As of this picture, Amtrak had repainted three P42DCs in the new Phase 7 paint scheme. Two of them are leading the westbound Zephyr on a cold, somewhat snowy spring morning. The train is rolling a few minutes late, just west of Leyden.
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The westbound Zephyr is making the climb up and around Big Ten Curve with a pair of very colorful units on the point. In just a minute, the train will be knocking down a clear (green) signal at the east end of Eisele (Clay) in the distance.
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It's rather nice that Amtrak has been running these two freshly painted P42DCs on the Zephyr for the past week or so. The irony being that, as great as it is to catch these units now, looking back ten years from now, when the Phase 7 scheme is completely ubiquitous, the Phase 5 scheme will be missed. The Zephyr is climbing the north side of Big Ten Curve in some powdered snow.
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On this particular morning, Big Ten Curve is pretty close to the boundary between snow on the ground and the ground just being wet. The snow was not able to push much to the east of Rocky overnight. Snow in April in the Denver area is certainly not uncommon, but this late in the season, the accumulations tend to be very low. Makes for a great look as the Zephyr rounds the wind break at Big Ten.
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Just west of Tunnel 18, the morning Zephyr wraps through a black and white winter wonderland. In reality, I took a bit of artistic license here and removed all the color from the photos, save for the two Phase 7 P42DCs on the point of the westbound train.
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The clouds are hanging low near the tracks as the Zephyr heads west on the main track at Crescent amidst a winter wonderland in April.
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These mornings are some of my favorite around the front range of the Rockies. Not enough snow to make traveling difficult, but enough to give a fantastic coating on the ground and in the trees. The Zephyr rolls west on the main at Crescent, horn blowing for the approaching grade crossing.
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AMTK 138 and AMTK 82 lead the westbound Zephyr around the curve on the main near the west end of Crescent. The Phase 7 paint on the units really pop against the white wintery scene in the third week of April.
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Out of Tunnel 19, a test run of the Rocky Mountaineer (ahead of the 2024 season) approaches a clear (green) signal at the west switch of Crescent.
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Wrapping around the near-180° curve at the west end of Crescent, the eastbound Rocky Mountaineer is headed back to Denver on a test run before the revenue season starts next Wednesday.
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The Rocky Mountaineer's "Rockies to the Red Rocks" is generally considered to be a summer/fall train. However, on April 19th, an eastbound test of the Mountaineer heads east through a winter wonderland at Crescent.
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The Rocky Mountaineer GP40-3s (rebuilt from GP40-2s) are fit and ready to go for the 2024 season! The matched paint scheme with the rolling stock looks really fantastic as the train rolls east through a semi-snowy scene at Blue Mountain Drive.
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The eastbound Rocky Mountaineer overtakes an eastbound UP coal empty that is sitting in the siding at Rocky to allow the passenger train around. The conductor from the coal empty is on the ground to give the Mountaineer a roll by on the way east. It is a very interesting compare/contrast between the EMD spartan cab of yesteryear and the standard GE wide cab of today.
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Near the east end of Rocky, the Rocky Mountaineer is approaching a clear (green) signal. The train will continue to town, but may get briefly held up at C&S Jct while waiting for one of the two Bypass tracks to open up. A westbound in one of the track is expected to roll about five minutes after this picture was taken, so any delay to the Mountaineer should be minimal.
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Just west of the switch that leads to the main at Rocky, a track tamper is tied down on the Rocky Flats Industrial Lead. The West Local runs up the spur on Tuesdays. Since today is Friday, MOW crews do not have to worry about the equipment being in the way for several more days.
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