The conductor on this MNYRO has left the cab (and left the door open) and is now tying down cars on the train. No relief crew is available to take this train west, so here at Cliff it will sit and wait!
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Derailments from the day before have resulted in congestion, delaying the westbound Zephyr a couple hours. Here at Cliff, the Zephyr will overtake (pass) a empty coal train that is sitting on the siding.
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After meeting a westbound coal empty at Cliff, this BNSF manifest is making its way through Crescent. The train had a pair of Warbonnet Dash-9's on it...of course the better looking of the two units was trailing!
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A westbound coal load works its way through the sweeping curve just below Tunnel 29. Many a shot of a Rio Grande train was once taken here...unfortunately, the trees have grown enough that they largely obscure the view now.
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With UP 1989 running on the point of the Snow Bus, I was hoping to get setup at the west switch of Cliff for a shot of the train heading west. However, slow speeds on snow-packed CO-72 kept me from getting in position in time. Instead, I had to settle for this shot of the train heading away from me along South Boulder Creek.
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A trio of Heritage 2 C44-9Ws and a Warbonnet lead up BNSF's Provo to Denver manifest, sitting in the hole at Cliff. The conductor for the train is on the ground to give a roll by for the westbound coal empty on the main.
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AC4400CW in your face! A westbound coal empty has a clear signal through Cliff as the unit approaches the grade crossing at Cliff. The train will continue west two more sidings (to Tolland) before stopping to meet the eastbound California Zephyr.
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I thought this was a pretty descent closing picture for the afternoon! A UP coal empty wraps around the curve at the west end of Crescent in the face of an oncoming storm.
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Track maintenance between Gore and Bond has prevented trains from running early in the day. As a result, about six westbounds left Denver in the mid-to-late afternoon. The fourth westbound is approaching the grade crossing on the main at Crescent.
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A trio of SD70MACs lead up BNSF's Denver to Provo manifest on the approach to Cliff. This is a pretty rare consist for BNSF trains on the Moffat. It is far more common to find C44-9W. The SD70MACs typically run in coal service.
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Up until this point, the eastbound Zephyr had been running right on time. Unfortunately, a rock slide to the east changed that. Rocks came down between Tunnel 26 and 27, stopping all traffic for about two hours. Amtrak spent nearly an hour of that stopped right here at Cliff.
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The conductor from the UP 6058 (which is stopped in the siding at Cliff) heads back into the cab as the last DPU unit on a westbound coal empty "flies" by on the main track.
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The conductor from the eastbound MRONY (sitting on the siding at Cliff) gives a wave to the conductor on the westbound coal empty. The conductor on the empty returns the gesture as the coal train heads west on a clear signal. The conductor on the ground is giving the coal empty a "roll-by" - making sure there are no obvious defects or problems.
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A narrow section of clouds took the liberty of hovering right above Cliff as this coal empty highballed the east end. Oh well, perhaps the clouds are appropriate considering all the snow on the ground...
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The Ski Train has an approach (yellow) signal at west Cliff and is slowing. It will be meeting a heavy, slow ballast train at Cliff. The ballast train is in between Crescent at Cliff right now. Passengers enjoy the luxury of the ride in the Kansas on the back of the train.
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