Photo ID: 111631 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Glipin County, CO 117 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Crossing over South Boulder Creek, two DPUs bring up the tail end of the Provo-Denver at Cliff. A pair of units DPU'd on the back of a manifest is pretty standard for BNSF manifests running on the Moffat. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111630 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Gilpin County, CO 94 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF It can sometimes be a bit of a challenge, capturing trains on the Moffat in direct sunlight in the height of winter. The low sun in the sky mixed with high mountain peaks keeps a lot of the line in shadows for much of the day. Here, the lead SD70ACe comes into directly sunlight on the main at Cliff as it crosses over South Boulder Creek. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111629 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Gilpin County, CO 78 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF The western 40% or so of Cliff hugs the north side of a mountain. Throughout winter, this part of the tracks never see any directly sunlight. As a result, it is pretty common for the rails to be buried in snow for months at time. Indeed, it is quite possible the tracks will be in snow until the spring melt. Meanwhile, an eastbound BNSF manifest rolls through the darkened scene. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111628 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Gilpin County, CO 86 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF After a stop in the siding at Rollins that lasted around 90 minutes, a relief crew for this Provo-Denver finally showed up. The crews swapped, and UP's DS-380 gave them a light to continue east. Indeed, there is nothing coming west out of Denver, and the train will have a clear shot to town. Here, the train is on the main track at Cliff. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111377 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 1, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Gilpin County, CO 89 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF BNSF 6087 is sitting in the siding at Cliff, having just met an eastbound Provo-Denver manifest. The west end of Cliff hugs the north foot of a mountain. As a result, it goes months without direct sunlight and, as a result, the rails also often spend months buried in the snow in the winter months. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111178 Date Shot Photo By Monday, October 7, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Boulder County, CO 129 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific An eastbound UP military train is coming to a stop in the siding at Cliff. The train is long enough that it is poking out the west end of the siding. The westbound Zephyr is not far off. Since the military doesn't fit between switches at Cliff, it'll be leaving just as soon as the Zephyr is clear of the east switch. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111113 Date Shot Photo By Monday, September 23, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Boulder County, CO 114 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific UP 8879 is about to come to a stop on the siding at Cliff. A westbound empty oil train is about 20 minutes away. After meeting the oil train, the coal load will continue east, meeting the Zephyr at Crescent. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111112 Date Shot Photo By Monday, September 23, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Boulder County, CO 119 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific This eastbound coal load is slowing as it rolls through the siding at Cliff. The house track is located to the left and the main, still cast in shadows, is on the right. The train will wait for a westbound unit oil train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110993 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 1, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Boulder County, CO 114 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak A pair of P42DCs in Phase 5 paint lead the evening Zephyr across the grade crossing in Cliff. The train is 45 minutes late as it rolls through the small town of Cliff. Rumor has it the State of Colorado hopes to expand rail service, potentially reinstituting some depots in small mountain towns such as Pinecliff. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110992 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 1, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Boulder County, CO 104 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A westbound oil train...the third overall of the afternoon...is sitting in the siding at Cliff waiting for the afternoon Zephyr. The Zephyr is running about an hour late and is not too far west of Cliff as of this shot. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110991 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 1, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Boulder County, CO 122 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A single C44ACM, sporting UP's newest paint scheme, brings up the rear of this westbound unit oil train. The train is going into the siding at Cliff to meet the eastbound Zephyr. A multitude of power lines crisscross, supplying electricity to the handful of residents that live in Pinecliff. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110977 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 1, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Boulder County, CO 125 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific An eastbound oil train approaches the grade crossing at Cliff. This time of year, snowpack throughout the Rockies is essentially at its lowest. Save for just a few small patches, the Continental Divide is completely free of snow off in the distance. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110845 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 4, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Boulder County, CO 114 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific After developing some air issues that caused the train to go into emergency in the Moffat Tunnel, BNSF's Provo-Lincoln manifest tied down in the siding at Cliff as the crew was getting short on time. Meanwhile, an eastbound UP manifest overtakes the manifest on the main. Note the two smiley faces drawn into the dirt on the nose of UP 6570. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110772 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, July 25, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Boulder County, CO 192 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Like so many other towns along the rails in Colorado and throughout the United States, the small town of Pinecliffe, CO exists because of the tracks. Indeed, Pinecliffe had its own depot and the Yampa Valley Mail stopped there daily until May 1968. Now, it is just a brief blur out the window for these passengers on the eastbound California Zephyr. The town itself has a whooping population of 23. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110771 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, July 25, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Boulder County, CO 210 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak This evening's eastbound Zephyr rolls along South Boulder Creek on the main at Cliff. CO-72 is on the far side of the tracks, going over the hill that the train can bypass. The third track in the scene, furthest from the Zephyr, is the house track at Cliff. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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