Photo ID: 105727 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, January 14, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 2527 (2 Comments Posted) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Generally speaking, UP's daily North Yard, CO to Roper, UT manifest is called at 3:30am. Meaning the crew for the train literally receives a phone call informing them of their train. The crew has 2 hours to get to North Yard and start working on the train. The process from call time to departure is typically 3-4 hours. The result is usually an early morning departure, often an hour or so ahead of Amtrak. Such is the case this morning as an SD70ACe-led manifest heads west of Leyden on a clear signal about 15 minutes ahead of sunrise. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105726 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, January 14, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1766 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific About 15 minutes before the sun crests the horizon, a westbound UP manifest emerges from the darkness along the rails, reflecting light from the fiery morning sky. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105708 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, January 9, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1589 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific It seems like the SD70ACe was just introduced yesterday. Yet the scrapes and scratches on this one clearly show its age. This particular unit will in fact celebrate its 10th birthday in 2016. The body of water in the background is Welton Reservoir. It was built by the City of Arvada in 2002 to bulk up its water supply. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105707 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, January 9, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1702 (2 Comments Posted) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific, Chicago North Western It has been quite some time since I've seen one of these! A patched Chicago Northwestern AC4400CW actually has some of its patchwork wearing off. You can pretty clearly see that this was once CNW 8819. This is one of 35 such units that Chicago Northwestern got right before becoming a part of Union Pacific. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105706 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, January 9, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1677 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Say hello to the "Cold War Horse"! The horse is a sculpture created by a local artist. It was made as a tribute to Rocky Flats, the plant that created triggers for nuclear bombs until the 1990s when it was shut down. It is located between the tracks and CO-72, just west of Indiana Street. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105705 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, January 9, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1379 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific This is a coal train that is quickly fading from the rails and will soon be nothing more than a memory. It is the "Public Service" train. It provides coal for Xcel Energy's Cherokee Power Plant in northeast Denver. For the last couple of years, that power plant has been transitioning from being fueled by coal to natural gas. By late this year or early 2017, that conversion will be complete. Once that is done, this coal train will be a thing of the past. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105704 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 8, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1614 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific If you look at one of the captions that shows the head end of this train, you may notice that I mentioned the lead units were EMD. This SD70AH on the tail end means there isn't a GE unit to be found on this coal empty! A rare occurrence these days...almost as rare as finding a coal train running on the Moffat. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105703 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 8, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1880 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific At the time I took this picture, I was unable to recall the last time I saw a coal (or any train, for that matter) that had an all-EMD consist! The trio of SD70s was a welcome sight for this EMD fan. While all three are technically SD70ACes, the first and third units are both classified as an SD70AH. This means that these units weight 427,000 pounds instead of 420,000 pounds. While you may not think that extra 7,000 pounds can make much of a difference to a unit already weighing 210 tons, it actually does increase the tractive effort of the units, giving them better "pull", particularly when starting. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105702 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 8, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1574 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific This train was a real treat on this snowy January morning. Not only is the train a coal train (and yes, that is becoming more and more a big deal these days!), but it has an all-EMD consist! A trio of SD70ACes are in charge of the train as it approaches a clear signal at Chemical (MP 14.5). Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105701 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 8, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1597 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific This picture should cool you off if you are a bit hot! A good 3 inches of fresh snow (with more still coming down) fell in Denver overnight. This westbound coal empty is kicking up quite a bit of it as it charges west out of Leyden. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105689 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, December 31, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1321 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) American Railway Explorer, Amtrak The westbound California Zephyr heads toward the east entrance to Barbara's Gulch at track speed. A pair of old friends ride along behind the Zephyr. You may recognize the California and Kansas from the days of the Ski Train! Now, their home is in California and that is where they are returning to. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105688 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, December 31, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1413 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Blast from the past, anyone? With both the California and the Kansas bringing up the rear of a train, you'd think it might be 2009 instead of the last day of 2015. Both cars were in Denver over Christmas and were now headed back to their new home in California. Sure brought back great memories of the Ski Train though. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105687 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, December 31, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1677 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) American Railway Explorer, Amtrak Here are two cars that are by no means strangers to the Moffat! The California and Kansas, now based out of Los Angeles, came to Denver over Christmas and are now headed back to their new home. I think I could handle enjoying New Year's riding on these cars, behind the Zephyr. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105686 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, December 31, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1381 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr got delayed a little over an hour in Denver due to a mechanical issue. Apparently, one of the rungs on the ladder of the cab on the lead unit was broken and had to be repaired. While the rung was indeed fixed, there was another issue (not sure what) that ultimately caused the lead unit to be bad ordered. Amtrak used to keep a spare unit in Denver (for just such a situation), but apparently Amtrak is so short on power right now (due to multiple units out of service with mechanical issues) that they don't have one to spare! Here, the train is heading west on clear signals, west of Leyden. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105685 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, December 31, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1390 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Running a bit over an hour late, the westbound California Zephyr is making its way west of Leyden at track speed. You may notice the interesting looking horse off to the left. This horse is an art sculpture, created by a local artist that pays tribute to those that worked at Rocky Flats. The horse wears a red suit and a gas mask. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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