Just west of the east end of Eisele (Clay), the westbound morning Zephyr glides past a heart of Elk. They blend in pretty well with the foliage, but you can see them in the foreground at the bottom of the picture. The conductor on Amtrak made an announcement to the passengers so they can look for the Elk as the train rolls by.
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A P42DC and a P40DC lead the westbound Zephyr on this Thursday morning. The P40DC, AMTK 816, had its prime mover replaced about a decade ago as part of a rebuild program Amtrak ran. AMTK 816 now has 4,250 HP like its P42DC cousins, but still has mechanical air brakes instead of electronic air brakes.
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As the westbound Zephyr glides along the main track at Eisele (Clay), direct your attention up the mountain to the top of the image. Several folks have some great homes at the top of Blue Mountain Road. Pretty fantastic view out over the plains, as well as the tracks.
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Shortly after the westbound Zephyr passed by, a herd of elk decided it was time to cross the tracks and head up the hillside. Fortunately this decision was made after Amtrak passed! No other trains were around, so the three dozen or so elk safely crossed the rails.
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Up the hillside from Eisele (Clay), a herd of elk gathers amongst the foliage and small amount of snow that has not yet melted. Several of the elk take an interest in the buzzing noise generated by the drone taking their picture.
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Five units lead a westbound BNSF coal empty, wrapped through the curves at Little Ten Curve near West Rocky. The train is currently stopped on the siding as there is maintenance ahead in the Tunnel District. The train will have to sit here for a few hours, waiting for the maintenance window to be over.
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A quartet of orange BNSF units are cut in half by a red Canadian Pacific putting in some power sharing miles on BNSF. The train is stopped on the siding at Rocky, waiting for a maintenance window ahead to clear up.
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15 years ago, coal trains on the Moffat were ubiquitous and as common as leaves on a tree. However, today, they have become intermittent at best. Even more unusual is an empty westbound BNSF coal train. However, here one sits in the siding in the late morning on a somewhat windy Thursday. The train will be sitting for a few hours to wait for a maintenance window to close ahead in the Tunnel District.
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A guest from the north is spending some time with BNSF. Actually, with the recent merger with KCS, CP is no longer a northern railroad. CPKC now covers Canada, the central United States, and Mexico! This paint scheme will be fading in to history in the coming years.
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One of the 19 "25th Anniversary" units BNSF created is the 4th unit on a westbound coal empty sitting in the siding at Rocky. These units are the closest (to date) that BNSF has come to having a heritage unit.
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