The westbound California Zephyr with ATMK 79 on the point heads west on a clear signal at the Pecos Street Crossover. With Amtrak actually running just about on time, the sun was still rather low in the eastern sky!
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The Rocky Local is making a Saturday appearance on the Moffat line on this day. The two tank cars at the front of the train will be dropped off at Chem Spur (just ahead). The remaining covered hoppers will be taken up the Rocky Spur.
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Amtrak 5 is moving quickly west right at MP 14.5. The Denver Skyline rests under a hazy Saturday morning in the distance. Amtrak is running almost two hours late on this particular morning.
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Conditions on this April day were extremely interesting. There was a thick fog above 5700 feet and the temperature was only 25 degrees. Snow from the night before had frozen onto the trees and the plants, as seen near the west switch of Clay. UP 7114 leads a coal empty west at 15 MPH.
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UP 5588, a C44AC-CTE, brings up the back of a coal empty coming over the west switch of Clay. White was the theme of the day as there was fresh snow on the ground and thick fog in the air.
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I thought the American Flag looked good through the frost-covered trees near the west switch of Clay. This is the third unit on a westbound coal empty trying to negotiate with the fog!
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In addition to freezing cold weather and a lot of frost, this April storm brought a lot of fog to the Denver area. The fog was so bad, trains could not see signal aspects until they were a few cars lengths away. Such was the case for this westbound coal empty, creeping along at 10 MPH until the clear signal at west Clay was in sight.
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A thick layer of frost covered nearly everything on this particular April morning. The temperature outside is 25 degrees as this coal load heads east (away from the photographer) through Clay.
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UP 6439 leads an eastbound coal load through thick fog at the west end of Clay. It is not uncommon to find extremely cold, winter-type weather in Colorado, even a week into April.
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Just about the only train to use the Belt Bypass tracks aside from coal trains are specials such as this one. The SOACB crosses over from the Moffat to the Belt Lead using Bypass Track One. Note the stadium seating in the back of the last car on the train.
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Each Spring, UP moves its passengers cars from their winter home in Oakland, CA to their summer home in Council Bluffs, IA. The last few years, the special move (designated the SOACB) has come over the Grande rather than the Overland. UP didn't exactly pick the most pristine power for the trip, with a faded UP shield on the front of UP 4784.
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You can see how much the Ski Train has descended in elevation just between Big Ten and the west end of Rocky! The train is currently looping through Little Ten on the main line with a clear signal.
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The eastbound Ski Train passes over the top of the Apex just south of North Yard on the main track. The train just passed a yellow signal as it approaches Prospect Junction. At Prospect, the train will have a restricting (lunar) signal, and cross over the BNSF track to get into Union Station.
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For nearly three years, UP 1901 (ex-DRGW 3155) has been working on locals out of Pueblo. On March 11, the unit came north on the MPUNY for a 92-day inspection. Once released, it stayed in Denver rather than being sent back down to Pueblo. So, on March 15, it was on the Rocky Local for the first time in about three years!
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The Rocky Local is headed east (geographic south), back toward the mainline at Rocky. This shot was taken at the grade crossing at the (former) west entrance to Rocky Flats. Now that the plant is closed, the guard station has been removed, and the public is free to access the crossing.
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