A westbound coal empty holds short of the grade crossing at Tolland to wait for an eastbound. Now that Tolland has been extended to the east, the entire coal train can sit on the siding without blocking the main or the grade crossing!
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A few fall colors are still evident from up on Rollins Pass looking down into the valley where the Moffat Tunnel is located. The tunnel itself is actually obscured in fog, but an eastbound MRONY (tied down in the siding) and a westbound coal empty are visible.
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East Portal is not one of the more commonly used siding for meets, let alone for tying down trains! However, the MRONY was indeed tied down here...smiley face at all!
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On a very chilly afternoon 9,000 feet above Sea Level, UP 9633 is doing its best to warm up its surroundings! A few cylinders apparently weren't firing resulting in some descent flames coming out of the exhaust stack. A few minutes later, the crew of a westbound coal empty would stop, shut down and drain the unit.
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An eastbound MRONY was tied down in the siding at East Portal. It is not very often that trains are tied down here! The siding most commonly used for tying down trains have had hand-thrown derails installed. Here, a "manual" derail was slapped onto the track.
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Even though I missed "Gold Week" in the high country this year, I was happy to find a few aspens still showing the colors up at Tolland. Snow is certainly dominating the scene though just twelve days into October as the MNYRO heads west through the siding.
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Within the past few months, Union Pacific removed the code line along the tracks opening up several new photo angles. Once such angle here sees the MNYRO working west about a half mile away from the west end of the siding.
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Amtrak was running over two hours late when it departed Denver. CTC problems at west Cliff and east Rollins didn't help the issue! Here, the train is running at restricted speed (through the fog) as it comes up to an Advanced Approach (flashing yellow) signal.
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UP 7722 was built just about a year before this shot was taken and was delivered in July 2007. This was the first time that I can remember seeing an ES44AC on the point of a coal empty.
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The Moffat doesn't see a whole lot of new power, so when an Evolution Series or an SD70ACe finds its way to the Moffat, its usually worth shooting! Here, UP 5335 leads the MNYPH near the bridge just east of Tolland.
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The northbound Longmont Turn has just received its warrant from the Front Range dispatcher and is beginning its journey just south of Pecos. Even though BNSF 7147 is the lead unit back north, the warrant was still issued to BNSF 7812, the second unit.
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Not far west of Rollins, Amtrak 5 heads west along South Boulder Creek. It's not hard to see from this view why the California Zephyr is so popular between Denver and Glenwood Springs!
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This westbound coal empty heads west out of Rollins. The train consists mainly of DEGX and NUCX cars. The train (symbol CMSSM-27) is headed for the North Fork branch for loading. The train will take the siding ahead at Tolland to allow Amtrak 5 to pass.
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It's been nearly two years now since the bridge just east of Tolland was rebuilt, and this is still and fantastic shot. A few clouds enter the sky; a sign of the oncoming afternoon storms.
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After a two hour delay due to a broken coal train (which the crew did a fine job getting back into working order as quickly as they could), Amtrak 5 hustles west through the canyon between Rollins and Tolland. Fall colors are nearing their peak at this altitude.
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