Photo ID: 112653 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, June 24, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 29 (MP 36.4, 75 ft) Gilpin County, CO 82 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Rocky Mountaineer After a couple trips with RMRX 8600, the blue SD40M-2 leaser, it is great to see both Rocky Mountaineer geeps back on the train as it emerges from the shortest tunnel in the Tunnel District, Tunnel 29. The great light would not last as some major thunderstorms are building and will move it from the west soon. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112652 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, June 24, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland (9,356 ft) Gilpin County, CO 83 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Rocky Mountaineer RMRX 8021 and RMRX 8020 lead the eastbound Rocky Mountaineer through a sea of deciduous trees, lining both sides of the tracks near the west switch of Tolland. Come September, these trees should be burning in beautify fall gold. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112651 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, June 24, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tolland to East Portal (MP 47.7 to MP 48.9) Gilpin County, CO 81 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Rocky Mountaineer After meeting the California Zephyr at Winter Park, and then waiting for the Moffat Tunnel to vent, it was the Rocky Mountaineer's turn to head east. Ten minutes before 3pm, the train crosses over East Portal Road and South Boulder Creek as it heads toward Tolland. The Continental Divide still has plenty of patches of snow on it, despite the fact we are now officially into summer. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112650 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, June 24, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS050 (West East Portal) Gilpin County, CO 82 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak In the Valley where the Moffat Tunnel is located, we see the westbound Zephyr, running about three hours late, on the main track at East Portal. The train is just about to knock down a clear (green) signal, and dive into 6.2 miles of darkness, passing underneath the Continental Divide at roughly 9,200 feet above sea level. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112649 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, June 24, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 89 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak About a month ago, Union Pacific reinforced the track on the north edge of Big Ten Curve. A lot of rip rap rock was laid on the slope of the track, as you can see to the right. The California Zephyr, with nine Superliners, climbs up and around Big Ten. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112648 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, June 24, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS019 (West Rocky) Arvada, CO 79 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak After meeting a Provo-Denver here at Rocky, the Zephyr has already accelerated back up to track speed as it blasts through the OS at the west end of Rocky. Union Pacific gives IDs to all control points, in addition to names. As you can see, the control point ID here at West Rocky is "CP DS019". The "DS" comes from "Denver and Salt Lake", David Moffat's railroad that built the line well over a century ago. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112647 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, June 24, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Little Ten Curve (MP 18.7 to MP 18.9) Arvada, CO 89 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak AMTK 147 and AMTK 194 lead the westbound Zephyr on the main at Rocky as two DPUs pass by the P42s on the tail end of an eastbound BNSF Provo-Denver. The dispatcher set up a really good meet here, and neither train ultimately had to stop. This is referred to as a "rolling meet". Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112646 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, June 24, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Little Ten Curve (MP 18.7 to MP 18.9) Arvada, CO 77 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF BNSF 5751 leads the Provo-Denver through Little Ten Curve in the siding at Rocky. The train is meeting the westbound California Zephyr, which is already between switches on the main behind the camera. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112645 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, June 24, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 100 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr that departed Chicago on June 23rd had a late start. Unfortunately, it lost more time on its journey west toward Denver, and departed Denver a little over three hours late. Here, that train is coming up to an approach (yellow) signal at the east switch of Rocky. It will be meeting a BNSF Provo-Denver which is already in the block at the west end. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112644 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 23, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Crescent (5,550 ft) Jefferson County, CO 93 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific UP is hauling their EC-5 track geometry car through the siding at Crescent. The geometry car assesses the rail geometry as it moves, ensuring compliance with FRA standards. It is also a preventative maintenance tool to look for damage. The car uses laser systems and vehicle/track interaction (V/TI) systems to perform its work. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112643 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 23, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Crescent (5,550 ft) Jefferson County, CO 86 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific UP 7232 is heading west through the siding at Crescent, hauling UP's EC-5 track geometry car. The train is slowly heading west and will stop at the west end of Crescent and wait for the Zephyr to overtake the work train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112642 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 23, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS030 (East Crescent) Jefferson County, CO 79 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific An C44ACM, rebuilt from an AC4400CW, is the sole unit on a short work train that includes UP's EC-5 track geometry car. The car used to be self-propelled, but now requires it be pulled by a locomotive. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112641 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 23, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Jefferson County, CO 85 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Five UP maintenance workers are walking the rails between Tunnel 2 and Tunnel 3, checking for defects. They found several tie plates that needed to be replaced, and marked them accordingly for a maintenance crew that will come out of Plain and replace them. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112640 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 23, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Jefferson County, CO 87 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak While the east half of Plain is one of the most commonly photographed portions of the east side of the Moffat, the west half is likely one of the least photographed portions as it is quite remote. Here, the Zephyr has come to a stop on the main at the west end of Plain. Passengers are going to have to be patient and wait for about 90 minutes for some track plate repairs to take place between Tunnel 2 and Tunnel 3. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112639 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 23, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rainbow Cut Jefferson County, CO 121 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr enters the short (and aptly named) Rainbow Cut, about halfway through Plain. You can see red, yellow, and blue hues very clearly in the rock. The train here is moving quite slowly as there is a red signal at the west end of the block. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

Previous Page     Next Page