After crossing South Boulder Creek, the tracks at cliff parallels the highway (CO-72) for about a half mile. If you look close, you can barely see a truck on the highway. He was considerate enough to (mostly) hide behind the pine tree for the shot!
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About halfway through the siding at Cliff, the tracks cross over South Boulder Creek. I decided to try for a new perspective on the bridge by climbing the mountain on the opposite side of the highway. I thought the lighting was going to be a bit better, but I still like the shot.
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Even though lighting is frequently less than ideal, I like the shot at the west end of Cliff. The tracks run parallel to South Boulder Creek and trains, leaving the Tunnel District behind, can pick up a little speed. In this shot, the MNYRO has a great variety of power, all elephant-style, headed west.
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It is becoming harder to get shots from the west end of Cliff that include an unobstructed view of the tracks and the signal. I like including the signal as these signals and the signals at east Leyden are the only ones on the Moffat (east of the Moffat Tunnel) that have not yet been replaced. Here, the MNYRO knocks down a clear signal at the west end as it makes its way west.
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I enjoy shots of units from above, simply because they are less common that most other shots. If you hadn't seen the top of an SD70ACe before, not that there are only two radiator fans instead of three. And, as with all EMD units since the SD70, the dynamic brakes are located behind the radiator.
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One last look at UP 1983, the Western Pacific heritage unit, as it leads the MRONY (Manifest, Roper to North Yard) just above Tunnel 29.
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The MRONY is headed east out of the siding at Cliff and toward the shortest tunnel on the Moffat, Tunnel 29. This perch far above the tracks and South Boulder Creek is a great place to watch some action.
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The Continental Divide is just visible in the distance as a colorful consist that includes the Western Pacific heritage unit and a KCS Retro Belle lead the MRONY east out of the siding at Cliff.
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This great looking consist just happens to be 75% EMD which, of course, is something of an oddity with GE dominating. That fact is unlikely to change anytime soon. It sounds like GE will have a Tier 4 compliant engine ready by mid-2015 whereas EMD says they won't even have a prototype until 2016 and won't be ready for production until 2017! All new engines must meet Tier 4 EPA emissions standards starting January 1, 2015.
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When a unit used in yards or on locals, such as this GP40-2, need to head for the shops for an inspection, they will frequently catch a ride on a train, running DIC (Dead In Consist). This GP40-2 is headed back to Grand Junction after an inspection at Burnham in Denver.
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A westbound coal empty knocks down the signal at the east end of Cliff on its journey west. Among the consist is a patched Espee AC4400CW and a former Espee GP40-2, catching a ride west to Grand Junction after its 90-day inspection at Burnham.
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The MRONY has a colorful consist between the Western Pacific heritage unit and a Kansas City Southern Retro Belle SD70ACe. The train is sitting in the siding at Cliff, waiting for a westbound coal empty.
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Similar to BNSF, UP has also been activating older power recently in order to meet power demands. One such example is this "triclops" SD60M, the fourth unit on the MRONY.
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The MRONY had a very colorful consist on this particular afternoon. Not only was the train led by UP 1983 (Western Pacific heritage unit), but the second unit out was this (slightly scorched) Kansas City Southern Retro Belle.
Coincidentally, this just happens to be the first Retro Belle unit that I ever shot and posted, way back in December of 2007.
It is rather hard to believe that it is getting close to a decade since Union Pacific's heritage program was first unveiled. The paint on the Western Pacific unit is starting to show its age a bit, although still looks pretty sharp overall.
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