Photo ID: 111025 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 8, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Granby Overlook Grand County, CO 54 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Just before 10 o'clock in the morning, a westbound coal empty rolls west of Granby along the headwaters of the Colorado River. In just a few weeks, fall colors are going to be in full force here in the Colorado high country. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111026 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 8, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Byers Canyon Grand County, CO 50 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Coal trains, once king of the Moffat, have certainly become rare. Perhaps even a novelty. I was fortunate enough to catch this westbound empty as it entered into the east end of Byers Canyon. It has six units on the head end, which will likely be set up in a 2x3x1 configuration for the journey east. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111027 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 8, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Byers Canyon Grand County, CO 43 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Byers Canyon is one of the numerous canyons the Moffat passes through on its journey west. It is also one of the few that is very easily accessible by car as US-40 happens to parallel the tracks on the opposite side of the Colorado River. A westbound coal empty has just knocked down a clear (green) intermediate. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111028 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 8, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Sulphur to Flat (MP 86.2 to MP 92.3) Grand County, CO 46 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The mainline between Sulphur and Gore Canyon straightens out...at least relative to most of the mountain railroading of the Moffat...allowing for an increase in speed. Amtrak can actually go 70 MPH through here. This coal empty has accelerated up to around 50 MPH as it approaches a clear (green) signal at the east end of Flat. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111029 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 8, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 37 (MP 109.0, 134 ft) Grand County, CO 49 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific One of the most scenic (and inaccessible) canyons the Moffat travels through is Gore Canyon. Steep canyon walls on both sides of the canyon create incredibly dramatic views. A westbound coal empty moves in and out of both Tunnel 36 and Tunnel 37 as it navigates the canyon. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111030 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 8, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 37 (MP 109.0, 134 ft) Grand County, CO 42 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific In 1906, surveyors for David Moffat decided that Gore Canyon was the route the railroad would take on its way west. Four tunnels were built through some of the solid rock faces. 118 years later, a westbound UP coal empty, headed for the West Elk Mine on the North Fork Sub, is moving through Tunnel 36 and Tunnel 37 toward the west end of the canyon. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111031 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 8, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Gore Canyon Grand County, CO 39 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A westbound coal empty approaches an intermediate signal near the west end of Gore Canyon. The Colorado River is near its lowest point now toward the end of summer. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111032 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 8, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 38 (MP 110.0, 100 ft) Grand County, CO 48 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The last tunnel at the west end of Gore Canyon is Tunnel 38. It is 100 feet in length and gives way to the open valley between Gore Canyon and Little Gore Canyon. Six units move through the tunnel on the point of a westbound coal empty. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111033 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 8, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Gore Canyon Grand County, CO 49 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The mountain walls of Gore Canyon tower in the distance as a westbound coal empty emerges from Tunnel 38 on the approach to Azure. Six units lead the empty, which is headed for the West Elk Mine on the North Fork Branch. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111034 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 8, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS129 (Bond) Bond, CO 50 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Bond is a major control point on the Moffat. It marks the start of the Dotsero Cutoff that connects David Moffat's original mainline to the Denver and Rio Grande mainline. In this shot, the Phippsburg Local is backing to the second half of its train (in a yard track), putting the 38-car train together. Once it is put together, the local will depart west up the Craig Branch. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111035 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 8, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS129 (Bond) Bond, CO 49 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific As the Phippsburg Local puts its train together at Bond, a westbound coal empty passes by on the main. Bond is a crew change point for UP trains, so this Denver-based crew is reaching its destination. A van is waiting around the corner in the yard at Bond to pick up the crew and take them to the hotel in Yampa. The same van also has the Grand Junction-based relief crew. The crews will swap out and the coal empty will continue west. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111036 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 8, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Bond to Crater (MP 128.8 to MP 138.1) Bond, CO 49 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific This shot really demonstrates the diverging of alignments from the original Denver and Salt Lake and the Dotsero Cutoff. The original mainline that David Moffat used in an attempt to reach Salt Lake City has the Phippsburg Local sitting on it in the foreground. The Dotsero Cutoff, built about 30 years later, is in the distance with the coal empty. David Moffat's original mainline never made it west of Craig, CO, and the line is now the most underused stretch of CTC mainline in the country. This Phippsburg Local is about the only train that runs on the branch, only making a few trips each week. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111037 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 8, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Bond to Crater (MP 128.8 to MP 138.1) Bond, CO 50 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific UP 6038 sits just short of State Highway 131 at Bond, CO with the Phippsburg Local. In two minutes, the train will throttle up and start making the climb up from the Dotsero Cutoff and Glenwood Springs Sub (in the background where the coal empty is located), making its way back to the yard in Phippsburg. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111038 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 8, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Crater Loops Routt County, CO 49 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Since the fall of coal traffic in Colorado, the Craig Branch is only a few steps above abandonment. The mines at Energy and Axial have each loaded one or maybe two coal trains in the last year that have left the branch. The Phippsburg Local is about the only train that runs between Bond and Steamboat Springs. I was lucky enough to catch the local on this Sunday afternoon. The local is climbing through the loops S-curves of the Crater Loops as it gains elevation on the trip west. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111039 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, September 8, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Crater Loops Routt County, CO 45 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Crater Loops are not quite as impressive with a 38-car covered hopper local when compared to a 120 car coal train. However, you take what you can get on a line that only sees one train every couple of days! The Phippsburg Local makes its way around the upper curve of Crater Loops. 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