After meeting the Zephyr at Crescent, BNSF's eastbound Provo-Denver manifest leads a relatively short train through Tunnel 5 and approaches Tunnel 4 shortly before noon.
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Okay, at first glance, this may just look like a cool nature shot and you are asking "where the heck is the train"? You have to take out your eagle eyes and look near the left side of the frame, about halfway down from the top. You can see the head end of BNSF's Provo-Denver emerging from Tunnel 7 eastbound! In the distance to the right is the town of Boulder, CO.
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Starting yesterday, the westbound Zephyr departs Denver at 10:05am rather than 8:05am. This change only lasts a week and is in place due to some Union Pacific maintenance windows in Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. The two hour delay gives crews two extra hours of daylight to work without having to clear up for the Zephyr. These work windows are happening off and on over the next six weeks or so.
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The westbound Zephyr passes over the fill and through the cut located just west of Tunnel 2 and prepares to duck in to darkness in the 369-foot-long Tunnel 3.
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A single AC4400CW brings up the tail end of UP's thrice weekly MNYGJ, about to enter in to Tunnel 2. You can see the train threading its way west through the Tunnel District, as the train is in and out of Tunnel 3 and wrapping around the bend in to Tunnel 4.
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You can see the three units on the head end of the MNYGJ as they approach the east portal of Tunnel 3. The rather lengthy train is still coming out of Plain and heading in to Tunnel 2.
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After the morning Zephyr passed by on the main, the MNYGJ got a light to follow west, pulling out of the siding at Plain. The head end of the manifest is just about to duck in to Tunnel 2.
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The westbound Zephyr departs out the west end of Plain, back on a clear signal. The train encountered a few yellow signals coming up from Rocky, as it was following the MNYGJ. That manifest is in the siding, visible through the trees to the left. Once Amtrak gets further west, the manifest will get a light to continue the climb up the hill.
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After cutting off 14 cars in the short siding east of Terrell Jct, two brakeman head back to the lead unit so the train can continue the rest of the way in to the upper yard at Golden.
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The aggregate plant that the West Local is heading for, Trinity Lightweight, is just visible on the left side of the frame. The local will drop off seven covered hoppers and will likely pick up a few as well before returning to North Yard.
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The West Local pushed away from the camera as it passes by a few companies, mainly home and commercial landscaping, as it slowly makes it way to the aggregate company at the far end of the Rocky Flat Industrial Lead.
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A few empty well cars on the tail end of a single stacked intermodal train roll away from the camera on the main track at Crescent. The (unusual) train is headed for California.
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Many of the tunnels on the Moffat are not tall enough to support double stack intermodal trains. As a result, it is highly uncommon to find containers running on the Moffat. That said, a single stack intermodal train went west on the Moffat on this day! Well cars with containers roll past some "stick track" at Crescent.
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The Moffat does not get much intermodal action these days...and hasn't in over 15 years now. However, an exception was may on the last day of May as a single stacked container train heads west on the Moffat at Crescent.
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A trio of unit are the power for this westbound container train at Crescent. This is actually a military move, as those containers contain military equipment. UP routed the special over the Moffat. It is headed for the San Francisco area.
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