Photo ID: 111269 Date Shot Photo By Monday, November 4, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS022 (West Eiesle (Clay)) Arvada, CO 534 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak At the west switch of Eisele (Clay), there is a fantastic winter scene as the westbound Zephyr rolls through the OS. The snow is really sticking to the pine trees, subduing the colors. It appears that AMTK 144 has a little bit of damage on its nose. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111268 Date Shot Photo By Monday, November 4, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 560 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr passes through the first winter scene of the season on the main track at Eisele (Clay). In the background, it almost looks as though there are two tracks climbing up Big Ten Curve. However, what might appear to be tracks on the right is in fact tire tracks in the snow created by MOW vehicles. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111267 Date Shot Photo By Monday, November 4, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS020 (East Eisele (Clay)) Arvada, CO 515 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr knocks down a clear (green) signal at the east end of Eisele (Clay). Right around two inches of snow fell overnight and continues to lightly fall this morning, setting up a great scene for the passengers aboard the Zephyr. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111266 Date Shot Photo By Monday, November 4, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 594 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The morning Zephyr is running right on time as it climbs the north side of Big Ten Loop. Roughly two inches of snow fell over the Denver area, marking the first snow fall of the 2024-2025 winter season. Fortunately, temperatures have not fallen too far yet, and it is currently right around 32°F (0°C) out as snow continues to lightly fall. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111265 Date Shot Photo By Monday, November 4, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 561 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak On the morning of the first snow of the 2024-2025 winter season, AMTK 144 and AMTK 180 lead the westbound Zephyr out of Rocky and on the climb up toward the top of Big Ten Loop. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111264 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, November 3, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 239 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific This open gondola, tied down in a string of over 100 gondolas in the siding at Leyden, seems to contain a but of metal cubes. Not entirely sure what they are, or why they are sitting in a gondola that is being stored at Leyden for an indeterminate amount of time. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111263 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, November 3, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 299 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific At the start of 2024, UP tied down a long string of empty well cars in the siding of Leyden for long term storage. The cars stayed in the siding for roughly four months. Now, it seems that Leyden is once again host to cars in need of being stored! A string of over 100 gondolas has been tied down in the siding at Leyden for about a month. How long will they remain here? That is anybody's guess! Even when Leyden is not plugged up with stored cars, UP avoid using it for meets. Over the years, the residents of the (new) neighborhoods around Leyden have complained about the noise and exhaust of trains that stop on the siding as Leyden has transformed from rural to suburban. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111262 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, November 3, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 281 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific These gondolas that are currently being stored in the siding at Leyden are, for the most part, empty. There are a handful of scraps from various old loads in the bottom of most of the cars, but they are generally empty. The string of cars is roughly 7,000 feet long. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111261 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, November 3, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 258 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific 20 years ago, when coal was king on the Moffat, UP invested in permanent derails at the east end of Leyden, Rocky, Cliff, and Rollins. Coal trains were frequently tied down on any one of those sidings when waiting for a recrew. While coal is now extremely rare on the Moffat, the derail here at east Leyden is coming in handy as there is a long string of gondolas tied down in the siding. You can clearly see the switch on the north rail that will lead to the cars derailing away form the mainline, should they roll east. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111260 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, November 3, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 259 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A gondola loaded with old ties sits tied down with a long string (nearly 7,000 feet) of gondolas on the siding at Leyden. The gondolas appear to be here for long term storage. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111258 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, November 3, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Utah Jct to Pecos X-Over (MP 3.2 to MP 4.0) Denver, CO 326 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF A pair of SD70ACes bring up the tail end of BNSF's Provo-Denver manifest as it passes by the north end of UP's North Yard on the main track. Several decades ago, the open dirt area to the right was used for loading and unloading an intermodal train that ran between North Yard and Salt Lake City. Alas, all such trains these days run on the Greeley Sub to the Overland Route rather than over the Moffat, as some of the tunnels on the Moffat are not high enough to accommodate double stacks. Speaking of double stacks, note the BNSF yard job, switching around some double stacks at BNSF's Rennicks Yard. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111257 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, November 3, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS003 (Utah Junction) Denver, CO 291 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific, BNSF There is quite a bit happening in this picture! First, the train passing under the signal bridge to the right is UP's MGJNY. Coming off the Moffat, the train is entering in Track 5 here at North Yard for classification. Next to it, the train on the left under the signal bridge is BNSF's HPVODEN, coming from Provo, UT. This train had been following the MGJNY just a few blocks back since Cliff and, out of necessity, is now passing it here in Denver. Meanwhile, a BNSF yard job is working on building a double stack train to the left, with the classic EMDs kicking up exhaust like they should be Alcos! The track crossing perpendicular to many of the other through the scene is the Belt Industrial Lead which leads to UP's Greeley Sub. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111256 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, November 3, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed C&S Jct to Arvada (MP 4.8 to MP MP 7.5) Denver, CO 295 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Even at the start of November, there is still quite a bit of fall color to be seen around the Denver-Metro area. Trees and shrubs just west of Pecos are showing off their yellows as a C44-9W leading two SD70ACes on the point of the BNSF Provo-Denver rolls slowly by on Bypass (Main) 2, approaching a diverging approach signal ahead at Pecos Crossover. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111255 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, November 3, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Pecos X-Over to C&S Jct (MP 4.0 to MP 4.8) Denver, CO 324 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF An eastbound BNSF Provo-Denver, with elephant-style GEs on the point, approaches the I-76 overpass between C&S Junction and Pecos Crossover. The train would normally be on Main 3 (second from the right), but UP's MGJNY arrives just minutes earlier and is working on getting into North Yard. To avoid delaying this train, DS-378 aligned it east on Bypass (Main) 2. At Pecos Crossover, the train will move to Main 3 to continue east to BNSF's 31st Street Yard. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111254 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, November 3, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed C&S Jct to Arvada (MP 4.8 to MP MP 7.5) Denver, CO 313 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Four units lead a relatively short (compared to this trains typical length) 67 car manifest east on Main 2. This is the only manifest UP still runs on the Moffat. The cars come from industries in Grand Junction as well as on the Craig Branch. A few coal loads and a lot of covered hoppers are pretty typical for the train, and today is no exception. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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