It is a beautiful morning to start off May as the westbound Rocky Mountaineer crosses Blue Mountain Drive and passes by the hotbox detector at MP 22.6.
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These two leased UP SD70Ms on the Rocky Mountaineer are the exact same two SD70Ms that the train borrowed from UP at the end of the 2023 season. I would speculate that the SD70Ms have been sitting in (long term) storage at UP's 36th Street Yard in Denver. Today, they are leading the westbound Mountaineer at Eisele (Clay).
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The Rocky Mountaineer has 10 cars today for the trip from Denver to Glenwood Springs. The train will stay overnight tonight and, per the usual procedure for the train, continue west to Moab on the Cane Creek Subdivision tomorrow. For now, the train is westbound (geographically northbound) on the main at Eisele (Clay).
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On the first day of May, the landscape is starting to green up here at East Eisele (Clay) as the westbound "Rockies to the Red Rocks" Rocky Mountaineer knocks down a clear (green) signal at the east switch and heads down the main. A pair of UP SD70Ms is power for the passenger train today.
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Well, unfortunately, for the third run of the 2024 season, the Rocky Mountaineer has a pair of leased SD70Ms from Union Pacific. Not exactly sure what happened with the GP40-3s. Also not sure why the leased power from Horizon Rail was not used. Regardless, overall the two SD70Ms in use do look pretty good overall on the climb up to Big Ten.
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With the advent of drones, I really enjoy getting shots at Eisele (Clay). If you are on the ground, you have to hike in to Clay. Consequently, I did not have too many shots from Clay prior to about 2019. It's great to be able to easily access in 2024 for this westbound oil empty.
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UP 5284 leads a westbound oil train around the outside of Big Ten Curve. You can just see part of the wind break hoppers on the inside of the curve. In the summer, it is pretty common to have totally clear skies in the morning with clouds and thunderstorms in the afternoons. However, on the first day of May, it is still very spring-like and some partly cloud skies are around this morning.
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A pair of ES44ACs, with an SD70ACe sandwiched between, lead a westbound empty oil train up the north edge of Big Ten Curve as some clouds rolls in from the Rockies, headed for the plains.
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I gotta say, I can think of worse jobs than working for the FRA, sitting in a track geometry car and watching the tracks zip by through a picture window on the back of the car! That is what two employees of the FRA are doing this morning as this FRA track geometry car, T-16, follows not too far behind the westbound Zephyr, just west of Tunnel 1.
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A very short special climbs toward the east portal of Tunnel 1. The last car on the special...which is what makes it a special..is an FRA track geometry car. It has a lot of advanced equipment that checks the integrity of the track as it rolls.
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Two Federal Railroad Administration employees look out the picture window on the back of this FRA inspection car, checking out the track as the car, led by a UP AC4400CW, pulls west through the S-Curve on the approach to Blue Mountain Drive. This particular car is designated as the T-16, and is one of several cars the FRA has for track inspection.
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The FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) inspects the tracks off the Class 1 railroads (and maybe smaller railroads as well...I'm not sure). Looks like today it is the Moffat's turn to get the inspection. UP 6060 has a gondola and FRA inspection car in tow.
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UP 6060 has a gondola and an FRA inspection car in tow just west of the west switch of Rocky, starting up toward Big Ten.
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The train version of riding off into the sunset! BNSF's Denver-Provo has clear (green) signals ahead just west of Byers Canyon. After the tail end of the train is clear of the canyon, the train will pick up some speed between here at Kremmling.
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Just west of Byers Canyon, BNSF's Denver-Provo is heading directly into the sun as it gets closer to the horizon. The train had to sit in the siding at Granby for over an hour, waiting for both the Zephyr and UP's officer's special to get through.
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