Photo ID: 105671 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, December 29, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 2511 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific After meeting a train and then having a train (the Zephyr) overtake it, UP 1996 is throttling up and pushing on the tail end of the MNYRO-29 (Manifest, North Yard, CO to Roper, UT). It was really nice seeing the Espee Heritage Unit while it was here in Colorado. In all likelihood, it will be assigned to a train that will not bring it back to Colorado once it reaches Salt Lake City. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105670 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, December 29, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 1942 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific After a 45 minute wait at Plain, the MNYRO is now pulling west out of the siding on a clear signal. Bringing up the tail end is UP 1996, the Southern Pacific heritage unit. The unit led the MRONY into town the previous day. Its stay was short and the Daylight scheme-inspired unit looked mighty fine bringing up the rear of the train on this chilly, snowy morning. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105659 Date Shot Photo By Monday, December 28, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 1918 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Here is a nice surprise and good ending to 2015! I got a tip that UP 1996 (Southern Pacific Heritage Unit) was leading an eastbound UP manifest on the Moffat. Here, the train was heading straight on into the sun at Plain. Rather nice having a quartet of SD70s on the point of the train! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105655 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 27, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 1739 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF, Union Pacific With the main now clear, the pair of DPUs on the tail end of a westbound BNSF manifest push as the train continues west. The sole DPU on the tail end of the eastbound manifest that it met rolls down the main. Although a BNSF ES44C4 is bringing up the rear, it is actually a UP train that it is assisting. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105654 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 27, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 1840 (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 1565 (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 1551 (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 1679 (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 1590 (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 1652 (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 1593 (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 1677 (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 1887 (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 1796 (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 1843 (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.

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