Photo ID: 105590 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Blue Mountain Drive (MP 22.43) Arvada, CO 1435 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific It is a rather cloudy and hazy morning along the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies as the westbound MNYRO (Manifest, North Yard, CO to Roper, UT) pulls through the S-Curve east of the Blue Mountain Road Crossing. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105591 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Coal Creek (MP 23) Arvada, CO 1380 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific After meeting its counterpart at Plain, the eastbound MRONY (Manifest, Roper, UT to North Yard, CO) starts picking up a bit of speed at the bottom of Coal Creek Canyon. Why is it picking up speed? The east switch of Plain would not reverse, so the crew had to put the switch in hand throw and align the switch manually. As a result, DS-82 had to flag the train past the red signal at East Plain. The train had to proceed at restricted speed (roughly 10 MPH) until they can across a signal more favorable than stop. The signal at the base of Coal Creek was clear, so the train is accelerating up toward the 25 MPH limit. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105592 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Coal Creek (MP 23) Arvada, CO 1401 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific, Southern Pacific Some morning rays shine through the clouds to the east. A former Espee AC4400CW brings up the rear of the MRONY through the curves at Coal Creek Canyon and Blue Mountain. This unit (ex-SP 328) was patched to UP 6374 on February 9, 2002. Ironically, it has almost spent twice as much time as UP 6374 (with the yellow patch) than it spent as unpatched SP 328! If you look in the top left corner of the picture, you can see the east portal of Tunnel 1. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105593 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West of Rollins Rollinsville, CO 1406 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Tis the season! Deciduous trees in Colorado are blasting through beautiful fall colors and will be losing their leaves soon. A great way to observe the fall colors is onboard the California Zephyr, charging west out of Rollins in the background. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105594 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West of Rollins Rollinsville, CO 1580 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak This right here is what inspired "Aspen Gold" as the main color for the Denver and Rio Grande Western so many decades ago. A grove of Aspen trees is right at the peak of their fall color transition as the westbound California Zephyr glides by on the main track west of Rollins. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105595 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Platteville Platteville, CO 1730 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Greeley (UP) Union Pacific A southbound manifest heads slowly south out of Platteville. There is some switching going on down around Brighton and the Vestas wind plant, so this manifest is in no huge hurry to get down to Brighton. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105596 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Platteville Platteville, CO 1665 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Greeley (UP) Union Pacific Seems like just yesterday the SD70ACe first came out. Hard to believe it has in fact been ten years now! This unit is actually considered an SD70AH by Union Pacific. It is virtually identical to an SD70ACe, except that it is heavier. Roughly 7,000 pounds heavier (427,000lbs vs 420,000lbs). While that may not seem like much, the extra weight does actually make a difference in tractive effort, allowing the unit to better grip the rails. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105597 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Louisville Louisville, CO 1712 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF BNSF's daily northbound manifest between Denver, CO and Laurel, MT heads into the town of Louisville about 20 miles north of Denver. A UP unit lends a hand on the train, paying back some leasing time. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105598 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Boulder Boulder, CO 1539 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF A northbound BNSF manifest pulls toward the south switch of the siding of Boulder. This stretch of track had a lot of damage, a large portions of the ballast and ground beneath were washed away, during the flooding in September 2013. Two years later, there is little evidence is left of the event. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105599 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South Boulder Boulder, CO 1656 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF BNSF's HDENLAU (High Priority Manifest, Denver, CO to Laurel, MT) crosses the south switch at Boulder. The large "D" sign to the right indicates that the derail is set on the Boulder siding. If you've followed my site for awhile, you know that I used to work in Boulder and would often get shots around the area. I haven't worked in Boulder for eight years now, so I it nice to get back there and get a few shots now and then. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105600 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Boulder (3,948ft) Boulder, CO 1607 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF The conductor on the northbound manifest gives a wave to the crew on the southbound sitting in the siding at Boulder. The southbound is a ballast train that is headed for Broomfield to lay ballast on the siding extension at the north end. Once the manifest clears and the Buck Local (currently tucked away in industry tracks at Valmont about a mile south) gets to Broomfield, the ballast train will also get a track warrant to head south to Broomfield. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105601 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Valmont Boulder, CO 1697 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF With a track warrant to proceed south to Broomfield, the Buck Local enters the main track near Valmont. Here, the train had been switch some industries. With switching complete, the pair of B40-8Ws are ready to make the 10 mile journey. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105602 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Valmont Boulder, CO 1681 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF A classic shot taken from Legion Park in Boulder, BNSF's Buck Local passes Hillcrest Reservoir (one of three reservoirs all right next to one another) on its journey toward Broomfield. Upon arriving in Broomfield, the local will make a trip on the Lafayette Branch to switch out the center beams loaded with lumber. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105603 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Valmont Boulder, CO 1791 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF A southbound ballast train with a single ES44C4 rolls south along Hillcrest Reservoir. The Valmont power plant, which is the primary power provider for Boulder, stands on the other side of the reservoir. The power plant is currently coal-powered, but that is expected to change in 2017 when it switches to natural gas. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105604 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, September 30, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Louisville Louisville, CO 1773 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Front Range (BNSF) BNSF After a day of overcast skies and generally lousy lighting, the best shot of the day turned out to be the last shot of the day. The sun finally broke through the clouds to offer up some excellent light of this southbound BNSF ballast train as it comes through Louisville. The train is headed for Broomfield where it will dump ballast on the new siding extension at the north end. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.