The relative high speeds of the rails on the plains are behind now for this westbound oil train, making its way through the narrowest part of Barbara's Gulch. Note the speed sign on the right side of the rails, indicate the max speed for eastbounds once the entire train has passed beyond the sign. Why the two numbers? The top number (60 MPH) is the max speed for passenger trains. The bottom number (30 MPH) is the max speed for everything else.
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Working its way west through Barbara's Gulch, three elephant-style units are on the point of a UP oil empty. The number of oil trains seems to have increased on the Moffat somewhat in the last year or so.
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At the west end of Barbara's Gulch, a pair of Phase 5 P42DCs lead a nearly five hour late Zephyr west toward a clear (green) signal at east Rocky. The train was 2 hours late departing Chicago due to equipment issues, and then lost 3 more hours due to extreme weather in Iowa. Today, it is nearly 95°F (35°C) here at 2:15pm.
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On an extraordinarily hazy day July day, an eastbound BNSF Provo-Denver makes its way through Barbara's Gulch, four units on the head end and two DPUs bringing up the back. The train had been tied down in the siding at Rocky since the pre-dawn hours, but a relief crew finally came and got it. The haze, incidentally, is primarily due to summer forest fires to the northwest.
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Barbara's Gulch is located between Leyden and Rocky (closer to Rocky), and much of the gulch is pretty wide open. However, the gulch narrows considerably at its west end, as the tracks pass through a wall of bushes and trees on either side of the tracks. Here, a westbound UP oil train is that narrow portion of the gulch, just a few seconds away from the east end of Rocky.
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UP 6207 leads two other GEs on a westbound oil empty through the narrow portion of Barbara's Gulch at the west end. UP 6207 originally started life as SP 183, delivered to Espee in May 1995. As you can see, eastbound passenger trains can increase to 60 MPH just ahead, whereas eastbound freight trains are still limited to 30 MPH.
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It is only 10:30 in the morning, yet the sun is already high in the sky as this westbound UP oil empty snakes its way through Barbara's Gulch between Leyden and Rocky. The large lake in the background is Standley Lake.
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Under gloomy, overcast morning skies, a westbound oil train (empty) rolls through Barbara's Gulch, coming up to the narrowest part just east of Rocky.
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A westbound UP oil empty, with 88 tank cars in tow, heads west through Barbara's Gulch. Of the three units on the head end, only the lead unit is actually online and pulling.
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BNSF 5886 leads the Denver-Provo out the west end of Barbara's Gulch, underneath the CO-93 overpass. The train is running not far ahead of the morning Zephyr. The manifest will actually be taking the siding at Rocky to allow the Zephyr to run around.
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An eastbound UP oil train has some shared BNSF power as the train navigates its way through Barbara's Gulch.
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A westbound unit oil train passes underneath CO-93, approaching the west end of Barbara's Gulch and the east end of Rocky. The train has an Advanced Approach (flashing yellow) at the east end of Rocky as it will be going in to the siding at Eisele (Clay) to meet an eastbound.
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After meeting a loaded oil train about ten miles to the east at Arvada, this westbound empty oil train is making its way through Barbara's Gulch. The train came to town with a pair of BNSF units on the point. The UP unit was added in Denver before it departed west.
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The rails just barely show through the foot of fresh snow that has blanketed the terrain. The snow came it fast and furious yesterday, dropping that foot of snow in roughly 9 hours.
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An ET44AC leads two ES44ACs and a GP60 on the eastbound MGJNY. This manifest very often has a unique makeup in terms of the cars you'll find on the train. Case-in-point, there are 54 hoppers loaded with coal on at the front of the manifest this morning.
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