The lead unit on this BNSF manifest is one of the newest units on BNSF's roster. BNSF had some "carbon credits" that they used to purchase some Tier-3 ES44C4s in 2017. BNSF 4204 is one such example of the credit units. It was delivered at the start of February.
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This westbound sand train, moving away from the camera, likely has all units on the train in Run 8 right now in order to maintain the 13 MPH they are currently mustering. However, they will likely throttle back to Run 7 as they come around Big Ten Curve, which happens to be visible near the top of the frame. High winds are necessitating a 10 MPH slow around for all trains around the curve.
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This shot is certainly on the wrong side of the tracks, lighting-wise, but I still like the look of the BNSF sand train pushing through the last bit of Barbara's Gulch as the train approaches Rocky.
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Looking over the top of this sand train in the foreground, we find a pair of units (an ES44AC and an SD70ACe) shoving on the tail end of the train, giving the train a total of 21,600 horsepower.
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A wider angled shot of Barbara's Gulch lets you see the actual gulch that the tracks follow on the approach to Rocky. A westbound BNSF sand train creeps along at 13 MPH through the gulch on clear signals.
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The westbound sand trains that BNSF has been running on the Moffat are quite heavy. And that is fortunate for me as it gives me plenty of time to reposition ahead of the train! After shooting the train near east Leyden, I was able to get ahead of it and set up in Barbara's Gulch for this shot. The train is making less than 15 MPH.
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The sound of three EMDs on the point of a westbound sand train sound mighty fine as the train passes by a tree and some very yellow/brown shrubs not too far from the east end of Leyden.
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BNSF has picked up some new business in the Salt Lake City area, quite possibly business that UP lost in favor of BNSF. Here, a unit sand train (the third such train in as many weeks) heads west on the main at Leyden with a trio of elephant-style SD70s (two SD70ACes and an SD70MAC) on the point.
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What is this? An all-EMD lashup on a BNSF train on the Moffat? For the last two decades or so, BNSF has very much favored GE to EMD. In the last 20 years, BNSF has purchased 810 SD70ACes compared to just over 2,800 ES44DC/AC/C4 and ET44C4s. So it's no wonder a solid set of EMDs are a bit of a novelty.
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In order to clear the switch at the west end of Rollins, this eastbound had to pull just past the crossing. Fortunately, the crossing is for the railroad only, so no cars were blocked. The train here will be on the roll again in about two hours, when a relief crew would come to take the train the rest of the way in to yard at Denver.
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The crew on this eastbound BNSF manifest will have to sit here on their train for about another two hours. The crew went dead (meaning they could no longer work after having been on the clock for 12 hours) just as this shot was being taken. A relief crew is called out of Denver, but won't leave the yard for another 15 minutes.
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Thirty years of GE technology work together as DPUs on the tail end of this eastbound BNSF manifest. BNSF 6797 is a relatively new ES44C4. CSX 7668 is a C40-8W that was built in the late 1980s.
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This unit is actually an older CSX unit, but looks mighty good as it just recently received a new paint job in the CSX Dark Future scheme. this is actually a C40-8W, built in the 1980s, and was one of the earlier wide cab units.
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Three days ago, on Valentine's Day, this matched set of CitiRail CREX ES44ACs led the BNSF Denver-Provo west. Once at Provo, they were serviced and sent back east to Denver on the Provo-Denver. Here, the train takes the siding at Rollins.
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A trio of CREX ES44ACs lead this eastbound BNSF Provo-Denver manifest in the siding at Rollins. The crew only has 23 minutes to get the train stopped before they "die", meaning they run out of time to work. After 12 hours, train crews are required by law to stop their train wherever they are.
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