Photo ID: 113252 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, October 19, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Mesa to Watkins Adams County, CO 55 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific When I saw the headlight on the horizon, I originally thought this was going to be the Limon Local. I was pleasantly surprised to find an eastbound loaded oil train instead, heading out onto the plains on the Limon Sub. Considering how few trains run on the KP, this was a nice surprise. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113251 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, October 19, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Mesa to Watkins Adams County, CO 53 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific An eastbound oil train has left CTC limits behind at Mesa and is now headed east in TWC (track warrant control) limits. So why is there a trackside signal? And an ever better question...why is the signal yellow when the train is in the block beyond the signal? The key is the "D" plate located on the signal mast near the bottom. That "D" plate indicates this is a "distant signal". This signal does not give any occupancy information about the block ahead. It only gives westbound trains an indication of the CTC signal at the east end of Mesa. Since that signal at East Mesa is currently red, this distant signal shows a yellow (Approach) indication. If the signal at East Mesa were green, this signal would also show a green. Even with something in the block immediately beyond the signal. Indeed, in TWC limits, there are no "blocks" per se. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 113086 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 14, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Mesa to Watkins Denver, CO 270 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific A quick roster shot of snoot-nose SD40-2 UP 1837. The longer "snoot-nose" once held extra radio equipment. I don't think it is actually used for anything like that today. Still, looks a little different from most of the other SD40-2s built! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110780 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, July 25, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Mesa to Watkins Arapahoe County, CO 226 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific It is about 20 minutes before sunset, yet it looks like the "blue hour" has already set in as the sun has descended behind a thick layer of clouds to the west. UP 1943 and two additional units lead a westbound unit oil train around the small bridge over an irrigation ditch just west of the town of Watkins, CO. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110779 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, July 25, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Watkins to Bennett Adams County, CO 186 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific Forest fire in the the Oregon and Montana area have resulted in a week of very hazy skies in Colorado as prevailing winds have taken the smoke southeast. While not particularly enjoyable as the air quality has significantly decreased, the one benefit about the smoky atmosphere is a bit of red and yellow near dusk as the sun shines through the smoke. Meanwhile, a westbound UP oil empty rolls west on the single track main of the Limon Sub toward Denver. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110778 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, July 25, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Watkins to Bennett Adams County, CO 282 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific A lot of railfans were not (and are not) a fan of the paint job on UP 1943. Personally, it is one my personal favorite specially painted units. The clever combination of Air Force silver, Navy gray, camouflage, and red, white, and blue make for a fantastic tribute to the US military. The special unit is leading a westbound oil empty on the Limon Sub across the plains of Colorado. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110777 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, July 25, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Watkins to Bennett Adams County, CO 318 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific After clearing a 15 MPH slow order just west of Bennett, the engineer on UP 1943 throttles up in order to get back to track speed. In an interesting role reversal, the two EMD SD70ACes kick out a lot of exhaust when throttling up, while the GE in between burns clean through the acceleration. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110776 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, July 25, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Watkins to Bennett Adams County, CO 202 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific At MP 612 on the Limon Sub, a late evening oil empty rolls west, the town of Bennett, CO in the distance. UP 1943 has been working oil trains for several months now, and continues to do so, leading the unit train west through some of the hills of the Colorado plains. Incidentally, the milepost indicates we are 612 miles from Kansas City, MO (via UP rails). Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108797 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 5, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West of Watkins Aurora, CO 1009 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific UP 4014 and UP 4015 head up UP's 2021 steam excursion train west of Watkins, CO. In the distance, on the left side of the shot, there is a control tower. This is for Colorado Air and Space Port (KCFO), a small airport only a few miles away from Denver International Airport. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108796 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 5, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West of Watkins Aurora, CO 855 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific Just west of the town of Watkins, there is a great curve that has good lighting for eastbounds in the mornings and westbound in the afternoons. It worked out quite nicely that UP 4014 was making its way west at the curve in the late afternoon! Kinda nice how the curve almost entirely obscures UP 4015, the SD70M helper, in the train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106768 Date Shot Photo By Monday, December 4, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East of Watkins Adams County, CO 1326 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific A pair of SD70Ms lead a SEPTA ACS-64 and a trio of MARC SC-44 across the openness of the Colorado plains. These electric units were built by Siemens in California and are headed for Pennsylvania and Maryland. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106767 Date Shot Photo By Monday, December 4, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East of Watkins Adams County, CO 1218 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific While chasing this UP special east on the Limon Sub, I came across a couple other Denver-area railfans. Here is one gaining a little altitude while shooting the special on the approach to Manilla Road. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105169 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 3, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Watkins Watkins, CO 1833 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific, BNSF The last view of this interesting UP oil train with BNSF power comes at this short but long bridge at Watkins, CO. I'm not entirely sure if there is a creek here, or if this primarily a flood plain. If you know, feel free to share in the comments! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105155 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 3, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West of Watkins Watkins, CO 1431 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific There is a long curve and nice wooden bridge just a few miles west of Watkins, CO. There is some rain in the area as the next week is predicted to bring a LOT of precipitation in Colorado. The train is moving at a descent clip...in fact, if you look closely, you can see a bit of coal dust blowing off the hoppers on the left side of the shot. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105154 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 3, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West of Watkins Watkins, CO 1571 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific An eastbound coal train just west of Watkins, CO has an eastern visitor helping out on the point. It was good to frame up a coal train in the viewfinder as it is getting harder to find and shoot coal train, particularly UP coal trains, in the Denver area. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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