The Zephyr is just over an hour late as it passes the west switch of Eisele (Clay). The Zephyr overtook a westbound UP coal empty at Rocky.
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The westbound Zephyr climbs toward Tunnel 1, which is clearly visible center frame. In the distance, you can see the freshly paved road that is part of the new Canyon Pines neighborhood. No houses have been built...yet...
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In and out of Tunnel 1. The head end of the Zephyr has exiting the west portal while the last few Superliners have yet to enter it. The tunnel is 366 feet long, so not nearly long enough for the entire Zephyr to be inside the tunnel at once.
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Coal traffic has picked up slightly on the Moffat in the past few months. Not to say coal traffic is anything like it was 15 years ago, but there has been 1-2 trains a week lately. A year ago, there was maybe one a month.
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Just beyond the base of Coal Creek Canyon, a westbound UP coal empty is climbing the roughly 2% grade up to Tunnel 1. One of the alignments considered by David Moffat for the line was up Coal Creek Canyon, but that was (obviously) not the ultimate alignment chosen.
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On a beautiful morning at the end of November, a westbound UP coal empty headed for the West Elk mine on the North Fork branch is climbing up to Tunnel 1. The three units on the head end are all there is on the 98-car train.
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Not a lot to be said about this shot. Headlights from an eastbound train light up as the train approaches the east portal.
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A pair of SD70ACes leads an eastbound coal train out of Tunnel 1. However, you might notice something a little bit different about this train. It is an empty! The first UP coal empty I think I've ever seen run eastbound on the Moffat. The cars were pulled out of storage somewhere west on the Rio Grande.
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100 empty coal cars led by a pair of SD70ACes roll east at Blue Mountain crossing. These coal cars had been stored in some siding on the ex-DRGW (or possibly in Grand Junction) and are now being take east.
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A pair of SD70ACes leads an empty coal train east through Little Ten Curve at Rocky. The train met the Zephyr at Crescent and a westbound coal empty at Plain. It now has clear (green) signals the rest of the way in to Denver.
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Two units are in charge of this eastbound coal empty at Rocky. And yes, it is indeed a coal empty heading east! The 100 coal cars had been stored somewhere on the ex-DRGW.
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An eastbound coal empty rolls east out of Rocky on a clear (green) signal, ready to dive in to Barbara's Gulch. A nice pair of matched SD70ACes lead the train.
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