Even though I was track side by 9am, I didn't such much moving until 2pm. This was largely why. UP had a whole fleet of MOW equipment stretching from one end of the Cliff siding to the other!
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After an eastbound coal load passed by, I knew I had a little bit of time before the next westbound reached Cliff. I took advantage of the time and gained a little altitude on the north side of the tracks to shoot the MNYGJ. I was grateful for the overcast skies above me...on a clear day, the shadows would have killed this shot.
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After meeting an eastbound coal load, this Somerset-bound empty is throttling up and leaving the siding at Cliff westbound. The creek in the foreground is South Boulder Creek.
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This may be a view from Cliff that you aren't used to. Most shots at Cliff from either the west end or the east end. Not many come from in between the two! This eastbound coal load is meeting a westbound empty and is now about a quarter of a mile away from the east end of the siding.
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Don't lose your balance! There is a great view looking down on the tracks from a cliff about a quarter of mile east of the east end of Cliff. This coal load is about to cross over South Boulder Creek and dive into Tunnel 29. The start of the Tunnel District.
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Hello C44AC-CTE! I personally am very glad that UP started putting the wings on the nose of their units again. The nose is just too darn plain and boring otherwise...
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In the Rio Grande days, the switch at the west end of Cliff was a "Y" switch. In other words, you diverged slightly whether you were staying on the main or taking the siding. Union Pacific has done away with that, however. Now, the main curves to the left before reaching the switch. Here, a westbound coal empty runs over the switch, passing the MNYRO which is tied down on the siding.
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The conductor on this MNYRO has left the cab (and left the door open) and is now tying down cars on the train. No relief crew is available to take this train west, so here at Cliff it will sit and wait!
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Derailments from the day before have resulted in congestion, delaying the westbound Zephyr a couple hours. Here at Cliff, the Zephyr will overtake (pass) a empty coal train that is sitting on the siding.
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A westbound coal load works its way through the sweeping curve just below Tunnel 29. Many a shot of a Rio Grande train was once taken here...unfortunately, the trees have grown enough that they largely obscure the view now.
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With UP 1989 running on the point of the Snow Bus, I was hoping to get setup at the west switch of Cliff for a shot of the train heading west. However, slow speeds on snow-packed CO-72 kept me from getting in position in time. Instead, I had to settle for this shot of the train heading away from me along South Boulder Creek.
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A trio of SD70MACs lead up BNSF's Denver to Provo manifest on the approach to Cliff. This is a pretty rare consist for BNSF trains on the Moffat. It is far more common to find C44-9W. The SD70MACs typically run in coal service.
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Up until this point, the eastbound Zephyr had been running right on time. Unfortunately, a rock slide to the east changed that. Rocks came down between Tunnel 26 and 27, stopping all traffic for about two hours. Amtrak spent nearly an hour of that stopped right here at Cliff.
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The conductor from the UP 6058 (which is stopped in the siding at Cliff) heads back into the cab as the last DPU unit on a westbound coal empty "flies" by on the main track.
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The conductor from the eastbound MRONY (sitting on the siding at Cliff) gives a wave to the conductor on the westbound coal empty. The conductor on the empty returns the gesture as the coal train heads west on a clear signal. The conductor on the ground is giving the coal empty a "roll-by" - making sure there are no obvious defects or problems.
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