A southbound coal load parallels I-25 just north of Larkspur. Main 1 sticks pretty close to I-25 from Castle Rock to the I-25 exit for Larkspur. There, the highway continues over the ridge to Greenland, while the tracks cut through Larkspur, keeping the grade to roughly 1.2%.
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As this southbound manifest approaches Palmer Lake on Main 1, take not of the abandoned track to the right. Back in the days of cabooses and manned helpers on coal trains, the manned helpers would sometimes be cut in ahead of the caboose. In those situations, the helpers would cut off the train and enter this track, leaving the caboose on Main 1 for the coal train to back up to, connect to, and continue south.
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Three GEs lead this southbound manifest on Main 1, just north of Palmer Lake. The train has a clear (green) signal and is ready to head onto the single main track between Palmer Lake at Crews.
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Although there are a few other cars on this Denver-Amarillo manifest, most of the train is composed of alternating strings of tank cars and covered hoppers. The train has a clear (green) signal at the top of the hill at Palmer Lake to continue south onto the single main track.
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A pair of SD70ACes lead an empty oil train on Main 2 at Greenland. The mountain peak furthest off in the distance toward the left, is Pikes Peak. One of the 53 mountain peaks in Colorado that exceed 14,000-feet (4,268-meters) in elevation.
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Two GE units, the second of which still sports the original Heritage paint scheme as this Denver to Amarillo manifest approaches Titan Road south of Littleton.
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While this is technically south of Greenland, CO, the months of May and June are typically the only time of year when this area actually lives up to the name of being a green land. A CN-led grain train is currently stopped in The Sag, waiting for its turn to head south at Palmer Lake. A northbound is visible in the distance on Main 2.
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After the coal load ahead got a signal to continue south into the single track territory of the Joint Line south of Palmer Lake, this CN-led train train is now sitting in The Sag, waiting for its turn to continue south. After several hours of thunderstorms, there was a 10 minute break in the clouds, allowing for some fantastic sunlight to break through.
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Two units lead a northbound Q-Train on Main 2 a few miles north of Palmer Lake. You can see the train is passing an intermediate signal. The train is currently operating under a track warrant as Main 2 of the Joint Line has not had CTC added to it like Main 1 has. The Boeing 737 fuselage is a nice find on the train.
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A BNSF Q-Train is heading northbound on Main 2, meeting a southound coal train that is wrapped around The Sag on Main 1. The Q-Train has a Boeing 737 fuselage, a string of double stacks, and some general manifest freight on the train. Most likely, this train is headed to Portland or Seattle.
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A southbound BNSF coal load is stopped on Main 1 at The Sag between Greenland and Palmer Lake. It is waiting on the second of two northbound trains. There is a massive thunderstorm coming off from the Rockies and over Colorado Springs. You can see the north face of Pikes Peak in the distance to the left.
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CN 3321 is currently facing a red intermediate signal at MP 45.8. There is a coal train ahead that is currently stopped in The Sag, waiting for two northbounds. As such, the crew has the headlight on dim, and is patiently waiting.
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This southbound BNSF coal train is currently stopped in "The Sag", just north of Palmer Lake. Southbound loads often stop here to cool their traction motors and/or wait on northbounds. It was here that the Santa Fe main once went over the Rio Grande main. With the creation of the Joint Line, Main 1 now zig-zags a bit, and heads down a grade briefly, hence the "sag".
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CN 3321, an AC44C6M (rebuild) crosses over East Plum Creek on the bridge at MP 26.60 on Main 1 on the Joint Line. The train is following a coal load, and is actually making better time than the coal load, so the grain train will make a few stops at (red) intermediate signals as it continues south.
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A southbound BNSF coal load starts the real grind up toward Palmer Lake as the tracks increase around 1.2% and will remain around that for the trip to the top of hill. Longs Peak is visible in the background, as some clouds start to move toward the plains from the mountains.
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