One of the switch jobs that works out of 31st Street is the Salt Mine...it is so named as you might expect. Because everybody goes to work in the "salt mines"! The power on this day was very unique. Two former Santa Fe units - a GP60M and a B40-8 - work the switch job.
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Just outside of UP's 36th Street Yard in Denver, the southbound MGRDV is approaching on the inbound main. Commerce City's oil refinery can be seen protruding up in the background.
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A panel on the battery door of UP 4357 is in primer gray for some reason. This manifest - the MGRDV - is about to enter UP's 36th Street Yard, which is scheduled to be moved north to the Fort Lupton area sometime in the 2009-2010 time frame. Two strands of baretables (empty TOFC cars) are tied down off to the right.
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This interesting string of (light) power came in off the Brush Sub and is headed for the house for fueling and sanding. The power consists of an ES44AC, a B40-8, an SD40-2, and an SD75M!
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Always gotta grab a shot of an SD75 whenever you see one! The SD75's were not a hugely popular model (as far as a lot of models go). Between the SD75M and the SD75I, only 207 units were ever produced. The units have 4,300 horsepower compared to the 4,000 horsepower offered in the SD70-series units.
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Just north of BNSF's 31st Street Yard in Denver, a single ES44DC is in charge of a baretable train - a long strand of empty TOFC cars - headed for Rennicks Yard. The train is slowing on the approach to the north end of the yard, running parallel to Brighton Blvd.
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I don't care who you are, you have to admit that this unit looks very strange. The unit was built as a GP30, but it has been rebuilt as a GP39E by BNSF. Since being a GP30, the smaller (center) radiator fan has been completed removed. Even more odd, the classic rounded GP30 cab has been replaced with the square spartan cab EMD used on subsequent model (until the wide-cab anyway).
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Yes, both of these train are indeed moving. And yes, they are moving toward each other...fortunately, the BNSF local on the left is about to hit a switch at 20th Street that will take it to the right and into BNSF's yard. The UP coal load is coming out of North Yard, and will hold for the local to clear.
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This is where it all begins...the Joint Line between Denver and Pueblo. Even though BNSF owns the tracks here at 20th Street, this is where UP and BNSF come together for the start of 119 mile journey to Pueblo. UP 5984 - a UP coal load - is about to begin that journey!
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The Kansas Pacific (KP) Line - UP's Limon Subdivision - sees a lot of coal traffic. Most of the coal that comes off the Moffat runs on the KP. So, it is nice when something like a unit auto train comes rolling through every once in awhile! This empty auto train is on the move in between Sable and Mesa, heading east.
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There is a nice long-lens shot offered at the east end of Mesa. The east end of Mesa is on quite a hill, and trains crest the hill from the west, appearing (seemingly) from out of nowhere! Snow has definitely found its way to the mountain peaks of the Continental Divide.
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One of the newest additions to UP's roster - ES44AC #5298 - leads this southbound MNPNY at Hazeltine. The train is just finishing up a meet with its counterpart, the MNYNP, and is now waiting for a second northbound before it will "get the nod" from DS-86 to continue toward North Yard.
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