Mother Nature brought winter in the correct way along the Front Range with the first measurable snowfall in months falling overnight and in to the morning. A late Zephyr approaches the Blue Mountain grade crossing on its trip west in the winter wonderland.
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A single ES44AC brings up the tail end of a westbound coal empty headed for the North Fork Branch. The train has five units on the head end, and it is likely that three of them will be set out at Glenwood Springs. Those three units will then be cut back in as mid-train swing helpers for journey east.
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Five units on the point of this coal train (including an NS leader) are about to disappear into Tunnel One as the rest of the train snakes its way through the curves at Blue Mountain and Coal Creek.
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This is officially the most-shot Norfolk Southern unit for me personally. This just happens to be the same unit that led a coal load east on the KP line the previous Monday! It made its way back to Colorado on another coal train. Here, the train is approaching the grade crossing at Blue Mountain.
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You just have to love the track configuration at Blue Mountain and Coal Creek. The trains weave back and forth at the base of the canyon, while also making significant changes in elevation. Here, the crew of this eastbound can quite easily look out the window and check out their rear DPU as it descends from Tunnel One.
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The lighting was just perfect for this eastbound BNSF manifest as it rolls through the S-Curves at Blue Mountain. The train me an (on time) Zephyr at Crescent, and will also meet a westbound UP manifest at Rocky. The UP manifest is already there, holding the siding.
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A third CSX unit could be found on this eastbound coal load on the Moffat. The first two units were CSX, and the trailing DPU is also CSX. The train came west with just the three CSX units for power. Now, they were split and setup for front and end power. A trio of UP units were picked up in Glenwood Springs and cut in mid-train. Those units will be setout in Denver, and the train will continue east with only the CSX units, setup 2x1.
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A pair of CSX units lead an eastbound coal train past the detector at MP 22.6. The last of three mid-train DPUs is visible in the distance, descending the grade toward the base of Coal Creek Canyon.
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This westbound coal empty has power that spans decades as an SD40-2 leads and a pair of ES44AHs trail. It is incredible enough to see a solid set of CSX units on the Moffat, but it's even more incredible to catch an SD40-2 leading!
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Most eastbound coal trains include three mid-train swing helpers. It was rather interesting that this particular train only had a pair of mid-train swing helpers. The train did appear to be a bit shorter than the average coal load, so perhaps the extra horsepower just wasn't needed. The train is crossing the road at the Blue Mountain road crossing.
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On a chilly, soggy morning, an eastbound coal load makes its way through the S-Curve at Coal Creek Canyon and the Blue Mountain road crossing. This train loaded at the Energy Mine on the Craig Branch. If you look closely, you can see the tail end of the train just beneath the low-hanging clouds in the top-right portion of the picture.
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This is a great perspective to see this train as it winds its way through the S-Curves at the base of Coal Creek Canyon. The head end is approaching the grade crossing at Blue Mountain.
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An ES44AC and an C44AC-CTE lead an eastbound coal load through the S-Curves at the base of coal creek canyon and toward the detector at MP 22.6.
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UP's has maintenance ongoing on the Moffat until 12:30-1:00pm at the moment. That has meant that, once that time hits, there tends to be a flood of westbound released out of Denver. BNSF's Denver to Provo manifest is approaching the grade crossing at Blue Mountain.
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I actually took this specific photo as a public service. Some people in the neighborhood in which I live were wondering what to do in the event that crossing gates are ever stuck down. So, I figured I'd get a shot of the signal control box with the Railroad/DOT sign for reference.
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