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Photo ID: 108285
Date Shot
Photo By
Saturday, July 4, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2)
Arvada, CO
849
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific
This is one of the longest trains you're likely to see on the Moffat. The MGJNY has 134 cars and is 9,188 feet long. It is long enough that the head of the train has knocked down the signal at west Rocky while the tail end of the train has not yet left the block at Eisele (Clay)!
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Photo ID: 108284
Date Shot
Photo By
Saturday, July 4, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2)
Arvada, CO
893
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific
A monster MGJNY wraps around Big Ten Loop on the approach to Rocky. A ton of center beams were pulled out of storage and are being moved back to Denver. The empty center beams are clearly visible coming through Eisele (Clay) and heading toward Big Ten. All of the center beams were on the rear of the train.
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Photo ID: 108283
Date Shot
Photo By
Saturday, July 4, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2)
Arvada, CO
818
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific
The MGJNY makes a very early morning descent around Big Ten. The train was traditionally being called at 10pm in Grand Junction. However, UP has changed that and now the train is called as soon as the MNYGJ arrives. This means its arrival in Denver will likely be early morning or even pre-sunrise.
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Photo ID: 108281
Date Shot
Photo By
Wednesday, July 1, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2)
Arvada, CO
863
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific
A single mid-train swing helper is on the straight stretch west of Big Ten as a single DPU on the rear end climbs up toward the wind break coming around Big Ten.
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Photo ID: 108280
Date Shot
Photo By
Wednesday, July 1, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2)
Arvada, CO
887
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific
When your train is over 7,000 feet long, the crew on the head end can very easily check out the back half of the train, as well as the rear DPU, as the train winds its way around and through Big Ten Curve. The rear of the train is about a thousand feet out of Rocky as the head end comes around the curve toward a clear signal at East Eisele (Clay).
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Photo ID: 108279
Date Shot
Photo By
Wednesday, July 1, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2)
Arvada, CO
891
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific
This is what a 7,000 foot long train looks like when it is wrapped around Little Ten Curve at the west end of Rocky as well as the start of Big Ten Curve between Rocky and Eisele (Clay).
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Photo ID: 108259
Date Shot
Photo By
Monday, June 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2)
Arvada, CO
831
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific
The eastbound MGJNY is descending down from Big Ten, approaching a clear signal at the west switch of Rocky. this particular train has three units on the point and a single DPU set up on the rear.
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Photo ID: 108258
Date Shot
Photo By
Monday, June 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2)
Arvada, CO
1129
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific
A look directly down on the 10° curve which is where Big Ten Loop (or Big Ten Curve) gets its name from! UP's MGJNY is rounding the curve on the outside. You can clearly see the open hoppers filled with dirt on the inside of the curve, serving as a wind break for close to 50 years now.
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Photo ID: 108257
Date Shot
Photo By
Monday, June 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2)
Arvada, CO
962
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific
A majority of UP's 900 or so ES44ACs and ES44AHs are in the 7000-8000 number range. However, 80 of them wound up in the 2500 and 2700 series. These 80 units are all known as Tier 4 "Credit" units. They were ordered after Tier 4 emissions standards were in place, even though they are Tier 3 units, by using "credits" UP had accrued. UP 2747 is one such unit, delivered in late 2016. Here, it is leading the MGJNY around Big Ten Curve on a largely cloudy morning.
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Photo ID: 108256
Date Shot
Photo By
Monday, June 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2)
Arvada, CO
1109
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific
A UP eastbound manifest peeks in to view around Big Ten Curve. A lot of graffiti has been applied to the open wind break hoppers in the last decade or so. They were repainted the tan-ish color you see in the 1990s. In the 25 years since (give or take), the blank cars became tempting targets for taggers.
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Photo ID: 108222
Date Shot
Photo By
Tuesday, June 23, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2)
Arvada, CO
857
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF
A quartet of GEs (including an ES44DC, an ET44C4, an AC4400CW, and another ES44DC) lead up the westbound Denver-Provo up and around Big Ten Curve. You can clearly see the back end of the train, still being pulled up from Rocky, on the north side of Big Ten. These four units had a short stay in Denver as they actually led the Provo-Denver east in to town yesterday morning. Now, they had back to Utah.
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Photo ID: 108216
Date Shot
Photo By
Monday, June 22, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2)
Arvada, CO
856
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific
As the head end of this coal empty comes through the final curve of Big Ten Loop, the tail end of the train still making its way up from the west switch at Rocky above and right-of-center in the frame, offering a great example of all the twists and turns and bends that make up this incredible feat of engineering to gain altitude while tempering the grade of the tracks.
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Photo ID: 108215
Date Shot
Photo By
Monday, June 22, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2)
Arvada, CO
942
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern
A coal empty passes by the open hoppers that wrap around the inside curve of Big Ten. Those hoppers have been sitting there alongside the main for nearly 50 years, serving as a wind break. This morning, An SD70ACe and an NS AC4400CW lead four other UP GEs west around the curve.
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Photo ID: 108214
Date Shot
Photo By
Monday, June 22, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2)
Arvada, CO
978
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific
An SD70ACe leads five GEs (including a Norfolk Southern unit) on the climb up Big Ten Curve from Rocky. This coal empty is the first in over a week to run west from Denver. The train has 105 cars headed for the West Elk Mine on the North Fork Branch south of Grand Junction.
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Photo ID: 108180
Date Shot
Photo By
Thursday, June 11, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2)
Arvada, CO
909
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific
This vantage point offers a great view of Big Ten Curve, which the head end of the train is currently coming around, and Little Ten Curve in the distance. The only manifest that UP still runs on the Moffat, the MGJNY, is nearing the end of its journey as it comes through the loops. It should be noted that the trains counterpart, the MNYGJ (westbound) still runs on the Moffat as well.
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