Photo ID: 111616 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 208 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak For the past several years, Amtrak has been running its Winter Park Express Ski Train. This season, the Colorado Department of Transportation is helping to subsidize the cost of tickets, and passengers can make a one way trip for as low as $19! There are only five Superliners are the train right now, but two additional cars are supposed to be added sometime soon. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111615 Date Shot Photo By Friday, January 3, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 153 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak At the grade crossing of East Portal, the westbound Winter Park Express is on a clear (green) signal, making great time on its way to Winter Park. The train is about 20 minutes early, and now only a mile or so away from the Moffat Tunnel. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111121 Date Shot Photo By Monday, September 23, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 205 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A trio of units lead a westbound empty oil train at East Portal, roughly 9,500 feet (2,900 meters) above sea level. The valley is showing its fall colors in full force just a few days into the official start of fall. The window for peak fall colors up at the Moffat is actually quite small. Only a couple of days a year have colors like this. Strong winds are quite common up here and will strip the trees of their leaves in no time. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111120 Date Shot Photo By Monday, September 23, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 160 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A westbound oil empty rolls through full fall colors as it approaches a clear (green) signal at the west end of East Portal. The train will dive in to the Moffat Tunnel to pass underneath the Continental Divide. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111110 Date Shot Photo By Monday, September 23, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 158 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific This UP coal load is about to cross Tolland Road at the grade crossing near the east switch of East Portal. If you look off in the distance, you can actually see the east portal of the Moffat Tunnel. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111109 Date Shot Photo By Monday, September 23, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 165 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A UP coal load snakes out of the valley that the Moffat Tunnel is located in, following alongside the siding at East Portal on one side and South Boulder Creek on the other side. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111108 Date Shot Photo By Monday, September 23, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 167 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A UP coal load passes by some maintenance of way equipment currently tied down in the house track at East Portal. The coal load has the standard 2x3x1 setup as far as power goes. Dynamic brakes are starting to whine in the valley as the grade downhill grade increases. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111087 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 22, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 178 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Union Pacific has built two new buildings in the last 15 years up here at East Portal. You can see them both in this picture behind the oil train. They presumably house various maintenance of way equipment, protecting them from the elements...particularly in winter! Today, however, it is overcast and chilly near the Moffat Tunnel along South Boulder Creek. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111086 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 22, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 258 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Five units lead a westbound oil train on the main at East Portal at an altitude of over 9,000 feet (2,700 meters) above sea level, the Moffat is the highest active mainline of any Class 1 Railroad in the United States. About 15 years ago, UP extended Tolland siding, increasing its length from 5,600 feet to over 9,000 feet. Consequently, the siding at East Portal is seemingly never used for meets these days. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111084 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 22, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 150 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific In between trains, I thought I'd grab a shot of one leg of the wye off the siding at East Portal. A century ago, this track led to the mainline that ran over Rollins Pass. The 6.2 mile long Moffat Tunnel was under construction in September 1924, but was still 3 1/2 years away from opening. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111083 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 22, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 185 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Rocky Mountaineer With a clear (green) signal dead ahead, the Rocky Mountaineer kicks up some exhaust as it accelerates toward the east portal of the Moffat Tunnel along South Boulder Creek. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111082 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 22, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 201 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Rocky Mountaineer Between the 2023-2024 seasons, the Rocky Mountaineer leased this (former) SD45, now an SD40-2 internally. An SD18 was also leased to shuffle cars around in Denver. The GP40-3s have had a lot of mechanical issues and the RM has had to lease power from UP. Apparently, the lease of both of these units is less expensive than the cost to lease on UP SD70M. It took most of the 2024 season for PTC to be installed in RMRX 8600. But with it now installed and operable, it is on the train west with one of the GP40-3s at East Portal. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110840 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 4, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 274 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak AMTK 71 and AMTK 142 peek through pine trees lining South Boulder Creek. The train is facing a red signal as it waits for the Moffat Tunnel to finish venting after an eastbound BNSF manifest exited about 20 minutes earlier. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110839 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 4, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 191 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The trailheads at East Portal are a very popular destination for hikers, particularly on the weekend. You can see dozens of cars parked in the lots and long the road. Some of these hikers no doubt take notice of the westbound Zephyr as it approaches the Moffat Tunnel. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110838 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 4, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 210 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Running about 45 minutes late, the westbound Zephyr is approaching the east portal of the Moffat Tunnel. Here, at East Portal, the tracks run parallel to South Boulder Creek. The water for which is primarily sourced from the west slope after coming through the Moffat Water Tunnel. We are right around 9,200 feet above sea level, the highest point on Amtrak's system, and the highest active point on Class 1 railroads. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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