Photo ID: 107792 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, December 8, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West of Cliff Gilpin County, CO 1093 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Not far west of Cliff, the tracks cross South Beaver Creek Road and South Boulder Creek (the actual creek!). On a sunny Saturday morning, an on-time Zephyr crosses the bridge over a largely frozen South Boulder Creek. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107793 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, December 8, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Gilpin County, CO 1258 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific An SD70ACe-T4, an SD70M, and an SD70ACe lead an eastbound MRONY past some MOW equipment that is tied down on the siding at Cliff. UP recently replaced the bridge over South Boulder Creek located about halfway through the siding of Cliff. The old wood bridge was replaced with a new steel and concrete bridge. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107794 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, December 8, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Gilpin County, CO 1220 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific It is a bit of a sad morning as this eastbound manifest may mark the end of an era. This is the MRONY. Manifest, Roper, UT to North Yard, CO. Since the UP/SP merger in 1996, a manifest has run between Denver and Salt Lake City over the former Rio Grande, just as many such freights ran on Espee and the Grande before. Now, however, thanks to Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), UP is eliminating the train (and its westbound counterpart, the MNYRO). PSR aims to reduce car dwell times and focus on moving cars rather than trains. UP believes that Roper Yard in Salt Lake City is redundant to the other SLC Yard and its Ogden Yard. As such, Roper's usage will be reduced and traffic between Denver and Salt Lake City will move via Ogden (and the Overland Route) moving forward. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107795 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, December 8, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Gilpin County, CO 1150 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific An all-EMD lash up leads the final MRONY eastbound on the main at Cliff. For what may be the final UP manifest train to run over the former Grande between Salt Lake City and Denver, it somehow seems fitting that it should have all-EMD power on the head end. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107796 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, December 8, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 1142 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Heading directly in to the low winter sun, the final MRONY crosses the grade crossing at Plain. Another 21 miles is all the train has left on its journey. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107797 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, December 8, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1139 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A trio of SD70s of various flavors round the curve at Big Ten. The units are leading a 6,700-foot long MRONY! It is likely to be the final MRONY as UP is shifting is Colorado/Utah freight traffic to the Overland Route through Wyoming. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107798 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, December 8, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky (7,330ft) Arvada, CO 1116 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A very long MRONY heads east on the main at Rocky. As the head end approaches the east signal, the tail end of the train has not yet come in to view back at Little Ten Loop. This may be the final (regular) UP manifest of this length on the Moffat. The MNYRO and MRONY are no more after this rain arrives in North Yard. UP will now run an MNYGJ and MGJNY for cars in Grand Junction, but that train is likely to be shorter. No more UP manifests on Solider Summit... Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107799 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, December 8, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1170 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The final MRONY passes the intermediate signal at MP 14.5 as it heads toward North Yard. The train arrived at Bond at 2:45am, and I was worried I would not be able to get any shots of it. As luck would have it (for me), the train did not depart Bond until nearly 6am, giving ample time for the sun to come up and me to get out. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107800 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, December 8, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1172 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific UP has received around 90 SD70ACe-T4s from EMD. These units are Tier-4 emissions compliant, but there might be a problem. It would seem that UP is starting to put many of the new units in to long term storage. The exact reason is not known. Is it possible that EMD has not yet worked out the bugs in its Tier-4 hardware for the units to be reliable enough for use? Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107801 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, December 8, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1163 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The final MRONY rolls in to the history books as it heads toward Leyden and, not far beyond, North Yard. As of the date of this picture, this is set to be the final manifest train that UP will run between Roper Yard in Salt Lake City and North Yard in Denver...the west and east end points of the former Rio Grande. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107802 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, December 8, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1079 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific While it certainly is no secret that Colorado coal has radically diminished in the past decade, it hasn't completely disappeared. Energy Mine on the Craig Branch and West Elk Mine on the North Fork Branch both still load trains. And these trains still need to help to conquer the 2% grades on the journey east. As such, a light power move was sent out of North Yard for Grand Junction on this Saturday. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107803 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, December 8, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 1114 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific About a decade ago, when SD70ACes were the latest and greatest power, it was highly rare to find one on the Moffat. The former Grande had become a reliable GE staple. However, as time has drawn on, that tend has largely disappeared and it is now quite common to find EMD power on the Moffat again. Such is the case here as an SD70ACe leads two GEs on a light power move west at MP 14.5. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107804 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, December 8, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS036 (East Cliff) Gilpin County, CO 1073 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A westbound rounds the curve at the east end of Cliff on a chilly Saturday afternoon. The lighting is pretty decent for the power. The shadowy background (including CO-72) helps to highlight UP 8488 as it makes its way west. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107805 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, December 8, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Gilpin County, CO 1115 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A coal train that will soon load at the West Elk Mine will need three mid-train swing helpers for the journey back east to Denver. Three such units on are their way as the cruise west on the main at Cliff. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107806 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, December 8, 2018 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Gilpin County, CO 1027 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific One of my favorite units of the 21st Century, a Phase II SD70M, leads a work train (consisting of a mere four cars) rolls east toward a clear signal at East Cliff. I am a fan of the Phase II SD70M specifically because of the (slightly) angled radiator intake, but original UP wide nose cab. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

Next Page