Photo ID: 113594 Date Shot Photo By Monday, March 23, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 46 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) CSX, Union Pacific This is the longest train I've ever personally seen on the Moffat. The train is effectively two coal empties stuck together into one. Behind the three lead units (including a pair of CSX ES44AHs) is 105 cars. Then, there are three mid-train DPUs (hidden behind the hill at Big Ten). Behind those three mid-train DPUs is another 104 cars. The train is 11,500 feet long. When the head end reaches East Plain, the tail end will just be passing West Eisele (Clay)! At that length, there are only two sidings between Denver and Grand Junction in which the train could fit between switches: Allen in Glenwood Canyon (at 14,250 feet), and Palisade just east of Grand Junction (at 12,200 feet). Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113580 Date Shot Photo By Friday, March 20, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 49 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Despite the extreme dry weather, it does appear that the foliage is starting to green up a little bit here around Eisele (Clay). AMTK 176 and AMTK 203 lead the westbound Zephyr on the main track here near the east end of the siding. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113432 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, December 4, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 135 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak For the past two weeks or so, one of the Zephyr trainsets has been running with a pair of Phase 7 P42DCs. The train is headed west on the main, passing two UP maintenance vehicles. The second truck will be used to haul 250 ties from Eisele (Clay) up to Tunnel 14 today. Only 40 ties can be taken per trip, so about seven trips will be required! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113431 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, December 4, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 140 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak A significant herd of deer are grazing for food in the snow as the morning Zephyr rolls west on the main at Eisele. In winter months, when it is colder out, deer and elk are more likely to be spotted at lower (warmer) elevations. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113297 Date Shot Photo By Monday, November 10, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 138 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr rolls through the siding at Eisele (Clay). An eastbound BNSF oil train was originally going to be waiting for the Zephyr on the main. However, the oil train ended up holding the main at Plain to wait on the Zephyr there. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113280 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, October 28, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 127 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific This westbound UP oil train is slowing to a stop on the main at the west end of Eisele. There is a PTC problem at the west switch this morning, and DS-378 cannot set up a signal for the train. The conductor will have to put the switch in hand throw and the train will flag by the signal. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113279 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, October 28, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 188 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific There had been a bit of a drop off in UP oil trains on the Moffat in the past few months. Rumor had it that UP had redirected them to run over the Overland and then over Soldier Summit. However, recently there seems to be a new increase on the Moffat, hopefully marking a return of UP oil trains in Colorado. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113272 Date Shot Photo By Monday, October 27, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 151 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The conductor from UP's MGJNY has climbed down and is waiting on the ground to offer up a roll by for the westbound Zephyr, kicking up a little exhaust as it throttle up on the trip west at Eisele (Clay). Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113267 Date Shot Photo By Monday, October 27, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 140 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Union Pacific's thrice-weekly Grand Junction to Denver manifest is taking the siding at Eisele (Clay) to wait on a total of three westbounds. The morning Zephyr, a BNSF Denver-Provo, and a UP work train are all on their way west. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113234 Date Shot Photo By Friday, October 17, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 123 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak As the Zephyr heads west on the main at Eisele (Clay), note the multiple piles of ties laying along the right-of-way. UP is in the midst of a major maintenance project on the Moffat, which includes replacing a lot of ties. These are all new ties, waiting for their turn to to be installed beneath the rails in the coming weeks and months. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113182 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, September 27, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 205 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific An 84-car extra rolls west on the main at Eisele (Clay). Of the 84 cars on the train, 81 of them are loaded! If you look closely, you might notice a pair of mid-train swing helpers right at the east switch of the siding right now. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113034 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, September 11, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 462 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Throughout the summer, the Zephyr has been running with nine Superliners: a transition sleeper, three standard sleepers, a diner, a lounge car, and three coaches. However, there are only seven Superliners this morning. A sleeper and a coach have been dropped from the consist. This may signal that the summer rush is over and bookings are down. Here, the Zephyr is headed west on the main at Eisele, running right on time. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112961 Date Shot Photo By Friday, August 29, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 534 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF BNSF 5699 has a bit of toaster syndrome on the long hood! At some point, excess heat likely burned off the paint. On this day, the Heritage 2 unit is leading BNSF's Provo-Denver on the main at Eisele. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112945 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, August 27, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 574 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific This UP engineering special has come to a stop on the main at Eisele (Clay). The signal at the west end is showing a red. Interestingly, DS-378 showed the signal as being aligned westbound, and was a bit surprised to hear it was red from UP 4533. DS-378 would then proceed to flag the train by the red signal to continue west. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112944 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, August 27, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 584 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A westbound UP engineering special rolls by a UP track maintainer at Eisele (Clay). The maintainer has his hyrail pickup in the siding, while he is out on foot to give a roll by to the special. The maintainer will follow the special out of Eisele to check on any potential defects the engineering special might find. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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