On the approach to the west portal of Tunnel One, UP's MGJNY finds some wonderful morning sunlight. UP only has three unit coal trains currently scheduled to run east in the entire month of January 2020! Lately, coal trains have been carved up some and placed on the MGJNY, rather than being run as unit trains.
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The MGJNY passes by an Approach Diverging signal at milepost 14.6. The train has a "double yellow" signal because it is going in to the siding at Leyden to meet a slightly late Zephyr.
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While UP no longer runs a manifest between Denver and Salt Lake City over the Moffat, a manifest is still run regularly between Denver and Grand Junction (and vice versa). Here is one such Grand Junction to North Yard manifests on a beautiful (and temperate) January morning, just west of Leyden.
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This eastbound MGJNY had a few dozen empty flat cars on its tail end. Here, we are hovering above them as the train heads toward the siding at Leyden.
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Running a little over an hour late, the westbound Zephyr climbs up from the base of Coal Creek Canyon toward the east portal of Tunnel One. This is a fairy typical consist for the Zephyr this time of year.
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Quickly gaining altitude as it rises above the plains, the head end of the westbound Zephyr is about to disappear in to Tunnel One. This is the first of 28 tunnels the train will pass through in the next 15 miles on the way up to the Moffat Tunnel.
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Safe journeys, #5! The tail end of the westbound Zephyr is about to disappear in to the east portal of Tunnel One. Passengers are getting close to the start of the "Tunnel District", which really starts at Tunnel Two. Between there are Tunnel 29, its light and dark as the train passes in and out of 27 tunnels.
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After meeting the Zephyr at Plain, the eastbound Provo-Denver got lights to continue east toward Denver. Here, a trio of C44-9Ws leads the train toward the grade crossing at Blue Mountain.
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A trio of Heritage 2 C44-9Ws lead an eastbound BNSF Provo-Denver through the S-Curves at Coal Creek and Blue Mountain. It is a little unusual to see three Heritage 2 units together like this in 2020! Another two DPUs are bringing up the tail end, currently obstructed behind trees and a small cut in the distance.
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A C44-9W and an ES44C4 bring up the tail end of BNSF's Provo-Denver manifest just east of the grade crossing at Blue Mountain. As is rather common, a majority of the train is made up of tank cars.
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Three C44-9Ws, all still wearing their original Heritage 2 paint scheme, roll slowly east through the siding at Leyden. The train will be stopping briefly because a UP train is setting out a bad order car at Utah Junction, blocking the main. Note the cars, clearly blocked, in the train.
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Here is a scene that looked dramatically different 25 years ago! This was once "rural" west Arvada, but now just as much "suburb" as any other part of Arvada. The siding of Leyden is now among a few neighborhoods and Ralston Valley High School. BNSF's Provo-Denver glides east on the siding amidst the suburban scene.
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This eastbound Provo-Denver is in the siding, but not because it is meeting a westbound. The route to the yard is currently blocked at Utah Junction by a UP train, so they'll be hold here for 45 minutes or so until the route is clear. There will not be any other westbounds leaving Denver today.
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