Photo ID: 114348 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 20, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland to East Portal (MP 47.7 to MP 48.9) Gilpin County, CO 51 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific This westbound train has seven (yes, seven!) mid-train swing helpers. Looks like the days of Tennessee Pass! The reason for the power is because this is actually two trains, combined as one. As you can see, the second half of the train is a coal empty. To keep the general manifest cars moving, UP added them to the front of this coal empty, headed for Grand Junction. They did this so the manifest cars would not have to wait for the (regularly scheduled) MNYGJ. Most of this power will be used on the coal train after the train is split in Grand Junction. This type of train blocking is all the result of the theory known as Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR). A philosophy that Class 1 railroads in particular have really embraced. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 114347 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 20, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland to East Portal (MP 47.7 to MP 48.9) Gilpin County, CO 54 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific This westbound is a monster train. By that, I mean that it is incredibly long. Between 10,000 and 11,000 feet. Turns out that the train is actually a coal train, but with a string of general manifest cars headed to Grand Junction. The UP powers that be did not want to wait for the normal MNYGJ, so they added the cars ahead of a coal train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 114346 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 20, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland to East Portal (MP 47.7 to MP 48.9) Gilpin County, CO 48 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific This westbound manifest has a trio of elephant-style units on the head end, the first of which was originally SP 145, is on the main between Tolland and East Portal. Many of the trees here have already lost many of their leaves, likely do to their position on the hill side. Very open and susceptible to wind from the valley. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 114343 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 20, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland to East Portal (MP 47.7 to MP 48.9) Gilpin County, CO 50 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Rocky Mountaineer Not the best shot ever, but I wanted to grab a shot of RMRX 8600 on the Canyon Spirit. Even though it is an SD40M-2, it is pretty cool seeing an SD45 car body on the Moffat. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113709 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, April 19, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland to East Portal (MP 47.7 to MP 48.9) Gilpin County, CO 160 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF A westbound BNSF oil train is pulling on the main between Tolland and East Portal after leaving the siding at Tolland. The train took the siding at Rollins, then continued to the siding at Tolland, and is finally going to head through the Moffat Tunnel after meeting zero trains! DS-378 put the train in at Rollins, expecting to meet the Canyon Spirit there. However, the Spirit was having mechanical issues, so the train moved up to Tolland. With the Spirit still having issues, the oil train got the signal to head through the Moffat. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113173 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, September 27, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland to East Portal (MP 47.7 to MP 48.9) Gilpin County, CO 247 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A UP maintenance crew has a work window that will last another 75 minutes here between East Portal and Tolland. As UP is investing a lot in the Moffat, many of these work windows will appear for the next several months. In this case, some tie clips are being put in place. Note, of course, the porta potty, being pulled along as well! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113172 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, September 27, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland to East Portal (MP 47.7 to MP 48.9) Gilpin County, CO 288 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific You can see that UP has positioned new tie plates along the right-of-way here in this cut between Tolland and East Portal. The work UP has started in the last few weeks are expected to run for the next several months. A lot of money being invested into the Moffat. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113171 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, September 27, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland to East Portal (MP 47.7 to MP 48.9) Gilpin County, CO 242 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A UP work crew is positioning new tie clips along the right-of-way between Tolland and East Portal during the height of fall colors. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113157 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 26, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland to East Portal (MP 47.7 to MP 48.9) Gilpin County, CO 307 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak A nice treat this morning was to find Amtrak's Phase 4 heritage unit, AMTK 164, leading the westbound Zephyr as the train crosses East Portal Road between Tolland and East Portal. Fall colors are about as good as they are going to get, offering a spectacular ride for passengers. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113156 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 26, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland to East Portal (MP 47.7 to MP 48.9) Gilpin County, CO 292 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific UP 5622 and two addition GEs are the sole power on this eastbound MGJNY, crossing over East Portal Road between East Portal and Tolland. The train will meet an already-waiting westbound Zephyr at Tolland. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112861 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, July 23, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland to East Portal (MP 47.7 to MP 48.9) Gilpin County, CO 410 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak A special Amtrak train follows about two hours behind the evening California Zephyr. The train is crossing East Portal Road in between East Portal and Tolland. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112789 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, July 16, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland to East Portal (MP 47.7 to MP 48.9) Gilpin County, CO 404 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak A pair of P42DCs leads the Zephyr westbound on the approach to East Portal. There were rumors about 20 years ago that Amtrak was going to add a second main track through here, connection East Portal and Tolland. With the downturn in coal traffic, that possibility has become something for the "ideas never implemented" book. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112788 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, July 16, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland to East Portal (MP 47.7 to MP 48.9) Gilpin County, CO 383 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak At over 9,000 feet above sea level, the westbound Zephyr is just around the corner from the east switch of East Portal, where a clear (green) signal awaits it. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112678 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 27, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland to East Portal (MP 47.7 to MP 48.9) Gilpin County, CO 398 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The paint on UP 6397 has certainly seen some better days as the unit crosses over East Portal Road roughly halfway between the west switch of Tolland and the east switch of East Portal. About 20 years ago, there were rumors that Union Pacific was considering a project to connect Tolland and East Portal. However, if any such project was ever seriously considered, it was dropped with the economic bubble, and start in the downturn of coal, in 2008. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112651 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, June 24, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland to East Portal (MP 47.7 to MP 48.9) Gilpin County, CO 381 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Rocky Mountaineer After meeting the California Zephyr at Winter Park, and then waiting for the Moffat Tunnel to vent, it was the Rocky Mountaineer's turn to head east. Ten minutes before 3pm, the train crosses over East Portal Road and South Boulder Creek as it heads toward Tolland. The Continental Divide still has plenty of patches of snow on it, despite the fact we are now officially into summer. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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