Photo ID: 109798 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, November 21, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 230 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak As we approach the shortest day of the year, the sun has moved far to the south. Consequently, half the valley the Moffat Tunnel is located in is now cast in day-long shadows. The rails the Zephyr is located on here will not see sunlight again until spring. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109797 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, November 21, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 352 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak On a cold, quiet, clear November morning, the westbound Zephyr is rolling west on the main at East Portal. It is mere seconds away from entering into the Moffat Tunnel and moving to the west side of the Continental Divide. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109553 Date Shot Photo By Monday, October 2, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 337 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific When All That's Missing...Is A Train! Even though there is no train in the scene, this is still one of my favorite pictures from 2023. Heck, this is probably in the top 10 of my favorite shots of all time. The fall colors, the sun, and the lingering morning mist creates an absolutely perfect scene. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109522 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, October 1, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 370 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Rocky Mountaineer Fall colors are at their peek at the start of October, which is one of the largest draws for passengers on the "Rockies to the Red Rocks" Rocky Mountaineer. The train is rolling west on the main at East Portal, about a mile from the entrance to the Moffat Tunnel. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109445 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 17, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 351 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF The valley that the Moffat Tunnel is located in has a wonderful mix of deciduous and coniferous trees. A pair of SD70ACes are the DPUs bringing up the tail end of this westbound BNSF manifest, disappearing in to the tunnel that runs underneath a shoulder of James Peak. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109443 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 17, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 404 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF The Denver-Provo is on the main at East Portal and is approaching a clear (green) signal to go in to the 6.2 mile long tunnel. The building in the background was built by UP in 2010 as a weather safe facility for MOW equipment. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109442 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 17, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 358 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Halfway through the month of September and there is only very minor change in the deciduous trees at East Portal. When fall colors are in full effect, this scene is going to look even more spectacular! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108690 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, June 10, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 657 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr comes around the final curve before the Moffat Tunnel alongside the siding and wye at East Portal. The Moffat Tunnel, as you can see, is dead ahead! The 6.2-long tunnel will take the train under the Continental Divide at the highest elevation of any remaining mainline in the United States, roughly 9,200 feet above sea level. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108314 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 7, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 811 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr rolls slowly through the siding at East Portal (to the left) as the eastbound Zephyr sits waiting on the main (to the right). The westbound Zephyr will stop very briefly to hand something off to the conductor on the eastbound Zephyr. Meanwhile, DS-78 is working on getting a clear signal for the Zephyr east. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108313 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 7, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 866 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Here is a shot that you don't come across too often! The Zephyrs are meeting at East Portal, just a mile or so east of the Moffat Tunnel. Typically, the Zephyrs meet about 100 miles to the west. However, a broken UP coal train delayed the westbound Zephyr by about 9 hours and the eastbound Zephyr by about 2 hours. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108312 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 7, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 824 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The eastbound Zephyr sits idle on the mainline at East Portal two minutes after its scheduled arrival time in Denver. The train has been stuck here for nearly two hours due to a coal train that broke down at Rollins 13 hours earlier. It took a long time to get the coal train back together. That has finally happened, however, and the Zephyr is now waiting for its counterpart, making its way west. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108301 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 4, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 948 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The eastbound California Zephyr passes by the seldom-used wye that still exists at East Portal just east of the Moffat Tunnel. The east leg of the wye (right side of the wye) used to be part of the mainline that ran up and over Rollins Pass. Once the Moffat Tunnel was completed and opened, the old mainline was torn out and just this leg of the wye remains from the portion that ran over Rollins Pass. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107991 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, January 11, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 832 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak If you very closely, slightly up and to the left from the middle of the picture, you can see the east portal of the Moffat Tunnel. The Zephyr is on the main alongside the last siding on this side of the Continental Divide. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107048 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, January 27, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 1043 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Passengers on board the California Zephyr have made a 4,000-foot elevation gain in the last 50 miles, going from (roughly) 5,200-feet above sea level in Denver to (roughly) 9,200-feet above sea level here at East Portal. In the distance, one of the peaks of the Continental Divide (in between James Peak and Mt Epworth) stands tall. Soon, the Zephyr will be underneath the divide! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107047 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, January 27, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 1216 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak As the westbound Zephyr crosses the grade crossing at East Portal, a bit of snow is kicked up! Cars crossing the tracks combined with blowing snow has resulted in a bit of a build up on the crossing. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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