I don't know about you, but I'm feeling a little chilly! Snow is coming down at a pretty good pace at the base of Coal Creek Canyon as the Ski Train crosses over Highway 72. The private cars on the end (California, Utah and Kansas) are empty today, but wouldn't you just love to be in the dome of the California for this trip!
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After meeting an eastbound coal load at Clay (resulting in about a ten minute delay), the westbound Ski Train is wrapping around the S-Curves at Blue Mountain and Coal Creek, preparing for the climb up to Tunnel 1 and the start of the Tunnel District.
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Just because it is March, don't think that means winter is over! Indeed, March tends to be the snowiest month in Colorado. This Friday was no exception as the Ski Train hustles west on the main through Leyden.
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Another weekend run completed, the Ski Train idles quietly on Track Two and Union Station. Track One sits empty while waiting for a late-running Number Six to show up. On the left side of the picture, AMTK 518 (a 8-32BWH) waits for the Zephyr to arrive so it can be added to the consist and taken back east to Chicago.
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Now in the home stretch, the Ski Train will be able to accelerate a bit for the duration of the trip into Denver. The train is about a mile away from a transition from a rural setting to an urban setting.
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You have the wonder if the jeep driving east on Highway 72 gives the Ski Train a second thought as it crosses over the highway at the base of Coal Creek Canyon.
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Running right on time on its way back to Denver, the eastbound Ski Train rounds the curve at the west end of Crescent. A lot of the snow from the blizzards earlier in the year has melted away.
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With light fading quickly in the western sky, the eastbound Ski Train crosses 72nd Avenue in Arvada. The train is running right on time, coming up to an Advanced Approach (flashing yellow) signal at Kipling Street.
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The clouds were playing havoc with the lighting, casting a nice shadow in the foreground while the mountains stall stall in the sunlight in the distance. Regardless of the lighting, the Ski Train charges west out of Leyden with 13 miles of the 56 mile journey to Winter Park taken care of.
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Highball Leyden! The Ski Train is not wasting any time moving west at the west end of Leyden. The train is easily making track speed (about 50 MPH) as it crosses over the west switch.
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The Hot Box Detector ("HBD") at MP 22.6 just gave the Ski Train a clean bill of health on its journey west. No dragging equipment was detected and the temperature of all 80 axles was nominal. The train is climbing toward Tunnel 1, nearing the halfway point of its journey west.
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The Ski Train rounds the curve coming out of Clay and approaches the grade crossing at Blue Mountain. While UP 1989 will be missed on the point of the Ski Train, it is nice to have the custom painted F40's back in charge again!
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It should be a great day for skiing up at Winter Park! Looks like the white stuff is falling over the mountains as the Ski Train hustles to get its passengers up to the slopes. The train is in between Carr Street and West 68th Avenue.
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After two weeks with SKTX 289 in the shops and UP 1989 leading the Ski Train, all was back to normal on this Friday morning. SKTX 242 was once again in charge of the 17 car train as it heads west through Arvada on the approach to Carr Street.
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A scene that has been repeated many times in the past and will hopefully be repeated many times again in years to come. The ex-DRGW business cars (California, Utah and Kansas) - now owned by the Ski Train - cross the bridge at MP 36.5.
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