The relative high speeds of the rails on the plains are behind now for this westbound oil train, making its way through the narrowest part of Barbara's Gulch. Note the speed sign on the right side of the rails, indicate the max speed for eastbounds once the entire train has passed beyond the sign. Why the two numbers? The top number (60 MPH) is the max speed for passenger trains. The bottom number (30 MPH) is the max speed for everything else.
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Working its way west through Barbara's Gulch, three elephant-style units are on the point of a UP oil empty. The number of oil trains seems to have increased on the Moffat somewhat in the last year or so.
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The westbound Zephyr emerges from around the bend, from the west end of Eisele (Clay). Behind the Zephyr is wide open plains for hundreds of miles. The Zephyr is approaching the grade crossing at Blue Mountain Drive.
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The first of two BNSF SD70ACes on the tail end of a westbound manifest crosses over Indiana Street. The bridge, amazingly, is still lettered for Rio Grande, 36 years after the end of Rio Grande. There is a second SD70ACe, but it was facing into the train. I figured I'd cut it out of the frame as the unit facing away from the train looks a bit better.
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A westbound Denver-Provo departs the siding at Leyden after meeting an oil train. The train is crossing the bridge at MP 13.35, the bridge over Indiana Street. Eventually, this bridge will likely be rebuilt to accommodate the widening of Indiana Street from two lanes to (at least) four.
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As the eastbound oil train rolls away from the camera on the main track at Leyden, a westbound BNSF manifest (the Denver to Provo) has turned its lights back on full and is ready to depart west as soon as DS-380 aligns the switch and gets a light for the train.
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After meeting the Zephyr at Eisele and meeting a UP oil train at Rocky, the train will meet a BNSF manifest at Leyden, just ahead. UP 9576 looks pretty sharp in the new UP paint scheme. 15 years ago, most of the buildings (and houses) visible in this shot did not exist. This western most part of Arvada has grown a lot.
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BNSF's Denver-Provo is pulling into the siding at Leyden. It won't have to wait too long for an eastbound oil train that will meet it on the main, continuing in to Denver.
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The westbound Zephyr is approaching a red signal at the west end of Eisele (Clay) on the siding. The oil train on the main is too long to fit between switches, and is waiting for the a clear signal at the east end to proceed east. Once the train clears the west switch, DS-380 will get the Zephyr a light to continue west.
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While UP has been focused on rebuilding some older unit, they still have 170 Tier-4 GE units (ET44ACs) on the roster. UP 2583 is an example of one of these units, as noted by the extra large radiator intakes and interesting bulge directly ahead the radiator intake.
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UP 9576 is a C44ACM, recently rebuilt from SP 8112, a C44-9W. One of the largest parts of the rebuild included changing the units from DC traction motors to AC traction motors. Several Class 1 railroads are pursuing rebuilds instead of buying new Tier-4 units from either GE or EMD.
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The siding at Eisele (Clay) has weight restrictions on it, which prohibits loaded unit trains - such as oil trains - from operating on the siding. So, the oil train holds the main and the westbound Zephyr runs through the siding on its way west.
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Three trains in one frame, all three of them facing geographically south. However, two of them (the Zephyr and the oil train to the right) are headed west. The oil train to the left is headed east, waiting for the Zephyr to show up. Busy morning on the Moffat!
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After arriving in Denver, it was discovered that the Zephyr had an air leak. The decision was made to swap the P42DCs around. AMTK 170 had been the trailing unit upon arriving. After a couple hours of swapping units around, AMTK 170 became the leader and the train departed west. Here, the train passes by empty tank cars and sunflowers on the trip west.
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Two decades ago, coal train dominated the Moffat. Fast forward to the time of this shot and coal has been replaced by oil. A westbound empty sits on the siding at Rocky in the foreground, while an eastbound oil load slows to a stop on the main track at Eisele in the distance.
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