Under some partly cloudy skies, 40 minutes before sunset, a pair of SD70Ms lead a Union Pacific officer's special west out of Leyden. UP sold off quite a bit of their passenger equipment, but still has enough to make a great looking train! The train is headed for Glenwood Springs tonight, and will continue west tomorrow.
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A pair of SD70Ms, with some great looking paint, lead a UP passenger train west out of Leyden. You can see the Denver Skyline in the distance. Note the pair of antenna on the cab of UP 4404. Not sure if those are related to PTC, or something else.
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The second of two units on this westbound rail train is UP 3055. This is one of roughly 100 Tier-4 EMD units that UP has on their roster. The complexity and expense of the units has resulted in minimal sales in the United States. Class 1 railroads are instead choosing to rebuild older units on the roster to give them an extended life. It is cheaper than investing in the Tier-4 units.
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The eastbound Zephyr is running about two hours late as it accelerates toward the west switch of Leyden. The overcast skies and the fading light has resulted in a bit of a low-light shot, with a hit of blur in the Zephyr. The third unit is AMTK 371, a brand new ALC-42 Charger, being transported from the Siemens plant in California to Chicago and, quite possibly, on to Beech Grove, In after that.
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At the start of Golden Hour, you couldn't ask for better light as a westbound BNSF oil empty charges west out of Leyden. BNSF pretty consistently runs their eastbound oil loads in a 3x(0)x3 configuration. Consequently, it makes sense that this westbound empty has six units on the head end. Three of the unit move to the east end of the train for journey back east.
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West of Leyden, the morning Winter Park Express is about 30 minutes late as it kicks up fresh snow. The train encountered an issue with a switch in Denver, causing the delay of getting out of town.
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A single ES44AC brings up the tail end of this eastbound BNSF coal empty. Prior to the start of this Valmy coal train a few years ago, I never thought I would see a coal load running west on the Moffat or, as in this shot, an empty coal train running east.
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The sun is just a few degrees above the eastern horizon as the Winter Park Express heads the opposite direction, away from the rising sun and toward the Rocky Mountains and the Winter Park Ski Resort.
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Shortly past sunrise, the sun glints off the Superliners of the westbound Winter Park Express, just west of Leyden. Clear skies and the early morning create a perfect gold hour.
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A trio of SD70ACes leads this eastbound Provo-Denver as it approaches the west end of Leyden. While much of the mid-west is buried under multiple inches of snow, the Denver area has seen hardly any snowfall so far this winter season.
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The westbound Zephyr came to town with an extra coach this morning. The extra coach was dropped off in Denver because one of the coaches on the Winter Park Express has defective bathrooms. The coaches will be swapped out tonight, and the defective coach will likely head to Chicago tomorrow evening. Here, the Zephyr is just west of Leyden.
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The Winter Park Express is hustling along at track speed west of Leyden as some snow is falling. This is the first day of expanded service. Two coaches were added to the Winter Park Express this week. This is the longest the train has been under Amtrak in the last few years.
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Even though the sun has technically risen, it stills looks to be blue hour out as the Winter Park Express heads west at MP 14. There is a small winter storm blowing through this morning. Snow is lightly falling, but the wind is blowing hard. It is 30°F (-1°C) out, but with the wind, it feels like it is about 10°F (-12°C).
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Just west of Leyden, the Winter Park Express Ski Train is making its way west. Two additional coaches have been added to the train since last weekend. Amtrak worked with Winter Park and the State of Colorado to expand service. The train will have seven cars (six coaches plus the lounge car) for the rest of the season, and it will run Thursdays through Mondays!
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Mechanical issues before departing Chicago, and then severe weather in the mid-west has resulted in a more than five hour delay for the westbound Zephyr when it departed Denver today. Just west of Leyden, the train is making track speed, attempting to make up time.
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