Photo ID: 106384 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 25, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1375 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The eastbound Zephyr heads down the main at Leyden in...morning light? Yep! Due to problems on Donner Pass, yesterday's Zephyr got delayed 14 hours!!! While I certainly feel bad for the passengers and crew, it was great shooting the Zephyr in Denver in morning sunlight. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106385 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 25, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1368 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak One of the challenges of shooting the Zephyr in the Denver area is the time of day the train comes through. Both Zephyrs are typically backlit as the westbound Zephyr leaves in the morning and the eastbound Zephyr arrives in the evening. Once in awhile, though, one of the Zephyr will run late...so late that the tables are turned. Such a turning of the tables happened on this frigid January morning when the eastbound Zephyr (from the day before) was 14 hours late! That allowed for a run in to Denver in the early morning light. Here, the train is moving at track speed on the main at Leyden. A fresh dusting of snow on the mountains in the distance. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106386 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 25, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1304 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak I was hoping that this 14-hour-late Zephyr might actually be late enough to be held at Rocky or Leyden in order to meet the morning Zephyr. Turns out that wasn't the case...dispatch got the train as close to Denver as possible. #6 had to hold at the Pecos Crossover to wait for #5, causing it to lose even more time. The station in Denver can now only support two non-commuter trains. Most of the year, that would allow both #5 and #6 to be in the station at the same time if necessary. But right now, in January, the Winter Park Express Ski Train is taking up one of the tracks, requiring the very late #6 to wait at Pecos. Here, the train is headed toward a clear signal at east Leyden. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106387 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 25, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1354 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Sadly, this is what the West Local has typically become...just a handful of cars (or, in this case, only one) for the one day per week trip west to the Rocky Spur. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106388 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 25, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1377 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific As time continue to march ever forward, the number of patched (but not yet repainted) units from the DRGW and Espee days continues to decrease. Whereas it was common to find at least one or two patched DRGW or Espee units on the West Local, all three of these units are now wearing Armour Yellow. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106389 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 25, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1456 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific As luck would have it, the engineer on the West Local needed to throttle up a notch just as the West Local approached the camera! 10-15 years ago, the West Local would sometimes draw four geeps for power because the train could be 30-50 cars long. This was when Rocky Flats was still in its cleanup phase and Mesa Oil was still located west of Leyden. Now, however, the Rocky Flats cleanup project has long since been completed and Mesa Oil has moved, leaving only the aggregate plant at the north end of the Rocky Spur as the sole customer for the West Local. So why send three units to handle a single car? This same power is used on the South Local, which runs down to Sedalia on the Joint Line on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is easier to just leave the power MU'd together for the trip west on Wednesday's. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106390 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, January 25, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1327 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The West Local has an Advanced Approach (flashing yellow) signal at the intermediate west of Leyden. The train will head down the main at Rocky so it can get to the Rocky Spur, but DS-80 has not yet set up a signal at the east end of Rocky. If anything happens with the sole-remaining customer at the north end of the Rocky Spur, the West Local will fade into the history books. So I figure it is worth shooting now, as much as possible. On a side note, UP 1359 is ex-DRGW 3118! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.