Photo ID: 106423 Date Shot Photo By Friday, February 10, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1151 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF A loaded BNSF sand train crawls its way out of Rocky and up Big Ten Loop on its trip west. This sand train is one of two relatively new trains BNSF has been running on the Moffat. The other is a copper train. Lighting on this Friday afternoon was wreaking havoc on the exposure! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106315 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, January 8, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1443 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Winter Park Express climbs the hill out of Rocky toward Big Ten Curve. A pair of P42DCs lead the train on the west end, while a single F40PH brings up the rear. That F40PH will be used to operate the train back east as the train is unable to be turned. The wye in Tabernash is out of service. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106226 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 28, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1367 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A long lens shot from CO-72 finds the circus train rounding Big Ten Curve as it descends toward Rocky. A lot of foliage has grown around (and in) the hoppers that sit on the inside of the curve up on Big Ten. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106204 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 23, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1348 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF A pair of DPUs bring up the tail end of the Denver-Provo manifest as it wraps its way around Big Ten Loop. As you can tell from the exhaust they are pumping out, they are working quite hard to keep the train moving west! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105996 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, May 26, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1356 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific It is a very stormy and chilly May afternoon as UP's Engineering Special runs through the final loop at the bottom of Big Ten Curve on the approach to Rocky. Severe thunderstorms passed through the Denver area today and, at present, the temperature is only 43°F (6°C)! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105995 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, May 26, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1932 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific UP's Engineering Special winds around Big Ten Curve as it descends down toward Rocky. The eastern slope of the Moffat has recently been (re)ballasted...no doubt one of the things the VP of Engineering is checking out along the trip. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105938 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 1, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1670 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak This picture offers up an interesting transition between Winter and Spring! The Zephyr, running early, descending down Big Ten Loop amidst the remaining snow from a blizzard the day before. Highway 93 seems to be the divider between the two seasons as most of the snow to the east has already melted. The Denver skyline is just visible near the upper-right corner of the frame. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105937 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 1, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1505 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Spring tries to fight through the snow to the east as an on-time Zephyr descends down from Big Ten Curve on the approach to the west switch of Rocky. Amazingly, trains going through Big Ten wind up facing every direction on the compass as they make their way through the loop. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105908 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 12, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1390 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Electro-Motive Division, Union Pacific Two SD70ACe-T4s, an EMD test car, and a trio of UP units round Big Ten Loop on the descent toward Rocky. Rumor has it that, after a month or so of tests, the SD70ACe-T4 will return to the Moffat to run in revenue service! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105875 Date Shot Photo By Monday, March 7, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1304 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific, Electro-Motive Division A winter storm blasts through the Front Range, with moisture falling in various spots, as the EMD SD70ACe-T4 special climbs up Big Ten Curve. If you look to the right, you can see the Denver skyline off in the distance, not currently obscured by clouds. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105419 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 9, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1667 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak After making its way around Big Ten Curve, the eastbound California Zephyr is descending toward the west switch of Rocky on a clear signal. In the distance (to the right), the Denver skyline stands illuminated by the evening sun. As you can see, not all of Denver is receiving the same (direct) light thanks to scattered afternoon rain clouds. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105023 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, February 25, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 2050 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The construction of the tracks between Rocky and Eisele (formerly Clay) is a truly remarkable feat of engineering. When the David Moffat started building the Denver, Northwestern and Pacific west out of Denver in 1902, there were some major obstacles. Between the west end of Barbara's Gulch and East Plain, the tracks needed to gain about 600 feet in elevation. As the crow flies, the distance was only 2.85 miles. That would equate to roughly a 4% grade. H.A. Sumner (the Chief Engineer on the project) did not want a grade steeper that 2%. The result was a creative route that includes a lot of curves (such as Big Ten Curve, seen here). The 2.85 miles was stretched out to almost 7 miles, and the grade stayed at or under 2%. The MNYRO is just pulling up to Big Ten Curve from Rocky, heading southeast (geographically), but slowly running around a curve that will result in the train heading west by the end of the curve. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105017 Date Shot Photo By Friday, February 13, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1468 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak A very short eastbound California Zephyr makes its away around and down Big Ten Curve on the approach to a clear signal at the west end of Rocky. The Zephyr is running with only six Superliners this winter, reportedly so Amtrak can refurbish and repair the fleet. Also of note is that the Zephyr is running without a baggage car. Apparently, the baggage space in the Superliners is currently sufficient. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104924 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, January 15, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1382 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific An unit oil train makes its way around Big Ten Curve as it continues its journey east. As the demand for coal has been decreasing, the demand for oil has been increasing! A new oil load out has been built at Wash (just outside Wellington, UT). Currently, the load out is producing about a train a week. Rumor has it the goal is get production up to a train a day. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104923 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, January 15, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1816 (2 Comments Posted) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific With sunset not far off, an eastbound unit oil train rounds Big Ten Curve. The hoppers you see have been sitting there for over 40 years! They are filled with dirt and are welded to the rails. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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