Photo ID: 105043 Date Shot Photo By Monday, March 2, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1387 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The weather was a bit curious on this cold March morning. 15 minutes before taking this picture, you could clearly see all the way to Eisele to the west. Then, this fog rolled in, seemingly from nowhere! An eastbound coal load with a pair of SD70ACes emerges from the fog at Chem Spur. The train is headed for Xcel Energy's Valmont Power Plant in Boulder. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105042 Date Shot Photo By Monday, March 2, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1352 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Prior to this train, I don't recall the last time I saw a pair of EMDs leading a coal train on the Moffat! After several years of SD70ACes never showing up on UP coal trains, they have started showing up a lot more in the last year or so. It was a welcome site (and sound) when these two SD70ACes appeared out of the fog here at the east end of Barbara's Gulch at the old Chem Spur switch. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105000 Date Shot Photo By Monday, February 2, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1707 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak A major snow storm hit the Illinois area the previous day, wreaking havoc on trains. Unfortunately, the Zephyr fell victim to the bad conditions and lost six hours between Chicago, IL and Omaha, NE. While not great for the passengers, it is nice for photography! When on time, both Zephyrs (eastbound and westbound) are always back lit around Denver. So it is nice to get some afternoon light here as the Zephyr heads west of Leyden on clear signals, trying to make up for some lost time. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104974 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 23, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1434 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Now this is a bit odd. Four mid-train swing helpers! While I think I may have seen this once or twice in the past, I do not specifically recall when or where. Regardless, on this particular day, an ES44AC, an AC4400CW, a C44AC-CTE, and an SD70ACe all work together to control the coal loads speed as it heads in to Leyden. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104972 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 23, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1616 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific An eastbound coal load approaches West Leyden. The coal is headed for Xcel Energy's Cherokee Power Plant in northeast Denver. That power plant receives around three coal loads per week. Including empties, that is about six trains. Once the power plant is burning all natural gas (delivered via pipeline) by the end of 2017, it'll be that many fewer trains on the Moffat each week. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104971 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 23, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1531 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific It seems strange, but this is the first coal train I've shot on the Moffat in several weeks (if not months). Whereas the Moffat used to be running near capacity due to all the coal traffic, it almost seems to be a novelty to catch a coal train anymore. Here, this eastbound is running parallel to CO-72 west of Leyden. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104969 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 23, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1918 (2 Comments Posted) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The power on this westbound manifest seems to reflect the current builder preference by railroads. GE is definitely the preferred builder over EMD and has been since the mid-to-late 1980s. The third unit is somewhat noteworthy. It is one of only C40-8Ws on UP's roster. The third unit, for that matter, is also somewhat rare. It is one of only 278 C44-9Ws that UP has. I say "rare" in the context of over 7,000 units on UP's roster as over 1,500 C44-9Ws on BNSF's roster. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104968 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 23, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1504 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A westbound manifest (with a patched Espee leader) is about to pass by "Leyden Rock", a new neighborhood under development in between Leyden and Rocky. You can see some of the moved earth and marker sticks in the foreground. A year from now and this shot will be obscured by new houses that will soon be built here. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104964 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 23, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1363 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Always nice to get a shot of a "goat boat" from time-to-time. The original Heritage scheme (seen here) is very close to the Great Northern railroad (ancestor of Burlington Northern), which had a goat in its herald, hence the "goat" part of the nickname. Second generation GE diesels (U25B, U30C, etc) were referred to as "U-boats". While a C44-9W is not necessary a "U-boat" in that sense, "boat" rhymes with "goat", so there ya go! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104963 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 23, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1415 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Over the course of the last decade, BNSF's SD75Ms and SD75Is have bounced between active service and storage. With the recent boom in oil-by-rail, they have been reactivated. I am personally grateful for this as I never complain about seeing a Warbonnet through the view finder! Note the one (out of place) door on the long hood. You may also notice that the first number on the cab seems to be covered. That is because, in order to fit the (re)activated SD75s in to the roster, they were renumber from the 8200-series to the 200-series (their original numbers when delivered to Santa Fe). Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104962 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 23, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1458 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF An eastbound BNSF manifest sports a mighty fine (and diverse) consist of power just west of Leyden. A BNSF ES44DC in the New Image scheme is on the point. A (borrowed) UP ES44AC is second out. The Warbonnet SD75M and (Original) Heritage C44-9W are looking pretty good. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104961 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 23, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1395 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Most shots between Leyden and Rocky are taken from the north side of the tracks. However, with the continuing construction of Leyden Rock (a new neighborhood in Arvada) on the south side of the tracks, it is a bit easier to find new angles from the south side. Such is the case here as a BNSF manifest makes its way east toward Leyden where it will take the siding. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104929 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, January 15, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1391 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific An eastbound oil train passes by the location of what used to be Mesa Oil. This industry was served by UP's West Local. However, it moved to Denver a few years ago and is now served by the Denver and Rock Island. Mesa Oil allegedly moved because they were unhappy with UP's service. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104914 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 7, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1405 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A recently set sun provides for a glowing backdrop as this eastbound coal load passes by a snow-covered fence and field just west of Leyden. Coal trains are slowly losing ground on the Moffat as the demand for coal decreases. On the North Fork Branch, Bowie Mine has reduced production and Somerset Mine has completely shutdown. Bowie Mine recently lost its coal contract with TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority). On the Craig Branch, the mine at Energy produces roughly one loaded train per day. Energy is the supplier of coal for the Valmont Power Plant in Boulder and the Cherokee Power Plant in northeast Denver. Both of these plants will have switched to natural gas by the end of 2017. Those changes will probably eliminate 8-10 coal trains per week (loads and empties) from the Moffat. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104855 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, October 1, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1586 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The west local head west, ducking under some low hanging clouds, as it passes the intermediate signal at Chemical. In addition to its standard compliment of covered hoppers, the train has eleven high side gondolas that will be dropped off at Rocky (in the house track) for maintenance of way. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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