When they are both running on time, the daily Zephyrs typically meet somewhere around Dotsero or Range. The westbound Zephyr is very much not running on time today, now over seven hours late as it sits in the siding at Tolland, meeting its counterpart. The opportunity for a meet between the Zephyr on the east slope of the divide is a rare one indeed!
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The high winds speeds already are kicking up quite a bit of snow, but the swiftly moving eastbound Zephyr is definitely making its own contribution to the swirling white stuff as it crosses the grade crossing at Tolland.
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Hope you have your parka! While the temperature is 30°F, it feels closer to 15°F as there are wind gusts of 40+ MPH here in the valley at Tolland. Plenty of blowing snow is kicked up as the westbound Zephyr slows to a stop in the siding.
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AMTK 145 is the second unit out on the westbound Zephyr on this day...the light is rapidly fading as the sun is behind clouds to the west.
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A very late Zephyr rolls west in the siding at Tolland. The train will have to wait here for close to an hour for the eastbound Zephyr and the Ski Train.
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Every once in awhile, a visitor from south of the border makes its way up north for a little power sharing. Such is the case here as a Ferromex ES44AC rolls west on the Moffat just east of Tolland.
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A Kansas City Southern SD70ACe was on the Denver-Provo for the trip west over the Moffat.
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A colorful consist (including a standard BNSF ES44DC, KCS Belle SD70ACe, and Ferromex ES44AC) moves quickly at track speed as it runs alongside a frozen over South Boulder Creek.
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On a chilly (about 15°F at the moment) morning, a westbound BNSF manifest kicks up some snow as it approaches the bridge over South Boulder Creek just east of Tolland.
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After getting some shots of a BNSF manifest in the siding at Rollins, I decided to come west to Tolland as I knew the Zephyr was on time and was headed up the hill. While it had been mostly overcast so far that morning, the sun broke through a bit to add some nice light to this shot of #5.
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A single AC4400CW brings up the tail end of this North Fork Branch-bound coal empty. The train has six units (configured 5x(0)x1). It is a chilly morning along a frozen-over South Boulder Creek!
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A westbound coal empty knocks down an Advanced Approach (flashing yellow) signal at the west end of Cliff. This empty took the siding at Rocky where the Winter Park Express Ski Train overtook it. It will next take the siding at Rollins to allow the California Zephyr to pass it as well.
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Running just about 15 minutes late, the eastbound California Zephyr knocks down a clear signal at the east switch of East Portal. A smattering of aspen trees offer up a great backdrop for the train that, minutes earlier, was in the Moffat Tunnel.
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After several days of testing these SD70ACe-T4s through the Moffat Tunnel, EMD has collected all the data needed and the consist will now head east back to Denver. The SD70ACe-T4 is supposed to go in to production a little later in 2016 and rumor has it that UP has already ordered several dozen copies.
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Over the past several days, EMD and UP have been testing this pair of SD70ACe-T4s for the past several days. The consist has been running between Tabernash and East Portal, running through the Moffat Tunnel. Testing is completely now, however, and the consist will be headed back to North Yard in Denver.
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