Photo ID: 106577 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 16, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1100 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific An eastbound coal load rolls slowly down the main at Leyden, meeting a military train that is already on the siding. The coal train will stop not too far ahead to check out the rail. There have been reports of trespassers in the area and it turns out they placed rocks and railroad spikes on the rail head! Fortunately, the debris was spotted and removed. I actually spoke briefly to the conductor and it was believed the train could have easily derailed had the debris not been removed. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106504 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, March 7, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1491 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific It used to be common place to find coal train tied down in the siding at Leyden From 1997 to 2003 or so, the chances of finding a train tied down here were greater than finding the siding empty! However, when the Bypass tracks were built connecting the Moffat to the Belt, this increased capacity in Denver and reduced the need to for trains to tie down here. Then, around 2005, the citizens that live around Leyden petitioned the City of Arvada to prevent UP from parking trains here for extended periods (due to the noise and the diesel exhaust). Not sure if any ordinance was passed, but UP stopped using Leyden on a regular basis for tying down trains. If tying down a train was necessary, it was done at Rocky. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106503 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, March 7, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1380 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The standard three units, all of which are a little older, are cut into the middle of the "Public Service" coal train in the siding at Leyden. The units are remote controlled from the engineer in the lead unit, typically mirroring the lead units. The engineer has the option to fence off the DPUs, however, and control them independent from the headend. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106502 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, March 7, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1295 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) XLCX, Union Pacific The hopper cars that Xcel Energy uses for hauling coal are pretty cool cars. In addition to being hoppers (meaning they can be emptied through doors in the bottom), they are also equipped with rotary Couplers so the cars can be rolled on their side while remaining on the track and coupled to the car ahead of and behind them. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106501 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, March 7, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1384 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific This ET44AH has been hanging around the Moffat, running on coal trains for several weeks now. Kind of nice to have the newest power running on coal trains. The ET44AH is Tier-4 emissions compliant and can be pretty easily distinguished from its ES44AC cousins. The radiator is a bit boxier and comes to more of a point at the top. There are also four equal-sized radiator intake grills, unlike its cousin. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106500 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, March 7, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1316 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A trio of near-matched UP GEs leads the eastbound "Public Service" coal load in the siding at Leyden. I say "near-matched" because the lead unit is an ET44AH whereas the last two are both ES44ACs. Close enough! It is also highly unusual to see a coal load on the Moffat with anything other than two units on the point. This particular train is longer than most on the Moffat though. It is 115 cars and nearly 6,900 feet long. It would fit in the siding at Leyden with less than 200 feet to spare. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106499 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, March 7, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1320 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Looks like this coal load found some snow drifts on its way out of the Colorado high country. Sure, there's no snow on the ground here in the Denver area, but there's no shortage of it in the mountains. And extreme high winds (70 MPH+) in parts of the mountains no doubt helped to bury the tracks in places. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106490 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, February 23, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1463 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Not a bad consist at all on this BNSF Provo-Denver manifest. Two C44-9Ws, an ES40DC, two ES44C4s, and an SD70MAC. At least EMD got a little bit of the action. The train is slowing to a stop in the siding at Leyden. Here, it will have to wait for a couple hours as there is currently "no room at the inn" in Denver. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106489 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, February 23, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1514 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Kansas City Southern, BNSF I'm always happy to grab a shot of a Kansas City Southern unit in Retro-Belle paint! This SD70MAC looks pretty sharp in the red/yellow/black paint job. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106488 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, February 23, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1473 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) CSX, BNSF When the Evolution Series engines were first released by GE, CSX and Norfolk Southern both ordered units that were only 4,000 horsepower instead of the typical 4,400 horsepower. One such example is this ES40DC. The railroads believed they could save on fuel and that the extra 400 horses were not needed. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106487 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, February 23, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1615 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF In addition to four orange BNSF units, the Provo-Denver sports two visitors on this chilly February afternoon. A CSX ES40DC and a KCS SD70MAC join in the fun. Note the lead unit is a C44-9W, repainted in the New Image scheme. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106486 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, February 23, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1343 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF About 90 minutes before coming out to shoot the Provo-Denver, I shot a (very late) Zephyr at Leyden. At that time, visibility was fine and there was just some very light snow. Then, Mother Nature moved in quickly and brought a blizzard with her. Roads went from barely being wet to being sheets of ice! Granted, that is a moot point for this manifest as it slows in the siding at Leyden. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106485 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, February 23, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1487 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF An eastbound BNSF Provo-Denver makes its way through poor visibility and snow in the siding at Leyden. DS-86 would have to hold the train at Leyden due to a lack of open routes and tracks in Denver. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106484 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, February 23, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1504 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Running nearly 20 hours late, the eastbound Zephyr makes a very rare mid-afternoon run past milepost 13 down the main at Leyden. Mother Nature is to blame for the extreme tardiness. Snow over Donner Pass and flooding in Nevada have caused UP's tracks to be closed a lot with piled up snow or washouts. The Zephyr terminated at Salt Lake (and turned around there for a return trip east) for 10 days or so recently. Seems like perhaps they should still be doing that! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106471 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, February 21, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1345 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific 30 years ago, the area around Leyden was rather rural, with just a few houses along the tracks on the south side (which are still there). Today, however, Leyden is smack in the middle of suburbia with new neighborhoods all around an Arvada's newest high school (Ralston Valley High School) nearby as well. Running amidst it all is this westbound coal empty which is actually headed for the Savage loadout near Price, UT. From there, it will continue on west to Victorville, CA. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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