BNSF's Spring Creek Mine, MT to Valmy, NV coal load is starting the real climb up the Moffat as it heads west through Barbara's Gulch.
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The eastbound BNSF Provo-Denver has several chunks of well-blocked railcars as it rolls east through Barbara's Gulch.
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BNSF's Provo-Denver manifest, with a very common 3x2 consist, heads east through Barbara's Gulch in great afternoon sunlight. In the background is the entrance to Coal Creek Canyon, with Tunnel 1 on the right side.
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Just east of Rocky, UP's Moffat Tunnel Sub enters in to the very narrow passage of Barbara's Gulch and passes underneath CO-93. The gulch is lined with some deciduous trees, making for a rather interesting geological feature.
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Running a little over two hours late, the Zephyr heads west through Barbara's Gulch, approaching the CO-93 underpass.
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All switching complete, the crew of the West Local take a pair of GP40-2s light underneath the CO-93 overpass and back east on the mainline through Barbara's Gulch, back toward North Yard in Denver.
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The westbound Zephyr, running about two hours late as it passes through Barbara's Gulch just east of Rocky. Interestingly, the foliage on the south side has sprouted leaves while the north side is still barren.
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A P42DC and a P40DC lead a 90-minute late Zephyr west through the lush narrows of Barbara's Gulch just east of Rocky. Amtrak has now taken delivery on 15 ALC-42s from Siemens, the first of 110 such units. Over the next few years, the ALCs will replace the P42s and P40s on long distance trains, so shots of P42s and P40s on the Zephyr will become increasing rare.
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BNSF's daily westbound manifest out of Denver, destined for Pueblo, slowly makes its way through the narrowest part of Barbara's Gulch, just east of Rocky. The train is slowing as it had an Approach (yellow) signal at the last intermediate. However, upon getting around the bend, they will find a Clear (green) signal waiting for them.
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Running on some Approach (yellow) signals, BNSF 4245 and two fellow BNSF GEs keep pulling the Denver-Provo west through Barbara's Gulch. The signal at east Rocky is currently red as the dispatcher is working to clear up some maintenance.
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After meeting the Zephyr at Rocky, BNSF's Provo-Denver is leaving the siding and is rolling east through the west end of Barbara's Gulch. If you look closely, you might be able to see the Zephyr way back in the distance at Eisle (Clay). It is a small silver streak just to the right of Big Ten Loop.
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Just east of Rocky, in Barbara's Gulch, the first westbound Zephyr to leave Denver on a Wednesday morning in almost eight months approaches a Clear (green) signal at the east end of Rocky. A lone car crosses over the tracks on CO-93, likely oblivious to the train passing underneath it.
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At the east end of Barbara's Gulch, BNSF's Provo-Denver slowly makes its way east over the final few miles in to Denver. As is usually the case, the Provo-Denver appears to be well-blocked. It also looks like spring might finally be breaking through along the front range!
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The West Local runs on Wednesdays, but not every Wednesday. Lately, it only seems to run once every 2-4 weeks. When it does run, it rarely has more than three covered hoppers with it. Here, the local has a pair of GP40-2s and is headed east through Barbara's Gulch back toward North Yard.
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With its switching complete, a short, three-car West Local glides east out of Rocky and in to the west end of Barbara's Gulch. The train will have a straight shot back to North Yard. Other than the local, there were only three other trains that ran on the Moffat.
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