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.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
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.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
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.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
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.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
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.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
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.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
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.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
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.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
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.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
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!
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
Just east of the east switch of East Portal, BNSF's Denver-Provo manifest is approaching a clear (green) signal. The train is snaking its way along Rollins Road. In the distance, you can see the classic yellow schoolhouse that is a fixture in Tolland.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
BNSF's Denver-Provo manifest is westbound on the main at Cliff, running alongside the (empty) siding, and the house track. The house track has a pair of empty flat cars sitting on it.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
The Zephyr knocks down a clear (green) signal at the east end of Tolland, getting ever-closer to the east end of the Moffat Tunnel that will take it under the snow-capped Continental Divide.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
The Continental Divide still sports quite a bit of snow on the top of it and it lies dead ahead for the westbound Zephyr. Just east of the east switch of Tolland, the Zephyr is clear (green) signals all the way up to and through the Moffat Tunnel.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
About 46 miles west of Denver, the westbound Zephyr is right on time as it crosses over South Boulder Creek. You could not ask for a more beautiful Memorial Day morning.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
