As this heavy coal load emerges from Tunnel 27, the evidence of decades of other trains is quite clear on the exhaust-stained rocks around the west portal.
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A peek in to the midst of the Tunnel District and South Boulder Canyon. A westbound BNSF coal load is approaching the east portal of Tunnel 27.
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A westbound loaded BNSF coal train is in the middle of the Tunnel District, emerging from the west portal of Tunnel 26.
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A westbound empty UP oil train takes the siding to meet with a unit covered hopper train that is holding on the main. Neither train would ultimately hold here at Cliff; both continuing on toward their destinations.
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I'm not entirely sure where this short covered hopper train originated or where it is headed, but two GEs lead the train east on the main at Cliff.
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A pair of UP units leads a short eastbound MGJNY across South Boulder Creek on the main at Cliff. In a few more weeks, fall colors should be in full effect here. This would end up being one of my personal favorite shots of the day.
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The westbound Rocky Mountaineer is between Tolland and East Portal. For that past several months, the Mountaineer has been running with some leased UP SD70Ms while work was done on the GP40-3s. As you can see, the GP40-3s are back on the train, looking sharp matching the passenger cars.
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Fall colors are just barely starting to show at Tolland as the Sunday Rocky Mountaineer crosses the grade crossing at Tolland on its journey west. It is so fantastic having such a unique passenger operation running on the Moffat. After losing the American Orient Express (later the Grande Luxe Express), the Ansco Ski Train, and the Circus Train, it is great having something diverse still running.
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The Rocky Mountaineer GP40-3s look really good on the point of the "Rockies to the Red Rocks" Mountaineer as it approaches the grade crossing at Tolland.
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A view that, in one form another, with one type of train or another, has been repeated somewhere around a half a million times since the Moffat Tunnel opened 96 years ago. The structure built over the rails has cameras that allow UP dispatchers in Omaha to view the tunnel. It also has motion sensors that detect trespassers, warning them they are trespassing if they attempt to approach the tunnel portal.
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Almost exactly 100 years (give or take a few months) before this picture was taken, initial construction on the Moffat Tunnel started. A century later, and a BNSF SD70ACe brings up the tail end of the westbound Denver-Provo.
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The valley that the Moffat Tunnel is located in has a wonderful mix of deciduous and coniferous trees. A pair of SD70ACes are the DPUs bringing up the tail end of this westbound BNSF manifest, disappearing in to the tunnel that runs underneath a shoulder of James Peak.
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The crew on BNSF 5781 is just moments away from experiencing 15-20 minutes of dark as the train enters the Moffat Tunnel. The train is approaching the highest active Class 1 mainline in the country. The apex of the tunnel is 9,239 feet above sea level.
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The Denver-Provo is on the main at East Portal and is approaching a clear (green) signal to go in to the 6.2 mile long tunnel. The building in the background was built by UP in 2010 as a weather safe facility for MOW equipment.
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Halfway through the month of September and there is only very minor change in the deciduous trees at East Portal. When fall colors are in full effect, this scene is going to look even more spectacular!
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