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Photo ID: 110752
Date Shot
Photo By
Sunday, July 21, 2024 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
East Portal (5,750 ft)
Gilpin County, CO
364
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF
Two SD70ACes are the bookends to a Heritage 2 C44-9W, the three units leading the westbound Denver-Provo manifest on the main at East Portal. Since Elderado Canyon near Tunnel 8, the tracks have (off and on) been following South Boulder Creek, located to the right of the tracks in the frame.
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Photo ID: 110437
Date Shot
Photo By
Sunday, April 21, 2024 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
East Portal (5,750 ft)
Gilpin County, CO
304
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak
The ditch lights on the eastbound California Zephyr are currently oscillating back and forth as the horn blows for the approaching grade crossing with Tolland Road. The train emerged from the east portal of the Moffat Tunnel just moments earlier, and is continuing east toward Denver on a clear (green) signal.
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Photo ID: 110436
Date Shot
Photo By
Sunday, April 21, 2024 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
East Portal (5,750 ft)
Gilpin County, CO
326
(Add a Comment)
Subdivision
Railroad
Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak
In the midst of the valley leading up to the Moffat Tunnel and the Continental Divide, we find the eastbound Zephyr on the main at East Portal on its way east toward its next station stop at Denver.
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Photo ID: 109798
Date Shot
Photo By
Tuesday, November 21, 2023 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
East Portal (5,750 ft)
Gilpin County, CO
371
(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.
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Photo ID: 109797
Date Shot
Photo By
Tuesday, November 21, 2023 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
East Portal (5,750 ft)
Gilpin County, CO
524
(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.
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Photo ID: 109553
Date Shot
Photo By
Monday, October 2, 2023 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
East Portal (5,750 ft)
Gilpin County, CO
485
(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.
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Photo ID: 109522
Date Shot
Photo By
Sunday, October 1, 2023 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
East Portal (5,750 ft)
Gilpin County, CO
559
(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.
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Photo ID: 109445
Date Shot
Photo By
Sunday, September 17, 2023 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
East Portal (5,750 ft)
Gilpin County, CO
570
(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.
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Photo ID: 109443
Date Shot
Photo By
Sunday, September 17, 2023 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
East Portal (5,750 ft)
Gilpin County, CO
640
(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.
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Photo ID: 109442
Date Shot
Photo By
Sunday, September 17, 2023 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
East Portal (5,750 ft)
Gilpin County, CO
559
(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!
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Photo ID: 108690
Date Shot
Photo By
Thursday, June 10, 2021 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
East Portal (5,750 ft)
Gilpin County, CO
814
(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.
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Photo ID: 108314
Date Shot
Photo By
Tuesday, July 7, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
East Portal (5,750 ft)
Gilpin County, CO
952
(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.
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Photo ID: 108313
Date Shot
Photo By
Tuesday, July 7, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
East Portal (5,750 ft)
Gilpin County, CO
1021
(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.
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Photo ID: 108312
Date Shot
Photo By
Tuesday, July 7, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
East Portal (5,750 ft)
Gilpin County, CO
996
(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.
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Photo ID: 108301
Date Shot
Photo By
Saturday, July 4, 2020 Kevin Morgan
Location
Times Viewed
East Portal (5,750 ft)
Gilpin County, CO
1159
(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.
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