Photo ID: 106579 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 22, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East of Wiggins Wiggins, CO 1588 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Brush (BNSF) BNSF A westbound coal load approaches a clear signal at the east end of Wiggins in some nice early morning light. The crossing gate broke off the arm at the grade crossing at East Wiggins, so this train is approaching the crossing very slowly in order to ensure no cars are on (or attempt to go over) the crossing. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106580 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 22, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West of Bijou Morgan County, CO 1473 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Brush (BNSF) BNSF An eastbound (soon to be northbound) coal empty, headed for the West Black Thunder Mine in Wyoming, approaches the west switch of the siding of Bijou. I-76 is visible in the background. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106581 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 22, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West of Bijou Morgan County, CO 1475 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Brush (BNSF) BNSF When I set out on the Brush Sub on this particular morning, my main goal was to try to track down and chase BNSF's Denver to Chicago Z-Train. As luck would have it, the train caught up to me just west of Fort Morgan. An ES44C4 and an ES44DC lead the train on this first day of fall. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106582 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 22, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West of Bijou Morgan County, CO 1637 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Brush (BNSF) BNSF When it comes to trains, Colorado has always been known for coal. But if you are looking to get some pictures of double stacks - or intermodal trains in general - Colorado is likely not the first place that would come to mind. However, BNSF does run an eastbound Z-Train daily from Denver to Chicago. The train departs Denver between 6:30am and 7:00am. It is the highest priority train for BNSF in Colorado. Here, a pair of units has the train rolling east on a clear signal at West Bijou. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106583 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 22, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Bijou Morgan County, CO 1489 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Brush (BNSF) BNSF A westbound coal load, which had been tied down in the siding of Bijou just west of Fort Morgan, has just received a relief crew and is getting ready to head west. Before the dispatcher will align it out the siding, however, the train must wait for a Z-Train and an S-Train (Stack Train). Here, the new conductor on the westbound is on the ground to give the Z-Train a roll-by. Note that there is a little bit of a grade for eastbounds here, climbing up toward Fort Morgan and Brush. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106584 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 22, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West Bijou Morgan County, CO 1513 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Brush (BNSF) BNSF Over the last few years, BNSF has sunk a lot of money into the Brush Sub! Most of the sidings between Denver and Brush have been extended by several thousand feet. The siding of Bijou, the west switch of which this Z-Train is passing by, is no exception. The signal is located almost directly beneath a road bridge. BNSF has actually built a whole new siding, named Corona, between Bijou and Wiggins. All-in-all, BNSF has laid over seven miles of new track to extend existing sidings or create a new one. Hudson was extended from 6,146 feet to 15,256 feet. Roggen was extended from 7,048 feet to 14,966 feet. Crest was extended from 7,133 feet to 10,078 feet. Bijou was extended from 7,870 feet to 17,285 feet. As is evidenced by this shot, the Denver-Chicago Z-Train hauls both FedEx and UPS trailers. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106585 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 22, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Brush Brush, CO 1780 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Brush (BNSF) BNSF BNSF's daily eastbound Z-Train passes through downtown Brush, CO. It is here that the Brush Sub swings to the north toward Sterling, CO and the Akron Sub starts, heading east toward McCook, NE. Coal empties will head north on the Brush Sub, while many non-coal trains will head east on the Akron Sub. The California Zephyr also uses the Akron Sub to get two and from Chicago. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106586 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 22, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West of Akron Washington County, CO 1111 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Akron (BNSF) BNSF A BNSF eastbound Z-Train, which departed Denver earlier in the morning, makes its way across the open plains of eastern Colorado. We are just east of Akron, CO and a little Sepia tone seemed appropriate for this shot. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106587 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 22, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West of Akron Washington County, CO 1260 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Akron (BNSF) BNSF It rather goes without saying that there are not too many spots with decent elevation out on the plains! So it is always nice to find a hill to take advantage of. Just west of Akron, the Akron Sub and US-34 converge right at a nice hill and the tracks run through a cut. Standing on the north side of the cut here, there is a nice view of this Z-Train as it continues east on green signals. At this point, we are too far east to even see mountains to the west. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106588 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 22, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West of Yuma Yuma County, CO 1243 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Angora (BNSF) BNSF Even though the plains are indeed quite flat, you might find it curious that this eastbound Z-Train has only two units. The reason being that, despite this train being loaded with containers (up front) and trailers (toward the back), it is actually almost entirely empty. Denver tends to be a net receiver of goods, so intermodal trains come to Denver loaded, but frequently end up leaving largely empty. That fact is reflected in the trains symbol. This is the ZDENCHI7-22. The "7" in the symbol indicates this train is an extension off another high priority train. If this was a loaded train, it would have the symbol ZDENCHI9-22. The "9" in the symbol (on Z-Trains) indicates the train 1st section, critical arrival. There are no higher-priority trains on the system than "Z9" trains. Still, the dispatcher will keep this "Z7" rolling over most other trains on the line. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106589 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 22, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West of Yuma Yuma County, CO 1182 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Akron (BNSF) BNSF There is a great bridge just west of Yuma, CO in which US-34 crosses over the tracks. It offers a nice opportunity to get some elevated shots of both eastbounds and westbounds. Here, an eastbound Z-Train is moving at track speed (around 60 MPH) as it approaches a clear signal at West Yuma. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106590 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 22, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West Yuma Yuma County, CO 1190 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Akron (BNSF) BNSF This will be the end of the chase of this Denver to Chicago Z-Train on this particular day. Commitments back home later in the day, mixed with the time it'll take to get back home (with a little chasing along the way) means this is the eastern-most point of this trip. The Z-Train approaches a clear signal at the west end of the siding of Yuma. We are about 40 miles west of the Colorado-Nebraska border here. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106591 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 22, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Otis Otis, CO 1461 (2 Comments Posted) Subdivision Railroad Akron (BNSF) BNSF An eastbound stack train approaches the Washington Street grade crossing in the small plains town of Otis, CO. This train originated in Tacoma, WA five days earlier and is headed for Omaha, NE. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106592 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 22, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Otis Otis, CO 1271 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Akron (BNSF) BNSF Like virtually all plains towns in the United States, the small town of Otis has a water tower standing tall over the town, the town's name proudly painted on the tower. This BNSF stack train is crossing one of the two grade crossing in the town as it journeys east toward its destination of Omaha, NE. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106593 Date Shot Photo By Friday, September 22, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Brush Brush, CO 1529 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Brush (BNSF) BNSF Several new trains have appeared on in Colorado in the past year or so. BNSF has started some new intermodal service between the Pacific Northwest and the Gulf Coast. There is also a Q-Train also runs to Alliance, TX on the Brush Sub. Here, that Q-Train is just coming in to the town of Brush. The Brush Sub will converge with the Akron Sub (although it will remain the Brush Sub) here in Brush. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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