Photo ID: 111905 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, March 9, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Boulder (3,948ft) Boulder, CO 58 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) Union Pacific The second unit on this northbound BNSF manifest is an ET44C4. It is compliant with the EPA Tier-4 emissions standards. This accounts for the large radiator blister at the back of the long hood. BNSF has purchased 350 of these units, making them the railroad that has likely purchased the most Tier-4 locomotives. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111904 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, March 9, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Boulder (3,948ft) Boulder, CO 53 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF This northbound BNSF manifest departed Denver a bit earlier and is headed for Laurel, MT. The train is moving at track speed through east Boulder, crossing 55th Street. The stacks to the left belong to the Valmont power plant. The power plant originally burned coal for power. However, that stopped in 2017 when it was converted to natural gas and an array of solar panels. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111148 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, October 2, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Boulder (3,948ft) Boulder, CO 108 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF Looking above the nose toward the cab of BNSF 4272, you can see the damage done after a derailment on August 22, 2024. Perhaps amazingly, despite the damage and the cracked windshield, neither windshield was completed broken out. Of note, number boards definitely have LEDs lights to illuminate them at night. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111147 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, October 2, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Boulder (3,948ft) Boulder, CO 118 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF A detailed look at the nose of BNSF 4727, now sitting on a special flat car in the Boulder siding for transportation. You can see that the plow and the lower front of the unit, up to the anti-climber, has been ripped off and destroyed. Even part of the anti-climber has been ripped apart as well. The nose door is missing, nose headlights are gone, and there is a lot of general damage after a derailment at the south switch of Boulder. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111146 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, October 2, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Boulder (3,948ft) Boulder, CO 91 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF Peeking in the window of BNSF 4727, you can see the throttle controller and (half) of the dynamic brake controller. This ES44C4 spent some time on its right side after derailing on August 22, 2024. The train it was part of struck some empty cars that had rolled out onto the main line at the south end of the Boulder siding. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111145 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, October 2, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Boulder (3,948ft) Boulder, CO 184 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF This is a look at the 12-cylinder "GEVO" prime mover that is in every "Evolution Series" (ES44AC, ES44DC, ES44C4, etc) unit. Perhaps the most common diesel prime mover found on the rails in 2024. While the car body has been mangled in a derailment in Boulder, it is not clear from the shot if there is damage to the prime mover itself. No doubt, regardless of what happens to the overall unit, the prime mover will be salvaged, repaired (if necessary), and used again in the future. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111144 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, October 2, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Boulder (3,948ft) Boulder, CO 141 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF BNSF 4272 is pretty badly mangled after having been involved in a derailment on August 22, 2024 in Boulder. The nose door is missing, as are the front railings. One question at this point is whether or not the unit is about to be taken to the shop for repair, or if it will be taken to see a torch and scrapped... Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111142 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, October 2, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Boulder (3,948ft) Boulder, CO 141 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF The long hood of BNSF 4272 is very clear bent after the unit derailed and fell on its side in a derailment in Boulder on August 22, 2024. The train this unit was part of collided with cars that had rolled out onto the main track from the siding at Boulder. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111141 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, October 2, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Boulder (3,948ft) Boulder, CO 149 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF This is a very interesting shot looking straight down on a truck that, prior to a derailment in August, had been on BNSF 4272. I say it is interesting because it really demonstrates some of the mechanics of GE's ES44C4. The unit is a A1A-A1A unit, meaning only four of the six axles are powered. As you can see here, a traction motor is attached to the axle on the left, but the center axle is a "dummy" axle. The axle on the right, were it still intact, would also have a traction motor attached. You can also see some of the hydraulics that GE uses to slightly lift the center axle up when necessary to provide more tractive effort, the weight resting more on the powered axles. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111140 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, October 2, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Boulder (3,948ft) Boulder, CO 90 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF A look at one of the trucks that had been on BNSF 4272 until a derailment at Boulder smashed things up a bit. Two of the three axles are still attached to the truck. The third was lost to the derailment. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111139 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, October 2, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Boulder (3,948ft) Boulder, CO 136 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF Unfortunately, derailments are a part of life for railroads. Most derailments are minor, with only a single axle or maybe a truck derailing with everything remaining upright. However, sometimes things are work. BNSF 4272 toppled onto its side when its train (a southbound intermodal train) struck cars that had rolled out onto the main track at the south switch of Boulder. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111138 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, October 2, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Boulder (3,948ft) Boulder, CO 97 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF BNSF 267, an SD75M in New Image paint, is being used as power on a work/wreck train. BNSF 4272, which was involved in a derailment here at Boulder about five weeks earlier, will be transported away from the site tomorrow. The day was spent getting it off the ground and loaded on to the flat car. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111137 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, October 2, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Boulder (3,948ft) Boulder, CO 160 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF A little over a month earlier, on August 22, 2024, cars that had been stored in the siding at Boulder rolled out on to the main track. A Southbound intermodal train struck the cars and derailed. BNSF 4272 was one of the units involved in the derailment, and the final piece of the equipment that has been waiting to be removed from the site. Today, BNSF worked with Hulcher to load the unit on a special flat car for transportation. The crew ran out of time, so the train was tied down in the siding for the night. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105600 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Boulder (3,948ft) Boulder, CO 1676 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF The conductor on the northbound manifest gives a wave to the crew on the southbound sitting in the siding at Boulder. The southbound is a ballast train that is headed for Broomfield to lay ballast on the siding extension at the north end. Once the manifest clears and the Buck Local (currently tucked away in industry tracks at Valmont about a mile south) gets to Broomfield, the ballast train will also get a track warrant to head south to Broomfield. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104425 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, September 19, 2013 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Boulder (3,948ft) Boulder, CO 1439 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF This pedestrian and bicycle underpass was constructed in 1987. The warning on the sign couldn't be more accurate! It read: "CAUTION - Area subject to flash flooding. Do not take shelter here." This tunnel under the tracks flooded along with everything else around Boulder creek when the water levels rose by six feet in just over 24 hours. Although still in this picture, at its peek, Boulder Creek was flowing with a current of over 5000 cubic feet per second. By comparison, the norm is around 20 cubic feet per second. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.