At the east switch of Rocky, the eastbound MRONY continues toward town on a clear signal. Although there are only two units on the point, there was indeed a third (DPU) unit - an SD9043MAC - on the end of the train.
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Even though I was track side by 9am, I didn't such much moving until 2pm. This was largely why. UP had a whole fleet of MOW equipment stretching from one end of the Cliff siding to the other!
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Three of the eight units here are pulling hard on this westbound coal empty toward the east portal of the Moffat Tunnel. The train has a "double yellow" (approach diverging) signal entering the tunnel, indicating to the train that they will be taking the siding at Winter Park.
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Even though I wasn't on the correct side of the tracks to get the long side of the train properly lit, who can resist grabbing a shot of a train making its way through a huge grouping of gold aspen trees!? This train is leaving the siding at Tolland westbound after having met an eastbound here.
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I knew an eastbound was coming, but I was expecting a coal load. So I was rather happy to see the eastbound MRONY being led by an SD70ACe and a C44-9W coming out of the Moffat. I was hoping for more fall colors in the shot, but the wind has already done an excellent job taking the leaves off most of the aspens around the tunnel.
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UP has been doing a lot of maintenance on the Moffat between Plain and Rollins in the last few weeks. Here, a work train sits on the siding west of the crossing at Crescent. The train just go in the clear in order to allow a westbound to come through on the main.
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The head end of this Somerset-bound coal empty is coming up on the west end of Little Ten Curve while empty hoppers enter the curve on the east side.
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A westbound coal empty with eight units on the point (only three of which were online) heads down the mainline at Rocky toward Little Ten Curve. The Rocky Spur ("Rocky Industrial Lead") can be see through the distortion of the exhaust above the lead unit. Two gons and a green work caboose sit on the house track.
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Here is something you don't see every day! P42DC #67 is actually pulling Amtrak backwards through Arvada eastbound toward Denver. A rock slide in the Tunnel District made this necessary. The conductor stood in the back of the P42 and spotted the reverse movement for the engineer.
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Mother nature decided to mess with the citizens of the Front Range by letting a couple inches of snow fall overnight, halfway through May! UP 1989 has earned the nickname the "Vampire Unit" as it typically runs between Denver and Pueblo overnight. However, the Vampire Unit is out playing in the snow on this morning, making a trip on the Moffat to rescue an MRONY stalled out at Tabernash.
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Leave it to Colorado to always keep you on your toes when it comes to the weather! Less than three weeks away from JUNE and there is more than an inch of snow on the ground! UP 1989 and UP 5894 charge west through the white stuff at Leyden on their way to Tabernash. There, they will rescue a train that has stalled out and can't make it east over the divide.
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The night prior to this shot, the MRONY stalled out on the climb between Tabernash and Winter Park. The rails were slick with snow and the two units on the train couldn't quite get the 4,100-ton train up the 2% grade. So, the train backed into Tabernash and this light power (which includes UP 1989) was sent west out of Denver to rescue the stalled train!
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The addition of new block signals at the west end of East Portal allow for this situation. The MNYGJ is about to enter the Moffat Tunnel with a double yellow (Approach Diverging). This tells the crew that they will be taking the siding at Winter Park, most likely for a meet.
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This is certainly a shot that you have probably seen a hundred times from the west end of Rollins. However, I included it mainly because of what you can see in the distance behind the train. A track inspector is on the rails, following the train west. Talk about train chasing!
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After an eastbound coal load passed by, I knew I had a little bit of time before the next westbound reached Cliff. I took advantage of the time and gained a little altitude on the north side of the tracks to shoot the MNYGJ. I was grateful for the overcast skies above me...on a clear day, the shadows would have killed this shot.
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