Just over a week ago, UP 1982 led a westbound rock train over the Moffat. Another surprise came to the Moffat on this day when UP 1983 (the Western Pacific heritage unit) led the MRONY! Here, the train is stopped in the hole at Cliff, waiting on a westbound coal empty.
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Even though I never personally had a chance to experience it, I always thought Western Pacific was a cool railroad. I liked their paint schemes and wish they could have lasted a bit longer. So it was particularly great to see the WP Heritage Unit leading the MRONY over the Moffat. Here, the train waits on the siding at Cliff for a westbound.
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It is rather hard to believe that it is getting close to a decade since Union Pacific's heritage program was first unveiled. The paint on the Western Pacific unit is starting to show its age a bit, although still looks pretty sharp overall.
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The MRONY had a very colorful consist on this particular afternoon. Not only was the train led by UP 1983 (Western Pacific heritage unit), but the second unit out was this (slightly scorched) Kansas City Southern Retro Belle.
Coincidentally, this just happens to be the first Retro Belle unit that I ever shot and posted, way back in December of 2007.
Similar to BNSF, UP has also been activating older power recently in order to meet power demands. One such example is this "triclops" SD60M, the fourth unit on the MRONY.
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The MRONY has a colorful consist between the Western Pacific heritage unit and a Kansas City Southern Retro Belle SD70ACe. The train is sitting in the siding at Cliff, waiting for a westbound coal empty.
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A westbound coal empty knocks down the signal at the east end of Cliff on its journey west. Among the consist is a patched Espee AC4400CW and a former Espee GP40-2, catching a ride west to Grand Junction after its 90-day inspection at Burnham.
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When a unit used in yards or on locals, such as this GP40-2, need to head for the shops for an inspection, they will frequently catch a ride on a train, running DIC (Dead In Consist). This GP40-2 is headed back to Grand Junction after an inspection at Burnham in Denver.
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This great looking consist just happens to be 75% EMD which, of course, is something of an oddity with GE dominating. That fact is unlikely to change anytime soon. It sounds like GE will have a Tier 4 compliant engine ready by mid-2015 whereas EMD says they won't even have a prototype until 2016 and won't be ready for production until 2017! All new engines must meet Tier 4 EPA emissions standards starting January 1, 2015.
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The Continental Divide is just visible in the distance as a colorful consist that includes the Western Pacific heritage unit and a KCS Retro Belle lead the MRONY east out of the siding at Cliff.
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The MRONY is headed east out of the siding at Cliff and toward the shortest tunnel on the Moffat, Tunnel 29. This perch far above the tracks and South Boulder Creek is a great place to watch some action.
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One last look at UP 1983, the Western Pacific heritage unit, as it leads the MRONY (Manifest, Roper to North Yard) just above Tunnel 29.
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I enjoy shots of units from above, simply because they are less common that most other shots. If you hadn't seen the top of an SD70ACe before, not that there are only two radiator fans instead of three. And, as with all EMD units since the SD70, the dynamic brakes are located behind the radiator.
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An eastbound UP manifest, which includes an SD70M in the consist, creeps along at the base of Coal Creek Canyon, crossing CO-72. The blazing hot temperatures of the last week have a lot of slow orders out there, protecting against the possibility of sun kinks in the tracks. The trains was barely making 10 MPH right here.
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