This picture is a little bit like the book game "Where's Waldo"! Can you spot the train is the scene? A westbound BNSF Denver-Provo manifest is holding on the main at Leyden. You can see his headlight toward the lower-left quadrant of the image. The train is waiting for the Zephyr to run around it through the siding.
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Despite the fact that the Moffat is back open after an eight day closure last week, there is still a lot of maintenance going on! The westbound Zephyr is being held in Denver until 12:30pm. Departing ahead of the Zephyr was this coal empty with an all-CSX consist. Note the incredible amount of equipment that UP is working on putting away in the house track, off the siding.
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It is not very often that you see a consist like this on the Moffat! This coal empty is headed for the West Elk Mine on the North Fork Branch. The lead unit, which is an ET44AC, has CSX's latest paint scheme applied. The train is coming around Little Ten Curve at Rocky.
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CSX 3278 is leading a westbound coal empty toward a clear signal at the west end of Rocky. The train will run around a freshly maintained Big Ten Curve (fresh rails, ties, and ballast) before continuing west through Eisele and into the siding at Plain. There, the Zephyr will run around the train.
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Man, if this was not such a well-known scene, you'd almost think this could be somewhere in West Virginia! A trio of CSX GE's lead a coal empty west on the Moffat on the approach to the Blue Mountain road crossing. Frequently, when foreign power like this comes in to Denver from the east, it is swapped out for UP power. So it is pretty great to see a solid consist of CSX units on this overcast afternoon.
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They are a little hard to spot, but if you look closely you can see several deer trying to make a rapid retreat from the loud rumble of the trio of CSX units running on the point of this westbound coal empty. The train is headed for the West Elk Mine on the North Fork Branch, southeast of Grand Junction.
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An ET44AH, a C40-8W, and an AC4400CW, all CSX, lead a westbound coal empty through the S-Curve at the base of Coal Creek Canyon. The train is climbing up toward Tunnel One. On the other side of Tunnel One, the train will take the siding at Plain to allow the Zephyr to pass by.
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As the westbound Zephyr approaches the grade crossing at Blue Mountain, a small herd of deer have decided they've had enough of the noise and they are making a rapid exit to the east. Nice that the deer are elephant-style!
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The westbound Zephyr is running about 45 minutes late as it approaches the grade crossing at Blue Mountain. Normally, the train would be over five hours late if it were getting to Blue Mountain at this time. However, the Zephyr is currently scheduled to depart Denver at 12:35pm to allow UP to perform maintenance in the morning and (further west) early afternoon.
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I actually took this specific photo as a public service. Some people in the neighborhood in which I live were wondering what to do in the event that crossing gates are ever stuck down. So, I figured I'd get a shot of the signal control box with the Railroad/DOT sign for reference.
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A little bit of sun peeks out from behind the clouds as the Zephyr approaches the east portal of Tunnel One.
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UP's has maintenance ongoing on the Moffat until 12:30-1:00pm at the moment. That has meant that, once that time hits, there tends to be a flood of westbound released out of Denver. BNSF's Denver to Provo manifest is approaching the grade crossing at Blue Mountain.
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A westbound BNSF manifest with three units on the point and a pair of units DPU's on the back makes its way through the S-Curves at Coal Creek. The hill leading down to the tracks is part of Jefferson County Open Space.
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A westbound BNSF sand train makes its way west up and around Big Ten Curve. This is the south side of Big Ten, on the approach to Eisele. The train is about to curve to the right (and north) to the east switch. Alas, I did not have time to hang out to get any closer pictures of this westbound.
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