Photo ID: 111731 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, January 12, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 190 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The Winter Park Express has expanded service, currently running with seven coaches and a sightseer/lounge car. The train is just over 9,000 feet (2,743 meters) above sea level here at East Portal, in the middle of a frozen winter wonderland. The Continental Divide is snow-covered, the peaks in the background are around 13,000 feet (almost 4,000 meters) above sea level. The train just emerged from the Moffat Tunnel, and is running right on time for its journey back to Denver. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111730 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, January 12, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 187 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak In the midst of the blue hour, the Winter Park Express Ski Train has emerged from the Moffat Tunnel and is headed east on a clear (green) signal. As you can see, we are definitely stuck in the dead of winter hear at 9,000 feet above sea level. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111729 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, January 12, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland (9,356 ft) Gilpin County, CO 178 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF This westbound Denver-Provo manifest is (and has been) stuck in the siding at Tolland for quite awhile. The train met an eastbound BNSF oil train, waited for the Moffat Tunnel to vent, then waited for the Winter Park Express (that is what it is waiting for now). After that, the tunnel had to vent again, before the train departed west to meet the Zephyr at Winter Park. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111728 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, January 12, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS043 (West Rollins) Gilpin County, CO 139 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF A trio of SD70ACes bring up the tail end of this eastbound BNSF (loaded) unit oil train. I have had people ask why there isn't a buffer car between the end DPUs on the train (like on the head end). The reason is because the buffer car is primarily used to protect the crew. With no crew on the DPUs, a buffer car is not required. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111727 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, January 12, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rollins to Tolland (MP 41.2 to MP 45.8) Gilpin County, CO 128 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Just west of Rollins, an eastbound BNSF oil train approaches a clear (green) signal at the west switch of Rollins. The train passes the Winter Park Express at Fraser and had enough time to make it through the Moffat ahead of the Winter Park Express. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111630 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Gilpin County, CO 189 (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 140 (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 152 (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 128 (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 155 (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 152 (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 164 (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 150 (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 178 (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 155 (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.

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