This southbound coal load is winding its way south on Main 1 through The Sag. With a telephoto lens, you can really see the winding of the track here, about two miles north of Palmer Lake.
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A southbound coal load winds south through the S-Curve on Main 1 at "The Sag", a few miles north of Palmer Lake. You can clearly see the bridge abutment from over a century ago when Santa Fe's mainline crossed over Rio Grande mainline.
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BNSF typically keeps a "protection" unit on the stub track off of Main 1 just north of Palmer Lake. Southbound coal load typically can just make the climb up the grade from Denver to Palmer Lake with four units. However, if one fails, a rescue unit is needed. BNSF 6035 currently has that job, sitting and waiting on the stub track if or when it is needed. A southbound coal load, with all four of its unit online, pass by on Main 1.
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Just south of Big Lift, a BNSF coal load is pulling up the 1.2% grade on the climb up Palmer Divide.
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An ES44AC and an SD70ACe lead a southbound loaded at the Black Thunder Mine in Wyoming in the Powder River Basin. It is likely headed to a power plant in Texas. The trees are still looking pretty good here Plum Creek south of Chatfield Reservoir.
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A southbound BNSF coal load is hard at work on Main 1 at Acequia near Chatfield Reservoir. Pikes Peak is visible in the distance as the train passes by some trees, many of whom have lost their leaves for the year, but a few are still sporting fall colors.
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This Amtrak Cascade's AIRO train set was built by Siemens in California. It is currently being taken by Amtrak to the TTC near Pueblo for testing. Of note, the Amtrak crew on this train are accompanied by a BNSF "pilot" crew. The Amtrak crew is, of course, not familiar with the Joint Line, so the BNSF crew goes with them to ensure the Amtrak crew knows everything they need to know about the route.
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Amtrak Cascade's AIRO train set rolls by Carpenter Creek on Main 1, just north of "The Sag" on the Joint Line. The train is about four miles away from the top of Palmer Divide at Palmer Lake. The train set is headed for the Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo, CO for testing.
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AMTK 22 and AMTK 134 lead an Amtrak Special southbound on Main 1 on the Joint Line, passes by a small pond that is part of Carpenter Creek, just a few miles north of Palmer Lake. Amtrak running on the Joint Line is exceptionally rare. Indeed, I believe this is the first time I've ever shot Amtrak equipment on the Joint Line.
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Amtrak's P42DCs belch out a bit of exhaust as they throttle up to continue rolling south on Main 1 at Greenland. The train has been running on yellow (technically, flashing yellow, or Advance Approach) signals since just north of Larkspur, as the Amtrak special is following a southbound BNSF coal load.
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Amtrak's AIRO special crosses over East Plum Creek on Main 1 of the Joint Line. A very rare site indeed, an Amtrak train set on the Joint Line. The AIRO train set, for Amtrak Cascades, is being taken to the Transportation Technology Center (TTC) near Pueblo.
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Most cabooses that you see these days are actually "shoving platforms", with their doors and windows bolted or welded closed. BNSF 999015, however, is still a legitimate caboose. It sports "BNSF HAZ MAT" on the side, and is currently assigned to the fire train based in Denver.
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BNSF 933014 is one of three special tank cars that contain (non potable) water. The tank cars are interconnected with hoses, and this third tank car is equipped with pumps that allows the water to be sprayed out. The hoses between cars allows all the water to flow between the three cars.
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The exact cause of the fire here alongside Big Lift (and further south) is not known for sure, but it seems fairly likely that a passing train was throwing up some sparks and accidentally start a few brush fires. Here, BNSF's fire train is working to make sure the flames are done.
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BNSF's fire train spent several minutes at this particular spot, spraying water. Not sure if there was a specific concern of fire flaring up here, or if there was some other reason for the focus.
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