Two things are being done by the Rocky Local in this shot. First off, the power is preparing to spot some covered hoppers on the tail leg of the wye. Once those have been spotted, the power will come back around the wye in the foreground, attach to the hoppers in the foreground and shove back down to the mainline.
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Approaching the grade crossing at what used to be the west entrance to Rocky Flats, the Rocky Local is moving along at a cautious 10 MPH. A few of the hoppers that were to be dropped off at TXI Aggregate could not fit on the inbound track. Those hoppers will be spotted on the tail leg of the wye near the old Rocky Flat. They will be delivered to TXI at a later date.
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The Rocky Local works on dropping off a string of covered hoppers on the inbound track at TXI Aggregate. The cut of hopper to the left are on the outbound track and will be taken by the local back to town.
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Backing down the Rocky Spur toward TXI Aggregate (at the end of the line), the Rocky Local passes by "Old Time Lumber", a company located right off Highway 93.
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About 3 miles away from the mainline on the Rocky Spur, a Saturday run of the Rocky Local is slowly backing down the spur. Note the conductor and brakeman holding on tightly to protect the reverse move and handle any misaligned switches.
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An engine running a bit too hot has the westbound MNYRO-19 holding on the siding at Crescent with the crossing lights active. Another ten minutes after this shot and the train would be ready to continue west.
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Even a day after the 4th of July, snow can still be found on the tops of mountains along the Continental Divide. In the foreground, a Roper to North Yard manifest makes its way east on a sunny summer morning. Two new ES44AC's lead the train down the mainline.
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At Crescent, the westbound MNYRO is being led by an SD9043MAC on its journey west toward Roper in Salt Lake City, UT. More and more UP seems to be adopting the idea of running manifests on the Moffat with DPU. The train here is near 7,000 tons and close to 6,000 feet long. Two DPU's bring up the tail end of the train.
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About halfway through the siding at Cliff, the track cross South Boulder Creek on a wooden trestle. The Kansas, on the end of the train, is crossing on the bridge in this shot. Unfortunately, a few of the Aspens have grown tall enough to obscure a bit of the view here.
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The Ski Train makes its third westbound run to Winter Park of the summer. At Cliff, the train meets the eastbound MRONY (in the siding). The tracks also parallel Colorado Highway 72 for much of the journey through the block. The train is about halfway through the block at this point.
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Waiting for the Ski Train in the siding at Cliff, UP's Roper to North Yard (MRONY) manifest sports two new ES44ACs. Colorado doesn't get much of the newer power (on UP), so it was a nice change of pace!
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Coal trains along this stretch of track are pretty common...BNSF power on a coal train here though, not nearly as much! Headed for the Wildcat mine on the Utah Railway (near Helper, UT), this coal empty sports a brand new SD70ACe on the point.
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A wide angle view of Big Ten Curve as seen near the east switch at Clay. The head end power is visible on the left side of the shot, headed west back toward the rest of the train. The hoppers that serve as a wind break on Big Ten are on the other side of the hill with the lone tree on the top.
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This eastbound coal load heads east out of Clay toward Big Ten Loop. After leaving Clay, the tracks turn east and offer a wonderful view of the Denver-Metro area and plains beyond.
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A different perspective of the east switch at Clay as an eastbound coal train leaves the block on an approach diverging signal. After a crew change to Rocky, this coal train will continue east to Chiles, KY.
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