Photo ID: 110160 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, January 21, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed The Sag Douglas County, CO 206 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A southbound BNSF intermodal train wraps its way through "The Sag", just north of Palmer Lake. Here, ownership of Main 1 changes from BNSF to UP as you travel southbound. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110159 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, January 21, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Spruce Douglas County, CO 203 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF Between Greenland and Palmer Lake on the Joint Line is the location of Spruce. A southbound BNSF intermodal train is passing by the Spruce trackside sign on its journey toward Palmer Lake and points south. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110157 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, January 21, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Castle Rock Douglas County, CO 219 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF Even with the reduction in the demand for coal, coal trains still dominate the Joint Line. So, it is nice to come across a non-coal train! Such is the case with this baretable intermodal train. You'd typically think of a string of empty well cars when referring to a baretable. But in this case, all of the trailers and containers on this train are empty. Just be repositioned to San Bernardino, CA. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109917 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 17, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed The Sag Douglas County, CO 248 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF Just north of Palmer Lake is a location now known as "The Sag". Over 100 years ago, Santa Fe's mainline crossed over Rio Grande's mainline right here. You can clearly see the abutment from the bridge that has long since been removed. When the Joint Line was formed, the tracks of the Grande the Santa Fe were connected in places where the mainlines previously crossed each other. Here, the ownership of the track changes right here from BNSF to UP as the train moves south. Regardless of ownership, BNSF dispatches the track, which has been CTC for the past few years. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109916 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 17, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Spruce Douglas County, CO 217 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A southbound BNSF manifest on Main 1 is about to pass an SD70ACe that BNSF keeps on a sub track at Spruce, just north of Palmer Lake. The unit can be used as a helper for any southbound that needs it on the climb to Palmer Lake. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109915 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 17, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Greenland Douglas County, CO 223 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF In the past decade or so, it has become far more common to find certain trains that have a mix of general manifest (box cars, covered hoppers, lumber, etc) along with intermodal. BNSF's QSPOALT, which runs from Spokane, WA to Alliance, TX, is an example of such a train. The front half of the train is general manifest, but the second half is mixed TOFC and COFC. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109913 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 17, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Castle Rock Douglas County, CO 236 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A C44-9W in Heritage 2 paint leads a southbound Q-train (which happens to be a mixed freight and intermodal combined) runs south parallel to I-25 south of Castle Rock. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109910 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 17, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Lift Douglas County, CO 257 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF BNSF's has a couple of run-through freights that come through Denver (and do not break up in the yard). This is one such train. This is the QSPOALT, which runs from Spokane, WA to Alliance, TX. It just on Main 1 on the Joint Line, running alongside Big Lift just south of Littleton. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109646 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, October 15, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Castle Rock Douglas County, CO 229 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF For two decades, SD70MACs ruled coal trains on the Joint Line. Now in 2023, they have largely been replaced by SD70ACes and ES44ACs. However, it is still great to catch one now and then. Such is the case with BNSF 8948, the second unit on the head end of this southbound coal load. It is still sporting an aging Heritage 2 paint scheme. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109641 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, October 15, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed The Sag Douglas County, CO 276 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF The head end of BNSF 9015 is descending down "The Sag" just north of Palmer Lake. On warm summer days when the traction motors on units are really hot, southbound coal loads will sometimes stop here at The Sag to allow the traction motors to cool before continuing south. On this October afternoon, the temperature is around 60°F, so the train will continue rolling south to Palmer Lake. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109640 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, October 15, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed The Sag Douglas County, CO 434 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF Prior to World War 1, when Rio Grande and Santa Fe operated their own mains separate from one another, there were several places where the two lines crossed one another. Few places are as apparent of this old artifact as at "The Sag" just north of Palmer Lake. Here, Santa Fe's main crossed over Rio Grande's main. The abutments of the bridge are still quite apparent, even though the bridge itself has been gone for over a century. with the creation of the joint line, the crossover were removed and the tracks of each railroad were connected to create the Joint Line. Here, the head end of this coal train is now on track owned by UP and the back end of the train is still on track owned by BNSF. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109639 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, October 15, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Spruce Douglas County, CO 375 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A southbound BNSF coal train continues the journey south on Main 1 just north of Palmer Lake. A nice pod offers up a great scene on a Sunday afternoon. Between the train and the pond, you can see the rails for Main 2. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109636 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, October 15, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Castle Rock Douglas County, CO 249 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF Along the I-25 frontage road, a southbound BNSF coal train passes by an intermediate signal at MP 38.6. The train is led by a pair of EMD SD70ACe. The train is heading almost directly into the sun, so both sides of the train are largely in the shadows. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109632 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, October 15, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Spruce Douglas County, CO 291 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific A northbound UP military train is approaching Greenland on Main 2, just north of Palmer Lake. The 14,115-foot Pikes Peak towers in the scene, about 25 miles to the south. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109631 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, October 15, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Spruce Douglas County, CO 256 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific I love the wide open lands between Greenland and Palmer Lake. A northbound UP military train sits stopped on Main 2 as the conductor is walking the train to look for dragging equipment after setting off a detector. A southbound BNSF coal load slowly rolls by on Main 1, with a trio of units serving as the rear DPU set on the train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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