Photo ID: 108574 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, February 27, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS047 (East Tolland) Gilpin County, CO 872 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Ferromex A pair of Ferromex SD70ACes are on the front end of a westbound coal empty at Tolland. The green and red units are likely not use to this high altitude and snowy weather as the train is just a few miles east of the Moffat Tunnel. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108573 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, February 27, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS047 (East Tolland) Gilpin County, CO 770 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF A westbound BNSF coal empty knocks down a clear signal at the east end of Tolland as it charges west in the snow, a few miles east of the Moffat Tunnel. This would end up being the one and only train that ran on the Moffat during daylight hours on this chilly Saturday! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108432 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 2, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 29 (MP 36.4, 75 ft) Gilpin County, CO 1026 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The engineers in the lead P42DC cross over South Boulder Creek and now have a clear view of the green signal at the east end of Cliff. Passengers on the seven car (well, seven Superliner car) Zephyr have a brief flash of dark as they quickly move in and out of Tunnel 29. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108431 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 2, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 29 (MP 36.4, 75 ft) Gilpin County, CO 784 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The shortest tunnel on the east slope of the divide is Tunnel 29. It is only 78 feet long, an the Zephyr is just about to quickly pop in to and out of the tunnel. Toward the left side of the frame, you can see rock that is quite a bit more red than the rest. this was once the location of Tunnel 28, which was daylighted (blown up, essentially) many, many decades ago due to frequent cave-ins. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108430 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 2, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 27 (MP 36.4, 650 ft) Gilpin County, CO 789 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Just outside the west portal of Tunnel 27, the tracks and South Boulder Creek are just about at the same level. Looking straight down on the westbound Zephyr, it is cool to watch the train snake along the tracks alongside the river amidst the pine trees. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108429 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 2, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 27 (MP 36.4, 650 ft) Gilpin County, CO 809 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak On the approach to Tunnel 27, the westbound Zephyr is nearing the end of the Tunnel District. Here toward the west end, South Boulder Creek is coming up to the level of the tracks. On the other side of Tunnel 27, which is about 650 feet long, the river will near the same level as the tracks. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108428 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 2, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 26 (MP 35.2, 320 ft) Gilpin County, CO 792 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr emerges from Tunnel 26 still quite a bit above South Boulder Creek. The west portal of Tunnel 26 was the location of a terrible disaster on September 30, 1991. A large rock fell and landed on the tracks by the west portal. An eastbound manifest struck the boulder and the lead two units rolled down the embankment to South Boulder Creek! Sadly, two crewman - Ed West (60, engineer) and John Beaird (47, brakeman) - were both killed. Two others - John Sacco (54) and Roy Alexander (47) were both injured, but survived. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108317 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 7, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Gilpin County, CO 736 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF About halfway through Cliff on the main track, this BNSF Provo-Denver is rolling on clear signals alongside South Boulder Creek amidst a rapidly setting July sun. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108315 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 7, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East of Tolland Gilpin County, CO 744 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The sun is getting low and is getting somewhat obscured by clouds, casting some crazy shadows as the Zephyr rolls east across South Boulder Creek just east of Tolland. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108314 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 7, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 714 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr rolls slowly through the siding at East Portal (to the left) as the eastbound Zephyr sits waiting on the main (to the right). The westbound Zephyr will stop very briefly to hand something off to the conductor on the eastbound Zephyr. Meanwhile, DS-78 is working on getting a clear signal for the Zephyr east. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108313 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 7, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 775 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Here is a shot that you don't come across too often! The Zephyrs are meeting at East Portal, just a mile or so east of the Moffat Tunnel. Typically, the Zephyrs meet about 100 miles to the west. However, a broken UP coal train delayed the westbound Zephyr by about 9 hours and the eastbound Zephyr by about 2 hours. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108312 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 7, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 735 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The eastbound Zephyr sits idle on the mainline at East Portal two minutes after its scheduled arrival time in Denver. The train has been stuck here for nearly two hours due to a coal train that broke down at Rollins 13 hours earlier. It took a long time to get the coal train back together. That has finally happened, however, and the Zephyr is now waiting for its counterpart, making its way west. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108301 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 4, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 834 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The eastbound California Zephyr passes by the seldom-used wye that still exists at East Portal just east of the Moffat Tunnel. The east leg of the wye (right side of the wye) used to be part of the mainline that ran up and over Rollins Pass. Once the Moffat Tunnel was completed and opened, the old mainline was torn out and just this leg of the wye remains from the portion that ran over Rollins Pass. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108300 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 4, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS050 (West East Portal) Gilpin County, CO 1044 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The Zephyr emerges from the east portal of the Moffat Tunnel and heads down the main track at East Portal, which is the name of the block (and siding). We are close to 9,200 feet above sea level here, the highest mainline on any Class 1 railroad, the highest elevation Amtrak reaches anywhere in the United States. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108070 Date Shot Photo By Monday, May 25, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East of Cliff Gilpin County, CO 685 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Today's westbound Zephyr crosses South Boulder Creek just east of East on a beautiful Memorial Day morning. The Zephyr today has a Transition Sleeper, a Sleeping Car, a Diner, a Lounge Car, and two Coaches. Not surprisingly, ridership has been way down the last few months during the COVID-19 pandemic. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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