Photo ID: 110596 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden to Rocky (MP 13.4 to MP 17.4) Arvada, CO 207 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr lost about an hour between Lincoln, NE and Hastings, NE. The train made up a bit of that time east of Denver, but was still about 50 minutes late departing west out of Denver. Here, the Denver skyline stands in the haze on this summer morning as the train departs west out of Leyden. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110597 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden to Rocky (MP 13.4 to MP 17.4) Arvada, CO 154 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak As we move closer to July, the green in the landscape along the Front Range is starting to fade back toward the brownish color that it is most of the year. The Zephyr, with Phase 5 AMTK 76 and Phase 7 AMTK 174 has a baggage car and the standard seven Superliners in tow just west of Leyden. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110598 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 184 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Union Pacific has a daily slow order around Big Ten Curve between 10am and 6pm due to high heat and the concern of sun kinks. Since that 10 MPH slow order went in to effect 20 minutes earlier, the Zephyr is slow climbing up the north leg of Big Ten Curve. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110599 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 148 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound California Zephyr wraps around the outside of Big Ten Curve. You can see the the open hoppers behind the train to the left, sitting on the inside of the curve. The hoppers have now been there for over half a century! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110600 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky (7,330ft) Arvada, CO 156 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF BNSF 5856 leads the eastbound Provo-Denver manifest, sitting in the siding at Rocky. The train had to wait for the westbound Zephyr, which you can now see on the main in the distance (above the manifest), heading west. Alas, the crew of the manifest do not get to release the brakes quite yet as another westbound is coming between Leyden and Rocky. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110601 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 123 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific It is only 10:30 in the morning, yet the sun is already high in the sky as this westbound UP oil empty snakes its way through Barbara's Gulch between Leyden and Rocky. The large lake in the background is Standley Lake. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110602 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 119 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific UP 6207 leads two other GEs on a westbound oil empty through the narrow portion of Barbara's Gulch at the west end. UP 6207 originally started life as SP 183, delivered to Espee in May 1995. As you can see, eastbound passenger trains can increase to 60 MPH just ahead, whereas eastbound freight trains are still limited to 30 MPH. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110603 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 107 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Barbara's Gulch is located between Leyden and Rocky (closer to Rocky), and much of the gulch is pretty wide open. However, the gulch narrows considerably at its west end, as the tracks pass through a wall of bushes and trees on either side of the tracks. Here, a westbound UP oil train is that narrow portion of the gulch, just a few seconds away from the east end of Rocky. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110604 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 140 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF After about four months of being used for storage, the siding at Leyden has now been open and available for meets for the last month or so. An eastbound BNSF manifest is not meeting anyone this here this morning, so it is on the roll on the main track. If you look in the distance on the siding, you can see switches for the house track, which has been out of service now for many years. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110605 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS012 (East Leyden) Arvada, CO 140 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF In the OS at the east switch of Leyden, two ES44ACs with an SD70ACe sandwiched between them lead the eastbound HPVODEN. After meeting two trains at Rocky, the manifest now has a straight shot the rest of the way in to the yard in Denver. As is extremely common in summer, clouds are forming over the Rockies to the west, and will like come spilling out over the plains this afternoon. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 110606 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 135 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF, Norfolk Southern Bringing up the tail end of this BNSF Provo-Denver manifest is a BNSF ES44AC and a Norfolk Southern AC44C6M (an NS rebuild from a C44-9W). Norfolk Southern has long been known for conducting rebuilds itself at its Altoona shops rather than contracting out for rebuilds. This is a practice that other Class 1 railroads are starting to embrace to avoid having to buy new, expensive Tier-4 compliant locomotives. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.