A power car and nine of UP's passenger cars heads west through Barbara's Gulch. The train is missing several of UP's passenger cars. Not sure why this train is headed west. It is supposedly a deadhead move, and it is headed to Grand Junction this afternoon.
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A UP passenger train, which came south on the Greeley Sub yesterday, is now headed west in Barbara's Gulch, just beyond the intermediate signal that is just east of Rocky.
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The morning Zephyr is running right on time today, as it rolls west through Barbara's Gulch. An eastbound oil train awaits the Zephyr in the siding at Rocky. Fortunately, DS-378 set up a good meet, and the oil train is already clear of the west switch, so the Zephyr will not be delayed.
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One final look at the eastbound Amtrak special as it makes its way through Barbara's Gulch eastbound. Was pretty cool to see the Amtrak Cascades trainset here in Colorado. The trainset is headed to Pueblo for testing at the TTC. After testing is complete, when the trainset is ready to head to the Pacific Northwest, it might just head back west on the Moffat...
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The westbound Zephyr that departed Chicago on June 23rd had a late start. Unfortunately, it lost more time on its journey west toward Denver, and departed Denver a little over three hours late. Here, that train is coming up to an approach (yellow) signal at the east switch of Rocky. It will be meeting a BNSF Provo-Denver which is already in the block at the west end.
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A westbound BNSF oil empty has a very unique look to it, with a BN caboose on the tail end of the train! The caboose is now referred to as a shoving platform as the doors and windows are boarded up. The train is entering the siding at Rocky and will meet UP's MGJNY, holding the main at Eisele (Clay) in the distance.
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Two NS units and a BNSF unit bring up the tail end of this eastbound unit oil train. The units are just passing by the old Chem Spur switch. Grass has reclaimed much of the short branch line. As always, the metal structure that was one part of a mining operation, stands tall along the tracks. The first body of water in the distance is Welton Reservoir. The second is Standley Lake. Both are sources of drinking water.
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NS 1221, NS 4753, and BNSF 9725 lead this eastbound loaded oil train through Barbara's Gulch. The campers in the background are now part of long term storage facility. BNSF 9725 is also a bit rare, one of only a handful of SD70MACes (rebuilt from SD70MACs).
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Since the start of the "PTC era" a few years ago, power shared units stopped leading on the Moffat. Leaders were pretty exclusively UP or BNSF (for those respective railroads). However, with PTC matured a bit now, and with PTC following a universal standard for all US railroads, an NS SD70ACe leads this eastbound BNSF manifest through Barbara's Gulch.
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While this BNSF oil train progresses east through Barbara's Gulch, we can see the sea of relatively new houses built in Candelas over the last decade as part of Arvada's most recent expansion.
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Two Norfolk Southern units and a BNSF SD70MAC lead this loaded oil train east through Barbara's Gulch. In the distance, you can see the intersection of Highway 93/72, and even west all the way to the case of Coal Creek Canyon.
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The morning Zephyr slows as it heads west through Barbara's Gulch. The train will enter the siding at Rocky ahead as the main at Rocky is currently out of service.
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I really like the contrasting foliage all visible right here in a single scene. As a loaded BNSF coal train heads west through Barbara's Gulch, the foliage in the gulch is covered in snow. Meanwhile, warming temperatures has melted most of the snow outside of the gulch.
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An SD70ACe leads five GEs on the point of the Grand Junction to North Yard manifest. The head end is passing by Chem Spur, which hasn't been used in over a decade. Indeed, UP removed the frog for the turnout almost a decade ago. It's a little surprising they haven't removed the entire turnout.
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Six UP units lead the thrice-weekly MGJNY. The train is about 4,200 feet in length, with quite a few coal loads mixed into the train. Astute observers will note five covered hoppers in the distance, on the plateau above Barbara's Gulch. These cars are sitting on the Rocky Flats Industrial Lead near both CO-93 and CO-72.
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