Photo ID: 111630 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Gilpin County, CO 104 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF It can sometimes be a bit of a challenge, capturing trains on the Moffat in direct sunlight in the height of winter. The low sun in the sky mixed with high mountain peaks keeps a lot of the line in shadows for much of the day. Here, the lead SD70ACe comes into directly sunlight on the main at Cliff as it crosses over South Boulder Creek. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111629 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Gilpin County, CO 83 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF The western 40% or so of Cliff hugs the north side of a mountain. Throughout winter, this part of the tracks never see any directly sunlight. As a result, it is pretty common for the rails to be buried in snow for months at time. Indeed, it is quite possible the tracks will be in snow until the spring melt. Meanwhile, an eastbound BNSF manifest rolls through the darkened scene. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111628 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Gilpin County, CO 94 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF After a stop in the siding at Rollins that lasted around 90 minutes, a relief crew for this Provo-Denver finally showed up. The crews swapped, and UP's DS-380 gave them a light to continue east. Indeed, there is nothing coming west out of Denver, and the train will have a clear shot to town. Here, the train is on the main track at Cliff. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111627 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rollins (8,320 ft) Gilpin County, CO 83 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF BNSF 8396, an ES44C4, brings up the tail end of BNSF's Provo-Denver manifest. The train is currently sitting in the siding at Rollins. The crew will shortly reach their hours of service, and they are waiting for a relief crew that is presently on the way out of Denver. The train is close to 6,000 feet in length. Perhaps some holiday backlog traffic is on the train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111626 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rollins (8,320 ft) Gilpin County, CO 103 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF The engineer on BNSF 9037 is bringing the train to a full stop in the siding at Rollins. He has to stop the train a bit east of the ideal spot for a crew change. This is because of the length of the train. They had to come a bit further east in order to clear the west switch of Rollins and keep the main clear. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111625 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rollins (8,320 ft) Gilpin County, CO 92 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF This GP39-3 is catching a ride on BNSF's Provo-Denver manifest. The unit is likely being used as a switcher in either Provo or Grand Junction. The unit apparently has a mechanical issue and is being transported to Denver so it can be repaired. After being repaired, it will likely head back west for further switching duties. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111624 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rollins (8,320 ft) Gilpin County, CO 108 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF This Provo-Denver has taken the siding at Rollins to await a dog catch crew that is coming out of Denver. The relief crew will take the train the remainder of the way into the yard in Denver. The track to the left is the house track at Rollins, which does not quite follow the same alignment as the siding and main. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111623 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rollins to Tolland (MP 41.2 to MP 45.8) Gilpin County, CO 85 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF In the canyon between Rollins and Tolland, along South Boulder Creek, six units lead up BNSF's Provo-Denver manifest. After sitting for nearly three hours at Winter Park for the Winter Park Express and the Zephyr, the crew is running short on time. They will be going into the siding at Rollins to wait for a relief crew that is already on the way out of Denver. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111622 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rollins to Tolland (MP 41.2 to MP 45.8) Gilpin County, CO 105 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF This eastbound BNSF manifest had to wait in the siding of Winter Park for both the Winter Park Express Ski Train and the California Zephyr before getting its turn to head east. Now, about an hour after the Zephyr was at Tolland, the manifest is rolling along quickly just east of Tolland, the Continental Divide standing tall and snow-covered in the distance. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111621 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland (9,356 ft) Gilpin County, CO 100 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak This is a wonderful time of year to be riding on the Zephyr to your destination. Reports are that I-70, the main highway through the Rocky Mountains west of Denver, is at a stand still with congested traffic. Passengers on the Zephyr, however, get to bypass that headache and enjoy the frigid view out the train here at Tolland. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111620 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland (9,356 ft) Gilpin County, CO 114 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr is kicking up a lot of snow as it is making track speed at Tolland, about three miles east of the Moffat Tunnel. The train has a standard consist this morning, showing off Amtrak's latest Phase 7 paint scheme with AMTK 79 leading. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111619 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland (9,356 ft) Gilpin County, CO 71 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Wind gusts are reaching 40 MPH in the valley here at Tolland this morning. The wind speeds are quite evident from the snow that is being kicked up along the tracks as the westbound Zephyr approaches, running right on time. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111618 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland (9,356 ft) Gilpin County, CO 122 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak A Phase 7 P42DC led the Winter Park Express this morning, and another Phase 7 leads the westbound Zephyr now, on the main at Tolland. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111617 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 75 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak As you would probably expect at 9,200 feet above sea level at the start of January, East Portal is something of a frozen tundra. It is quite windy and very cold, with snow blowing around all over the valley. The Winter Park Express Ski Train has a clear (green) signal, ready to dive into the 6.2-mile-long tunnel. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111616 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 98 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak For the past several years, Amtrak has been running its Winter Park Express Ski Train. This season, the Colorado Department of Transportation is helping to subsidize the cost of tickets, and passengers can make a one way trip for as low as $19! There are only five Superliners are the train right now, but two additional cars are supposed to be added sometime soon. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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