An eastbound coal load approach what remains of the turnout to the long defunct Chem Spur. The sole customer on the spur, Mesa Oil, moved to a new location in Denver about a decade ago when UP dropped service from twice a week to once a week. Once that happened and there were no longer customers on the spur, UP removed from the frog and it has been out of service ever since.
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It is a beautiful January morning as an eastbound UP coal load rolls past a clear (green) signal at the intermediate signal at MP 16.1. While relatively rare in 2024, UP does still load a handful of coal trains on the North Fork Branch at the West Elk Mine, this train being one such example.
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An eastbound UP coal load slowly rolls through Barbara's Gulch in between Rocky and Leyden. In the distance, you can clearly see the grade running through the west end of Eisele (Clay).
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On the south side of Big Ten Curve, a pair of freshly painted UP units lead their coal train toward the wind break just out of view of the camera to the right. In the distance, not the trio of mid-train swing helpers, assisting in the dynamic braking effort of the train down the grade.
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An eastbound coal load departs the east end of Eisele (Clay) on a clear (green) signal on a beautiful January morning. You can see the standard trio of mid-train swing helpers in the distance, and a single DPU just out of sight around the corner in the distance.
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UP 8436 kicked up a bit of exhaust when the head end of this coal load was in Tunnel 1. The resulting exhaust cloud rises up from the east portal as the train slowly rolls east down the roughly 2% grade.
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A pair of UP units that are both sporting the newest paint scheme (which, unfortunately, does not include wings on the nose) rolls east through the S-curve just east of Plain on the approach to Tunnel 1.
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This UP coal train loaded at the West Elk mine on the North Fork Branch and is now rolling east out of the east end of Plain. It will continue in to Denver on green signals.
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An eastbound UP coal train approaches a clear (green) signal at the east end of Plain after meeting the westbound Zephyr. In the distance, you can see the east portal of Tunnel 4. I was hoping that the coal train might taken long enough to start moving to get a shot with the Zephyr in the distance, but alas, no such luck.
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An eastbound oil train, sometimes referred to by some as a black snake, rolls east out of Leyden, crossing both 80th Avenue and Simms Street. The Denver skyline stands tall in the distance. 2023 was a great year for ColoradoRailfan! I added more pictures to the website this year than any other single year before. 1,060 pictures were added in 2023, beating out the previous record of 868 set in 2018.
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An ET44AC and a AC4400CW bring up the tail end of an eastbound loaded oil train at the east switch of Leyden. The train is headed to one of the Bypass tracks in Denver where on of the two DPUs here will be removed before the train continues its journey east.
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The sun is getting close to setting for the final time in 2023 as an eastbound unit oil train glides east on the main at Leyden.
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An eastbound UP oil train cruises down the main at Leyden. Note the switches on the siding signifying either end of the house track. I was particularly happy to get this angle as my dad took a picture from nearly the same location roughly 45 years earlier of an eastbound Rio Grande train.
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Three GEs lead a loaded oil train across Blue Mountain Drive through the curves at the base of Coal Creek Canyon. The train will have clear (green) signals the rest of the way in to Denver, although it will meet a westbound oil train already waiting in the siding at Rocky.
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Despite the relative moderate weather of the past week, areas of terrain cast in shadow all day long still have snow clinging to the ground. An eastbound oil train passes through one such snowy scene just east of Coal Creek Canyon, and just west of the detector at MP 22.6.
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