UP has been running far more trains on the Moffat lately than in many years. This westbound oil empty is an example of the most common type of train UP runs these days. There are, on average, at least 1-2 oil trains on the Moffat each 24 hours these days.
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Took this particular shot in order to highlight UP 2311. This SD60M was built by EMD and delivered to UP in May 1989 as UP 6156. It has three window panes on the front of the cab, which earned such units the nickname "Tri-clops". The unit is not powered on this train, and it is in fact headed for long term storage in Grand Junction.
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Even though all seven units on the point of this westbound oil train are UP, it is still something of rainbow of schemes as the schemes cover a myriad of eras as well as varying degrees of upkeep. The fourth unit is an SD70ACe sporting the newest scheme, while sixth is an SD60M wearing a pre-SP merger paint scheme.
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This interesting looking UP manifest has a single AC4400CW on the point (and one more as a DPU on the tail end). The train is only 36 cars, most of which are empty, low-side gondolas.
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After meeting BNSF's Provo-Denver, whose DPUs are still visible in the distance, this westbound UP manifest is climbing out of Rocky and up and around Big Ten Curve.
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Three units lead BNSF's Provo-Denver east down Big Ten Curve toward the west end of Rocky. There, it will enter the siding as a westbound UP manifest is holding the main.
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I sure wish this last DPU, BNSF 5827, was facing away from the train so the its nose could have lined up with the nose of BNSF 8044 on the head end of the train! The train is wrapping around Big Ten Curve, heading for Rocky and points further east.
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The amazing architecture of Big Ten Loop allows for the crew on the head end of trains to get a good look at the tail end of their trains. Case-in-point is this shot of an eastbound BNSF manifest making its way east around Big Ten. The head end in the distance is descending toward Rocky as the last DPU in the foreground just departed east Eisele (Clay).
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Six GEs lead a westbound UP oil train out of Rocky and on the climb up Big Ten Curve on a clear, temperate November morning. There doesn't seem to be much consistency in the power configuration of oil trains.
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The westbound Zephyr passes by the wind break, wrapping around Big Ten Curve on its morning journey west out of Denver. BNSF's Provo-Denver, which it met at Rocky, is still in the siding in the background, waiting on another westbound.
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An inch or two of snow fell throughout the day yesterday. This morning, the westbound Zephyr passes through the semi snow covered scene, climbing up the east side of Big Ten Loop.
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It is something of a wild sight to see when the power and baggage car on the Zephyr are roughly the same length as the rest of the train! Four P42DCs lead a baggage car and six Superliners (two sleepers, a diner, a lounge car, and two coaches) up the grade toward Big Ten Curve. The second two P42DCs are not online. They were picked up in Denver and are catching a ride to Oakland.
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West of Rocky, the morning Zephyr is right on time as it climbs its way up toward Big Ten Loop. The train has shifted from seven Superliners (the post-COVID summer standard) to six Superliners (the post-COVID winter standard).
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This westbound BNSF (loaded) coal train, headed for Valmy, NV, has been stuck in this spot for nearly two hours. When the train was climbing out of Rocky, it went in to emergency. After a second attempt, it happened again when the train started to load. BNSF mechanical has been called out to check out the train and attempt to find the cause.
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On the climb to Big Ten, the Zephyr, with a standard winter consist, is on the move. After running around a train at Leyden and a train at Rocky, the Zephyr has clear (green) signals up the hill to and beyond the Moffat Tunnel.
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