Photo ID: 103887 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 7, 2011 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 16 Broomfield, CO 2213 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF Although there have been a lot of rerouted coal trains on the Front Range Sub this summer, this empty with a colorful consist is not one of them! This is in fact the Valmont coal train, returning to Denver from Boulder. If nothing changes with Xcel Energy's plans, this train will cease by the end of 2017 as Valmont plans to shut down its coal-fired generator. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 103889 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 7, 2011 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 15 (North Broomfield) Broomfield, CO 1650 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF The Valmont coal empty just received its final warrant of the day, taking it from MP 17 to the Restricted Limits at Clear Creek. Despite slippery rails (thanks to the late summer rain shower), it didn't take long for the train to reach track speed. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 103890 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 7, 2011 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 11 Arvada, CO 1704 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Charging west through Arvada, BNSF's Denver-Provo manifest will be taking the siding at Leyden to wait for several eastbounds, including Amtrak. The fourth unit in the consist was a Santa Fe painted GP60 that will be used in Grand Junction as BNSF's local switcher. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 103891 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 7, 2011 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 24 (Plain) Arvada, CO 1700 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific One axiom on any railroad is "hurry up and wait". That was certainly proven to be true on this afternoon as this eastbound got stopped at the grade crossing at Plain for over an hour due to maintenance. Once maintenance had cleared, there was a new issue...the crew didn't have enough time left on the clock to get down to Rocky. So, they had to do the crew change at Plain. The crew took nearly two hours to get to Plain, and the eastbound Zephyr got stopped for 45 minutes around Tunnel 4 as a result. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 103892 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 7, 2011 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky Spur Arvada, CO 1824 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Rocky Flats Industrial Lead (UP) Union Pacific, Southern Pacific The West Local switches out covered hoppers at the TXI Aggregate plant at the north end of the Rocky Flats Industrial Lead. The West Local typically had two geeps until 2003 or so when it went to a standard of three. There was a time when it ran with four! However, now that the Rocky Flats cleanup has pretty well completed, the local is back to just two geeps most of the time. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 103893 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 7, 2011 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky Spur Arvada, CO 2054 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Rocky Flats Industrial Lead (UP) Union Pacific, Southern Pacific Peekaboo! UP 1482 (ex-SP 7112) peaks out from behind a hill of sand/dirt/aggregate as it prepares to start pulling south. Switching is complete at the TXI Aggregate plant and the brakeman is knocking off brakes. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 103894 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 7, 2011 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky Spur Arvada, CO 2258 (6 Comments Posted) Subdivision Railroad Rocky Flats Industrial Lead (UP) Union Pacific, Southern Pacific I love the classic sound of EMD's 645 two stroke engine! So, when the West Local was getting ready to start pulling on the string of hoppers, I decided it was a good time to make a recording. I was not disappointed and I hope you're not either. Click on the "Hear It" link above to download the sounds associated with this shot of the train throttling up. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 103895 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 7, 2011 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky Spur Arvada, CO 1777 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Rocky Flats Industrial Lead (UP) Union Pacific, SSW It is early September and the sunflowers are in full bloom! The West Local has completed switching at TXI Aggregate and is now pulling up the 6% grade away from the plant. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 103896 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 7, 2011 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky Spur Arvada, CO 2015 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Rocky Flats Industrial Lead (UP) Union Pacific, Southern Pacific After completing its work on the Rocky Spur, the West Local is now headed south back toward the main track. On the way back, the train will first have to run through the wye where Rocky Flats used to be located. This will allow the train to back down the Spur out onto the main and head east back to town. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.