An eastbound loaded oil train wraps around the fill west of Leyden. The train is about to cross over Indiana Street and will then enter the siding at Leyden to meet the westbound Zephyr.
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AMTK 164, Amtrak's Phase 4 heritage unit, leads the westbound Zephyr this morning as the train rolls west at track speed west of Leyden. The body of water directly behind the Zephyr is Welton Reservoir. The body of water further off in the distance is Standley Lake
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The Zephyr got a short delay just east of Leyden this morning on its way west. A passenger on the train had to be removed from the train for reasons I was not able to figure out from listening to the scanner. Regardless, the train came to a stop with the last Superliner on the grade crossing at 80th Avenue, where Arvada police were waiting.
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A pair of tampers work to ensure that the ballast is properly set, the ties are positions, and the rails are aligned and stabilized so that trains can run over the rails after new ties have been inserted under the tracks.
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This machine is a continuous-action surfacing tamper. It lifts, lines, and tamps the track, as well as dynamically stabilizes the rails so that trains can safely run at track speed over the track. This is the final piece of equipment in the tie gang.
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Here, we see a Union Pacific track tamper. It moves from tie-to-tie...every tie, regardless if it is new or not...grabs the tie and shakes it to ensure the ballast falls properly under and around the ties. The long pole/extension in front of the tamper ensure that the rails are aligned and in gauge.
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This machine is a small tamper that is making sure that the new ties are positioned properly under the rails before they are spiked down.
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This tie plate inserter is setting out new tie plates on top of the new ties that have been installed just minutes earlier. Once the tie plates are in place, a spiker will come next and spike down the plates/ties.
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This Tie Extractor/Inserter (TE/IE) is currently working as an inserter. A crane has placed new ties along the right-of-way and the inserter is sliding the ties underneath the rails.
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A string of maintenance equipment works to replace the ties along the right-of-way west of Leyden. UP has laid new ballast and is now replacing thousands of ties on the Moffat over the course of the next few months.
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In this overhead shot of the mainline west of Leyden at MP 14.5, you can clearly see the tie gang and the work they are doing. All of the ties you see that are perpendicular to the rails are new ties that are waiting to be installed beneath the rails.
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This is what a major maintenance project on a Class 1 railroad looks like! A long line of machines, each with its own specific purpose, stretch west on the tracks west of Leyden. At the front of the line (closest to the camera) is a crane that is piling up old ties.
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A trio of DPUs bring up the end of this eastbound loaded oil train. The train is rolling away from the camera and toward the west switch of Leyden.
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Three units lead an eastbound BNSF oil train on the straightaway along CO-72 just west of Leyden. The train is, of course, headed downhill, but there is still a lot of heat coming off the top of the units (distorting the air above) thanks to the dynamic brakes workings to slow the train.
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BNSF's eastbound Provo-Denver manifest is headed directly into the sun just west of the west switch of Leyden. The right-of-way has piles of new ties that are waiting to be installed.
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