A westbound oil empty comes around the bend from Eisele (Clay) on the approach tot he grade crossing at Blue Mountain. Really like how well the Denver skyline shows up from this perspective. Fortunately, it is a crystal clear day as well.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
Wrapping through the S-Curves at Blue Mountain Drive, an empty oil train heads west. It will load at the transload facility in Wash, UT. UP is pretty inconsistent with the power it places on westbound oil trains. This particular one is running with four units on the head end.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
An SD70ACe leads three GEs through the S-Curves at the base of Coal Creek Canyon. The body of water off in the distance is Standley Lake, a main source of drinking water for the Denver suburb of Westminster.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
One of the routes originally explored by David Moffat's team involved going up Coal Creek Canyon. The route would have required a tunnel a couple miles long and the route was originally scrapped in favor of the route we have today. CO-72 now follows much of that route surveyed, crossing underneath the tracks here at the base of Coal Creek Canyon.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
The siding of Plain was originally named Plainview. Rio Grande shortened the names of many of its sidings to save time when talking about them. Plainview was changed to Plain. Pinecliff to Cliff. Rollinsville to Rollins. Plainview's name is very well deserved as you can see out and over the plains of Colorado.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
While there is no train in this shot, I thought it was a pretty cool overview of Crescent. It is kind of difficult to tell from the ground that the siding is really built on a (near) 180° curve. In the top-left quadrant of the shot, you can see the west portal of Tunnel 18. Where the tracks disappear on the right side of the shot is Tunnel 19.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
Construction continues on the Gross Dam project. The project will ultimately raise the dam by 131 feet, tripling the capacity of the water in the reservoir. As you can see, the dam is being reinforced by thickening the front of the dam. Once the reinforcements has risen to the height of the existing dam, it will continue to build upward.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
You can peek out onto the plains at the area around Interlocken near the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport as a westbound oil train comes around the curve west of the grade crossing at Crescent.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
An SD70ACe leads a westbound oil train west out of Crescent toward Tunnel 19. The wires you see to the right and above the train is a slide fence. It held keep rocks off the rails. If a large enough rock breaks through one or more of the wires, it automatically changes the signals protecting the block red and alerts the dispatcher.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
Nearing the west end of the Tunnel District, a westbound unit oil train has emerged from Tunnel 27. Tunnel 27 is one of the longer tunnels in the district, and it has (roughly) 90° curve in the middle of it, so you cannot see one portal from the other.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
A single C44ACM, sporting UP's newest paint scheme, brings up the rear of this westbound unit oil train. The train is going into the siding at Cliff to meet the eastbound Zephyr. A multitude of power lines crisscross, supplying electricity to the handful of residents that live in Pinecliff.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
A westbound oil train...the third overall of the afternoon...is sitting in the siding at Cliff waiting for the afternoon Zephyr. The Zephyr is running about an hour late and is not too far west of Cliff as of this shot.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
A pair of P42DCs in Phase 5 paint lead the evening Zephyr across the grade crossing in Cliff. The train is 45 minutes late as it rolls through the small town of Cliff. Rumor has it the State of Colorado hopes to expand rail service, potentially reinstituting some depots in small mountain towns such as Pinecliff.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
The signal at the east end of Rocky show a Diverging Approach (red over yellow) signal for an approaching westbound oil train. Note the switch, which is bent for the siding.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
A westbound empty oil train, led by an SD70ACe and two ES44ACs pull along the jointed rail of the siding. The house track, which is currently empty, has the derail aligned at the east end. The train will not have long to wait as it is waiting for the eastbound Zephyr. The Zephyr is currently at Plain.
Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster
or add a comment to the picture.
