It is pretty rare to catch BNSF SD70MACs on trains other than coal trains these days. Heck, even catching one on a coal train is becoming less and less common. So, it was pretty great catching this SD70MACe (rebuilt by BNSF) on the point of this Provo-Denver manifest, rolling east toward a green signal at the east end of Eisele (Clay).
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UP's MGJNY is stopped on the main at Eisele (Clay) as an eastbound BNSF Provo-Denver runs through the siding at overtakes the UP manifest. Both of the crews on these trains are short on time, but BNSF is running on less time than UP, so DS-380 gave them the priority to allow them to continue into town first.
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An SD70ACe-T4 and a pair of (recently rebuilt) C44ACMs head west through the siding at Eisele (Clay). They are meeting an eastbound coal empty, holding the main. An afternoon storm is slowly starting to move in.
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It seems that I have seen quite a few SD70ACe-T4s in the Denver area lately. It is kind of cool to see these Tier-4 units out and running, considering how few of them their actually are.
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This SD70ACe-T4 was in the yard at Helper, UT about two weeks earlier. It must have been added to an eastbound oil train at Wash...perhaps even this exact train, and ran east for unloading. In any case, it is now headed west on the siding at Eisele (Clay).
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UP's thrice-weekly Grand Junction to Denver manifest rolls east on the main at Eisele (Clay). Three units are on the point, with a single DPU bringing up the rear. The train is comprised of the two most common cars found on the MGJNY, some loaded coal hoppers, and some covered hoppers.
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It has been rumored that the Zephyr will have an additional sleeper and an additional coach added to it sometime this spring. That hasn't started quite yet, as the Zephyr is still running with only seven Superliners.
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The westbound Zephyr is slowly making its way west at restricted speed on the main at Eisele (Clay), after getting flagged by a red signal at the east end.
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I thought this was a cool shot of the head end of a westbound UP oil empty in the siding at Eisele (Clay), while a loaded UP oil train continues east on the main at Rocky. A pair of DPUs are bringing up the tail end of that eastbound oil train. The westbound in the foreground is waiting on the final run of the Winter Park Express for the season.
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This westbound oil train has to wait in the siding at Eisele (Clay) for one more eastbound before it is its turn to continue. While waiting, we see an eastbound loaded oil train descending Big Ten Curve in the distance.
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Winter is making a push here during the first week of Spring. Fortunately, generally warmer weather is preventing much snow from accumulating along the main here between switches at Eisele (Clay) as a westbound oil train makes its way west. One of the two nose headlights is seemingly burned out on UP 7244.
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Four units, including a Canadian Pacific ES44AC, are on the head end of this eastbound Provo-Denver manifest. From this limited view, it would be easy to confuse this with a unit tank (oil) train. One good tipoff that this is not a unit oil train is the lack of a buffer car behind the power.
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The BNSF train to the left and the UP train to the right are both currently facing south (geographically). However, the BNSF train at Eisele (Clay) is eastbound and the UP train at Rocky is westbound. The UP train will climb up and around Big Ten, taking the siding at Eisele to meet the oil load.
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Between late 2018 and early 2019, Kansas City Southern decided to dip a toe into the Tier-4 locomotive lineup, purchasing 25 GE ET44ACs. One example, KCS 5010, just happened to be the second unit on an eastbound BNSF oil train here at Eisele.
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With MRL units now owned by BNSF and, consequently, in the general power pool, they are rolling through the Denver more often. This makes me happy as it is allowing me to get more pictures of them before they are inevitably repainted BNSF orange at some point. This shot makes the 12th MRL SD70ACe I've been able to shoot. It is the third unit on the head end of an eastbound oil train on the main at Eisele (Clay).
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