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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UP's MGJNY, the only regularly scheduled manifest (along with its counterpart, the MNYGJ) that UP still runs on the Moffat, descends around and down Big Ten Curve toward a clear (green) signal at West Rocky.
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In fantastic morning light on a beautiful September morning, the previous day's eastbound California Zephyr, running almost 16 hours late, passes by the hoppers on the inside of Big Ten Curve, making its way east toward Denver.
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Two Patrick Henry private cars, the Evelyn A. Henry and the Warren R. Henry bring up the tail end of the Zephyr around Big Ten Curve. These two private cars have actually been sitting at Denver Union Station for over a week. Today, apparently, it is time for them to hit the road again.
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AMTK 158 and AMTK 146 lead the westbound Zephyr, elephant-style, up around Big Ten Curve, passing by the open hoppers that have now sat still and silent for over 50 years, serving their job as a wind break.
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A top-down look in to one of the open hoppers that serves as a wind break on the inside of Big Ten Curve. As a result of being filled with concrete and dirt, grass and weeds now grow out of the dirt as the hopper serves as a something of a large planter! Meanwhile, on the main, a manifest rolls by heading toward Denver.
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A look into the hoppers that serve as a wind break on the inside of Big Ten Curve (covered in graffiti) as an eastbound manifest with a few dozen car loads of coal pass by on the main.
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An ES44AC and an AC4400CW lead UP's MGJNY (Manifest, Grand Junction, CO to Denver, CO) out of Eisele (Clay) and around Big Ten. Interestingly, this particular MGJNY is comprised entirely of loaded coal hoppers and covered hoppers! Not sure if the covered hoppers are loaded or empty (or vary).
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A rare morning thunderstorm, currently over the City of Boulder, creates some amazing contrast in the sky as partly cloudy skies dominate to the east over the plains. Under the unusual skies, we find the westbound Zephyr making its way west along the south leg of Big Ten Curve, just east of Eisele (Clay).
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A somewhat rare morning thunderstorm heads northeast, currently pouring rain on the city of Boulder as the westbound Zephyr wraps around the east side of Big Ten Curve.
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The westbound Zephyr is climbing up through the S-Curve between the west switch of Rocky and the open hoppers that serve as a wind break on Big Ten Curve.
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A bit of sunshine breaks through the mostly cloudy skies to the west as the eastbound Zephyr approaches a clear (green) signal at the west end of Rocky. The dome car, now the Charter Club, was originally UP 7003. The open ended car bringing up the rear is the St James Place.
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