Photo ID: 105750 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 27, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Simms Street Arvada, CO 1450 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific On clear and temperate January afternoon, a coal load heads east out of the east end of Leyden. This coal train is the "Public Service", headed for the Xcel Energy Cherokee Power Plant in northeast Denver. This train likely has less than a year left in it before it is gone forever. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105751 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 27, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Simms Street Arvada, CO 1406 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Here is a statement I honestly never thought I'd say: coal trains are a dying breed. Less than ten years, there were rumors that the Moffat was nearing capacity due to all the coal trains. As many as 24 trains (12 each way) were running in a 24 hour period. Now, 1 train in a 24 hour period seems lucky. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105752 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 27, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Simms Street Arvada, CO 1332 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) XCLX Why take a picture of a coal hopper? Because they are becoming less and less common. The hoppers that say XCLX on the side seem to be dropping off particularly fast, as Xcel Energy is refactoring many of its plants to burn natural gas rather than coal. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105753 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 27, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Simms Street Arvada, CO 1451 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific You know me! Always a sucker for an EMD roster shot. And these are becoming easier to get on the Moffat lately, too. UP seems to be less picky about what power winds up where. Seems that most coal trains (what few that are left) have at least a few...if not a majority...EMDs on them. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105754 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 27, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Simms Street Arvada, CO 1354 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A trio of mid-train swing helpers assist this eastbound Public Service coal train as it crosses the Simms Street grade crossing in Arvada. So vandals performed quite a number on the third unit, completely wiping out the flag on the engineer's side of the C44AC-CTE. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105755 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 27, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tennyson Street Arvada, CO 1442 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Five years ago, there were only two tracks here at the Tennyson Street grade crossing: UP's Main and the BNSF Spur to Golden. Now, however, there are five tracks at Tennyson Street. BNSF's Spur is on the far right. Then, moving left, we have UP Main 2 and UP Main 1. Off to the left of the frame are the two commuter rail tracks for RTD's Gold Line to Arvada, which is set to open in the fall of 2016. Here, the back end of a coal load sits on Main 1 as hostlers work to cutout the swing helpers at C&S Junction. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105756 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 27, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tennyson Street Denver, CO 1535 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific If you look in the distance on the right side of the frame, you'll see a trio of units on the move between the two halves of this coal load. Normally, the swing helpers on a coal train would be cut out at Pecos Street. However, on this day, a coal train was already sitting on Bypass 2, preventing the swing helpers from using the Pecos Street Crossover. So, the train had to stop at C&S Junction to set out the helpers. This was, no doubt, very frustrating for motorists on Lowell Blvd. The back half of the train blocked traffic while the units were set out. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105757 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 27, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Parfet Street Arvada, CO 1464 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Golden (BNSF) BNSF Iron and wires! A westbound Beer Run creeps along at around 10 MPH next to RTD's commuter line, the Gold Line. The overhead catenary will power commuter trains starting in fall 2016. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105758 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 27, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Parfet Street Arvada, CO 1613 (2 Comments Posted) Subdivision Railroad Golden (BNSF) BNSF The sun is just minutes away from setting behind the mountains in the western sky. With the recent railroad recession, the Beer Run has not necessarily been running daily. In fact, this was the only Beer Run on this Wednesday, east or west! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105759 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 27, 2016 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Parfet Street Arvada, CO 1448 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Golden (BNSF) BNSF The westbound Beer Run slowly shuffles along parallel to Ridge Road and the new RTD Gold Line in western Arvada. It is not uncommon to find such a westbound headed for Golden between 3pm and 5pm. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.