Photo ID: 104571 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, March 2, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Mesa (8,880ft) Aurora, CO 1359 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific While loaded coal trains can be some of the heaviest trains on a railroad, empty coal trains can be some of the lightest. This westbound empty, entering the siding at Mesa, has a pair of units for power. They are distributed and running in a 1x0x1 setup! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104572 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, March 2, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Mesa (8,880ft) Aurora, CO 1227 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific The dispatcher set up a perfect meet at Mesa between a westbound coal empty (to the right, in the siding) and an eastbound manifest (to the left, on the main). The coal empty would ultimately tie down here in the siding as there was no spot for it (yet) on either of the bypass tracks at North Yard. The manifest is the daily MDVSI and would continue east to Salina, KS. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104573 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, March 2, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Mesa (8,880ft) Aurora, CO 1585 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific This is probably my favorite shot of the day. A light dusting of snow from flurries over the weekend remains on the ground as the eastbound MDVSI (Manifest, Denver to Salina, KS) cruises along just east of Mesa with a warrant to MP 595, right at Byers, CO. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104574 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, March 2, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Mesa (8,880ft) Aurora, CO 1376 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific While most of the major rail lines in to and out of Denver have changed ownership (as the result of mergers) over the course of the past 30 years, the KP line has not. 30 years ago, this was UP's line to Denver from the east and that is still the case today. The line operates under track warrants with some CTC "islands" at seven sidings along the 200 mile stretch from Denver, CO to Sharon Springs, KS. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104575 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, March 2, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Mesa (8,880ft) Aurora, CO 1536 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific I'm always a sucker for a roster shot of an EMD unit! Even when said EMD unit is a (not-so-aesthetically pleasing) SD70ACe. Not to say that I think they are ugly; they have grown on me. But they still don't match up to a spartan cab...or even the wide cab on an SD70M. It is somewhat hard to believe that it has been nearly 10 years since these units were being "sent through the wringer" by EMD. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104576 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, March 2, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Mesa (8,880ft) Aurora, CO 1345 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific When one (or both) of the bypass tracks are open at North Yard, DS-86 will generally take westbound coal empties to one of the two tracks to tie down. However, when the tracks are not available, westbounds will generally tie down either in the siding of Sable or Mesa. Such was the case on this day as this westbound empty, led by a single C44AC-CTE, ties down in the siding at Mesa. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104577 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, March 2, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Mesa (8,880ft) Aurora, CO 1515 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific The crew on board this westbound coal train sits patiently in the cab of the sole leader, waiting on the arrival of a van to drive them the rest of the way in to town to North Yard. Another crew will take the train the rest of the way to Denver so additional power can be added for the trip west to the mine. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104578 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, March 2, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Havana Street Denver, CO 1480 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots Regional Transportation District Construction of RTD's "East Line", the commuter line from Union Station to Denver International Airport, is reported as being 60% complete. Just west of Havana Street, you can see that the westbound track (to the right) is fully ballasted. The eastbound track (to the left/center) has largely been laid, but no ballast has been added yet. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104579 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, March 2, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Havana Street Aurora, CO 1475 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots Regional Transportation District This shot looks east along RTD's future "East Line" commuter line from Union Station to DIA. The shot looks at the Havana Street grade crossing. Although no wire has been erected yet, most of the catenary poles are up along either side of the tracks. UP's Limon Sub is off to the left. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104580 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, March 2, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Roydale Aurora, CO 1287 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific When RTD approached UP and asked to build the "East Line" along the Limon Sub right-of-way, UP had a few conditions. Specifically, they are getting CTC installed between the yard in Denver and Mesa. A stretch of about nine miles. In addition, a second main track is being added between the yard at Roydale (about four miles). There are several locals that work between Denver and Roydale and the addition of the second main will allow through trains to get through the limits much easier and faster. In this shot, you can see new signals - not yet fully installed or activated - near the west end of Roydale at Havana Street. Here, the second main will go back down to a single main. The track closest to the photographer is not yet active, but will become Main 2 once it is active. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104581 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, March 2, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Roydale Denver, CO 1374 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Limon (UP) Union Pacific Just west of Roydale (and Havana Street), we see the progress on the construction of Main 2 on the Limon Sub. This second main will be about four miles long, paralleling the existing main to the right. The addition of this main, as well as CTC, will make it much easier for through trains to get around locals that frequently work the existing main track. In the distance, you can see the relatively new Central Park Blvd overpass just a bit east of Ulster Street (and the old Sandown Junction). Once upon a time, this shot would have contained a tunnel (for the tracks) underneath the north/south runways of Stapleton International Airport! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104582 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, March 2, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed North Yard Denver, CO 1440 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots Union Pacific Since coal tends to dominate the scene in Denver, AC units tend to be quite a bit more common that DC units. Still, DC units find their way to town on other trains such as manifests. This C44-9W sits quietly outside the North Yard engine shop, the victim of some light "tagging" on the long hood. This particular unit started life wearing the Chicago North Western lightning scheme. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104583 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, March 2, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed North Yard Denver, CO 1321 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots Union Pacific Hostlers move a cut of units from the servicing tracks to the ready tracks in North Yard. UP 7050 was delivered as an AC6000CW but has since been converted to a 4400 HP unit as redesignated as a C44/60AC. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104584 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, March 2, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed North Yard Denver, CO 1423 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots KYLE I'm not huge into rolling stock, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to nab a quick shot of this blue-schemed "Route Rock" Rock Island boxcar. It is now owned by the KYLE railroad and has, unfortunately, fallen victim to some heavy tagging. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.