Photo ID: 105654 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 27, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 1718 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific An eastbound UP manifest meets a westbound BNSF manifest at Plain. Sadly, coal traffic on the Moffat has decreased by 80% (yeah, that is not a typo!) since 2005. That translates to an average of only 2 coal trains (one load, one empty) on the Moffat each day now. Ten years ago, there were roughly 14 coal trains each day! At this point, the future of the Moffat is not exactly shining bright... Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105653 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 27, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 1434 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Being rather heavy, this westbound BNSF manifest merits two DPUs on the tail end. The train has come to a stop on the siding at Plain, waiting for an eastbound. Another 25 feet and the train could have cleared the grade crossing! A car might be able to sneak around the last unit, but that would be an extremely dangerous move! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105652 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 27, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 1424 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF A westbound BNSF manifest, with a trio of elephant-style C44-9Ws (all in Heritage 2 paint) head west on the siding at Plain. An eastbound UP manifest is out of Crescent and will meet the train soon. BNSF has recently changed its crew structure on the Moffat. Until recently, a Denver-based crew would take a train from Denver to Kremmling. Then, a Grand Junction-based crew would take the train from Kremmling to Grand Junction. BNSF has eliminated the crew change point at Kremmling and now Grand Junction-based crews are used on all the BNSF trains on the Moffat. The crew will take an eastbound as close to Denver as possible. Then, a Denver crew will "dog catch" the train and bring it the rest of the way in. The Grand Junction crew will be bussed to Denver to rest before taking a westbound back to Grand Junction. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105425 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 9, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 1565 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific After shooting this coal empty at Rocky, I headed west for Crescent to wait to get a shot of him there. However, after arriving at Crescent, I heard the train call up DS-82 and inform her that they were stopped at Plain to bring another unit online as they were having trouble climbing the 2% grade. So, I hopped back in the car and tried to make it back down to Plain in time to get a few pictures. Alas, the train started pulling about 90 seconds before I got up to the grade crossing. So, I had to settle for this going away shot of the DPUs as the push down the main toward Rainbow Cut. Ah, the one that got away! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105178 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 17, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 1491 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF 30 years ago, this shot would have had an all-DRGW consist, likely including at least a few SD40T-2s. BNSF had never been heard of and nobody had regular trackage rights on Rio Grande. Looking at the scene now, I cannot help but wonder what it is likely to look like in another 30 years. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105177 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 17, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 1555 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF An under-powered westbound BNSF manifest pulls slowly down the main at Plainview toward the grade crossing. The train was only make about 12 MPH at this point! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104980 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, January 25, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 1492 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific I think it is rather amazing that over 100 years ago, surveyors were confronted with these mountains and said "sure, we can build a rail line along and through those." Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104979 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, January 25, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 1574 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific An eastbound coal load descends east (geographically south) down the main line at Plain. Note Rainbow Cut, so named because of the colors in the rock, in the distance. UP also has a track tamper sitting on the house track at Plain. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104814 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 10, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada 1769 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Despite only seeing two trains, Bella (11 year old daughter) and I still had a very successful couple of hours trackside. Returning from my vantage point on the hill side, Bella found her own vantage point on the roof of the Jeep! The MNYRO slides by west on the main at Plain. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104813 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 10, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada 1681 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Without searching through photos, I don't specifically recall the last time I saw an SD40-series on the Moffat! This rebuilt UP SD40-2 (now classified as an SD40N) is working hard on the main at Plain on the MNYRO (Manifest, North Yard to Roper, UT). Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104812 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 10, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada 1734 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The recent explosion in oil shipped by rail in the United States and caused a bit of a power shortage on railroads. Consequently, a lot of older power has been reactivated to assist in moving the tonnage. This "tri-clops" SD60M (note the three pane windshield) is no exception, helping out on the MNYRO. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104508 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, January 26, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 1457 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific This eastbound coal load was having some problems with the air brakes on the mid-train swing helpers. So, the crew took advantage of the (relatively) level stretch of train at Plain to bring the train to a complete stop with a full service application of the air brakes. After doing so, the brakes were released and about five minutes later, the train was underway again, the problem apparently resolved. Here, the train sits, stopped, on the grade crossing as the brakes recharge. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104507 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, January 26, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 1749 (2 Comments Posted) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific If you know me or have visited my site for any length of time, you are probably aware that I have two wonderful daughters. Both of which have lost a lot of interest in trains as they have been getting older. However, I do have a two-year-old nephew that loves trash trucks, excavators and anything with an engine! So it was time for his first real train chasing experience. While he loved the trains, the chilly wind was not much to his liking. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104506 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, January 26, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 2010 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific It certainly is far from the first time I've taken a picture at this spot, but I have to admit...I never get tired of eastbounds at Plain with the flatirons in the background. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104371 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 9, 2013 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 1642 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The unmistakable purple of the derail plate that is protecting the east end of the house track sits quietly in the cold. It is doing its job as two maintenance of way gondolas sit on said house track. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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