Photo ID: 111467 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 15, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 110 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF We are deep into "blue hour" as the light is quickly fading after sunset. The weather has been quite nice and it is still around 40°F (4°C) here at Palmer Lake as a northbound BNSF Q-Train leaves the single track behind and enters into the Track Warrant Control (TWC) limits of Main 2, dispatched by UP. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111454 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 15, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 81 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific A trio of GEs has the duty of handling UP's MNYPU this afternoon as the train rounds Palmer Lake on the single track at the top of the Palmer Divide. This train is almost always a "night owl", running over the Joint Line in the dark. It was a rare opportunity to be able to get shots of a UP manifest on the Joint Line in daylight! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111453 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 15, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 128 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific UP 2692 and train have reach "the top of the hill". Palmer Lake marks the top of the Palmer Divide for trains at an elevation of 7,297 feet (2,224 meters) above sea level. This southbound has left directional running and two mains behind in favor of the single mainline that runs between Palmer Lake and Crews through Colorado Springs. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111164 Date Shot Photo By Friday, October 4, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 133 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific, CSX At just shy of 7,200 feet above sea level, this colorful southbound unit ethanol train has reached the top of Palmer Divide. The CSX/CP mix of power rolls by several folks out fishing in Palmer Lake while enjoying the absolutely beautiful October morning. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109921 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 17, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 189 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF BNSF 3890, a Tier-4 compliant ET44C4, leads the northbound HKCKDEN. BNSF often refers to this as the "Kick Den", which runs between Kansas City and Denver. The train is about to wrap around Palmer Lake and move on the Main 2 for the trip to Denver. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109920 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 17, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 203 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF Colorado Highway 105, runs between Palmer Lake and Monument and (more or less) parallels to the single track main. A trio of GEs lead BNSF's Kansas City to Denver manifest. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109919 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 17, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 202 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF Just about a half mile south of Palmer Lake, BNSF's northbound Kansas City to Denver is rolling through the S-curves on the single track main. An ET44C4 is on the point of the train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109643 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, October 15, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 204 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF Three units bring up the end of this southbound coal load, which is now on the single track main at Palmer Lake. The train is sadly less than two hours away from disaster. Right around 3:30pm, the train will derail when crossing I-25 just south of Bragdon. No injuries to the crew, but sadly, a semitruck driver caught up in the derailment beneath the bridge will parish. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109642 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, October 15, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 419 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF This southbound coal load has reached "the top of the hill" at Palmer Lake. Here, the Joint Line crests the Palmer Divide at 7,300 feet above sea level. This is now single track territory for the next 25 miles or so. The train will shifting in to dynamic brake mode now for the downgrade journey. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108393 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, July 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 1067 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific Southbound coal train will often stop in "The Sag", just north of Palmer Lake, in order to cool their traction motors after the long climb up from Denver. However, with no opposing northbound traffic, this coal load got the green signal to continue snaking right through The Sag and head past Palmer Lake on to the single track main through Colorado Springs. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108392 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, July 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 948 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific Southbound coal train will often stop in "The Sag", just north of Palmer Lake, in order to cool their traction motors after the long climb up from Denver. However, with no opposing northbound traffic, this coal load got the green signal to continue snaking right through The Sag and head past Palmer Lake on to the single track main through Colorado Springs. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108052 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 23, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed North of Palmer Lake Douglas County, CO 797 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF This coal load is sitting stopped at an Approach (yellow) signal at MP 50.5 on Main 1. The dispatcher has some northbound trains aligned through the single track and on to Main 2 ahead at Palmer Lake. Coal trains will often sit at this signal when they know they cannot proceed beyond Palmer Lake. The train is straddling "the sag", which allows the traction motors on the units to cool after the long and hard climb up from Denver. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107950 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, December 31, 2019 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 943 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A pair of DPUs bring up the tail end of this southbound coal load, which is now in dynamic braking mode as the train is descending downhill. The head end of the train is not far off from the first of the four sidings the train will pass by on the single track, Monument. The three others beyond Monument are Academy, Colorado Springs, and Kelker. The last, Kelker, is generally not too useful for meets as it is too short to accommodate most of the trains on the Joint Line. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107949 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, December 31, 2019 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 920 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A timeless, classic shot of a southbound coming around the south edge of Palmer Lake on the single track. For the 108 miles of the Joint Line between Denver and Bragdon, roughly 76 miles has 2+ main tracks. However, the roughly 32 miles through Colorado Springs only has a single track with four sidings. The single track is frequently something of a bottleneck for trains. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107948 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, December 31, 2019 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 1014 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A slightly different perspective from Palmer Lake! A southbound coal load starts to pick up a little speed as it comes over the top of the hill. Decades ago, when there were still two tracks through Colorado Springs (Rio Grande and Santa Fe), the Santa Fe main (Main 2) would have been visible toward the top right of the picture, on the opposite side of the lake. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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