Running just nine minutes late, the eastbound Zephyr departs Fraser, CO, its last station stop west of Denver. The perspective here is from the top of the Fraser tubing hill. In the winter, you can rent a huge inter tube and fly down the hill.
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After completing its station stop in Fraser, the eastbound Zephyr (led by AMTK 46 and AMTK 3) continues east past the east switch in fantastic afternoon light.
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The eastbound Zephyr, running a mere nine minutes late, is coming up to a clear signal at the east end of Tabernash. In the distance, Winter Park is starting to get a good snow base, getting ready to open in a month (or possibly less).
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During a business trip to Atlanta, I made my way west to Douglasville, GA and waited for Amtrak's Crescent. The train showed up right at sunset with a pair of P42s, four Amfleet cars, three Viewliners, and a baggage car. Norfolk Southern has a maintenance project going on in the area.
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When the Winter Park Express ran between January and March, Lyft was a sponsor of the train and four Superliners had this wrap applied to them to advertise both the train, and Lyft. Three months after the end of the Winter Park Express for the season and a few of the coach cars still have the wrap applied!
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Clouds in the sky that are part of a morning thunderstorm create an interesting pattern as AMTK 207 and AMTK 150 lead the Zephyr west at Blue Mountain Road. AMTK 207 is the highest number P42DC on Amtrak's roster and was also the one most recently delivered. It arrived on the property in 2001.
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Running about three hours behind schedule, the westbound Zephyr makes its way around the curve toward Blue Mountain Road. The good news is that there are no eastbounds for the Zephyr to contend with, and the train already has clear signals all the way to Winter Park.
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It is a bit of a dark morning this morning as a (somewhat uncommon) morning thunderstorm rolls through the area. The morning has seen winds along the front range of up to 60 MPH, resulting in a slow order for Amtrak ahead around Big Ten Curve.
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On a rather gloomy summer morning, the westbound Zephyr is running about three hours late due to some track maintenance projects that are creating some bottlenecks.
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Now that we are in to the summer season, the California Zephyr is back up to nine Superliners. The number of Superliners typically ranges from seven in winter months to nine in summer months as business fluctuates. The train is approaching the 66th Avenue grade crossing in Arvada here.
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On a beautiful June morning, the westbound Zephyr is running about 90 minutes late as it approaches rounds the bend towards the 66th Avenue grade crossing.
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The head end of the westbound Zephyr is about to duck in to Tunnel 1 as it climbs its way up from the base of Coal Creek Canyon.
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An interesting scene in which the Zephyr happens to draw a light that splits the image between being lit and being cast in shadows as the train climbs toward Tunnel 1.
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Unfortunately for passengers, they will run out of sunlight in another 90 minutes and make most of the run to Glenwood Springs (and points west) in the dark. However, while unfortunate for the passengers, the evening lighting is really fantastic for pictures that would not normally be lit in such a manner!
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Every once in awhile, something happens that causes the Zephyr to be really late. This is one such example as the Zephyr is 10 hours late and rolling through awesome evening light at Blue Mountain. A BNSF manifest derailed in Illinois and, as a result, the Zephyr had to pull all the way back to Chicago and get re-routed on a different subdivision around the derailment.
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