Photo ID: 104613 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Titan Road Littleton, CO 2390 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF This is one of the many reasons why I live in Colorado! A snow storm from yesterday afternoon blew out overnight and left blue skies and a crisp morning. A southbound BNSF manifest is on the move near Titan Road south of Littleton on Main 1. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104614 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Acequia Littleton, CO 2042 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF At the south end of Littleton near Chatfield Reservoir is Acequia. There are a few industries that UP's South Local will switch out here on Monday's and Thursday's. Today, however, is this southbound BNSF coal load, pulling hard in Run 8. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104615 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Acequia Littleton, CO 2286 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF Being the main that is further away from US-85, it can be easy to overlook it to a certain extent sometimes along the stretch south of Littleton. But when you do stop and check it out, it is well worth it! A southbound BNSF coal train is pulling hard on Main 1 (former DRGW main, now UP main), running south on the climb to Palmer Lake along the Rockies. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104616 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Lift Louviers, CO 1962 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF Decades ago, ATSF built an intermodal terminal called "Big Lift" south of Littleton. While it has been used as an intermodal facility in many, many years, it is still used as an unloading terminal for other types of freight. It is also where BNSF keeps helper sets for certain southbound coal loads. To save on fuel, some loads now run in a 2x1 DPU setup (instead of 2x2) and then two manned helpers are added to the tail end at Big Lift. The train then runs 2x3 to Palmer Lake. Here, a coal train passes an icy looking parking lot and a helper set waiting for the train to arrive that they will tack on to. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104617 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Greenland Greenland, CO 2014 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A southbound BNSF manifest passes by the big red barn in Greenland. The "New Image" / "Heritage 2" / "Warbonnet" schemes made for an interesting walk through history! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104618 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Greenland Greenland, CO 2024 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF This red barn is something of a staple here in Greenland, CO. Railfans for years have been setting up shots like this one of southbounds on Main 1. Meanwhile, in the foreground, Main 2 lies quiet at the moment. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104619 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 1958 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF We are at the "top of the hill" as this manifest makes its way around the west side of Palmer Lake. The shiny ES44C4 makes a fantastic contrast against the snow that fell the previous night. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104620 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 2197 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF At Palmer Lake, this southbound has left the double track behind. It is now on the UP-owned, BNSF-dispatched single main track. The single track runs for roughly 30 miles through Colorado Springs. At Crews (near Fountain, CO), double track starts again. There are only four sidings over this 30 mile stretch, so it can become something of a bottleneck for the dispatcher! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104621 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 2158 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF With the explosion in oil lately, BNSF has been suffering from a bit of a power shortage. As a result, they have been leasing a lot of power as well as activating power that has been in storage. Such is the case with the Warbonnet-painted SD75Ms. To make space on the roster, BNSF has moved the units from their 8200-series numbers back to their ATSF-original 200-series numbers. As you can see, it has been done a bit hastily, too! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104622 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO 1846 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific I was out chasing for about seven hours along the Joint Line on this Saturday and this ended up being the only UP train that I saw! UP supplies the coal for both the Drake power plant in Colorado Springs and the Nixon power plant just south of Colorado Springs. Here, the Drake train has left the mainline (concrete ties to the right) and is now on the Drake lead. The switch to the lead is back near the crossover at Bijou, just around the corner in the distance. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104623 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO 1799 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific The Cimarron Street overpass offers up a nice view of the tracks...although both sides of the bridge have tight chain link fencing, making it difficult to shoot through! I decided to use the chain link to frame this shot of UP's Drake coal train heading directly for the power plant. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104624 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO 2048 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Rio Grande UP runs a local out of Colorado Springs and the local will take a "shoving platform" (as it is known on the railroad these days...also known as a boarded up caboose!) with it. The shoving platform in the Springs used to be this nicely maintained Rio Grande caboose. However, it has since been retired by UP and time will tell where it will end up. Hopefully, not beneath a cutting torch! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104625 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO 2194 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific, Rio Grande More often than not, the engine assigned as the Colorado Springs switcher is a GP40-2. Indeed, a lot of the time, it is not only a GP40-2, but a former Rio Grande GP40-2! Such is the case on this day as UP 1349 (ex-DRGW 3128) sits idling near the Colorado Springs depot. I'm not sure where the time goes, but it has been nearly seven years since UP 1349 received a full repaint! UP's Drake coal train, with "CSUX" hoppers, slowly enters the grounds of the power plant in the distance. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104626 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO 1869 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF The second BNSF manifest for the morning passes slowly through Colorado Springs on the siding. At the time the train was approaching the Springs, UP's Drake coal train was still hanging off the Drake Lead on the main track. Consequently, the dispatcher aligned this southbound through the siding. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104627 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO 2018 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A busy morning in Colorado Springs on this Saturday! UP's Drake coal train is on the Drake Lead to the left, slowly pulling in to the power plant to deliver the "black gold" that helps power Colorado Springs. A UP crew van drive by, just coming back from the switch to the Drake Lead. A crew member in the van realigned the switch for the main track. While all this happens, a BNSF manifest passes the action (and the Colorado Springs depot) on the siding. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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