GP39-2. UP rebuilt the unit and it is now designated as a GP39N. The two radiator fans are spaced a bit further apart that most GP39-2s. Probably an artifact of the rebuild.
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