Photo ID: 108395 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, July 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed North of Monument Monument, CO 969 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific It is always fun to find little relics of years past when out taking pictures. Case-in-point is the bridge that carries the tracks over CO-105 in Monument, which just happens to still be lettered Rio Grande! A pair of mid-train helpers glides over the bridge in dynamics, heading down grade southbound. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108394 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, July 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed North of Monument Monument, CO 976 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific Just north of the the siding of Monument, this UP coal load crosses over CO-105, the primary road connecting Palmer Lake and Monument. The coal load has clear signals all the way through the single track mainline down to Crews, where it will continue on Main 1 south. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108393 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, July 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 1151 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific Southbound coal train will often stop in "The Sag", just north of Palmer Lake, in order to cool their traction motors after the long climb up from Denver. However, with no opposing northbound traffic, this coal load got the green signal to continue snaking right through The Sag and head past Palmer Lake on to the single track main through Colorado Springs. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108392 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, July 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 1023 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific Southbound coal train will often stop in "The Sag", just north of Palmer Lake, in order to cool their traction motors after the long climb up from Denver. However, with no opposing northbound traffic, this coal load got the green signal to continue snaking right through The Sag and head past Palmer Lake on to the single track main through Colorado Springs. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108391 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, July 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed The Sag Douglas County, CO 891 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF As UP 8837 comes up to "The Sag" on Main 1, it passes by BNSF's protection unit. BNSF only has four units on their coal trains there here, set up 2x0x2. That is the bare minimum for a 120-car coal train going over Palmer Divide. In the event that one of the four units fails, BNSF keeps this unit here for easy retrieval to rescue any such stalled coal load. Before they started keeping a unit here, they had to call one out of Denver, or steal one off of another train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108390 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, July 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Greenland Greenland, CO 932 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific Some rain is coming down a few miles to the northeast as a UP coal load makes its way south out of Greenland on Main 1. The train is just a few miles away from the "top of the hill" at Palmer Lake. Once it crests the divide at about 7,300 feet, it will enter dynamic braking mode for the decent toward Pueblo. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108389 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, July 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Larkspur Larkspur, CO 1074 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific Crossing on the of the more iconic bridges on the Joint Line, UP 8837 is making about 20 MPH as it continues the climb up toward Palmer Lake. This part of the Joint Line was, of course, once owned by Santa Fe. The slightly better track alignment was Rio Grande, now Main 2, further back in the distance, following along East Plumb Creek. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108388 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, July 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Castle Rock Douglas County, CO 975 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific After a brief stop at the Hold Signal at MP 36.3 for a reason that I did not hear, this southbound UP coal load is on the move again on Main 1, parallel both I-25 and the I-25 frontage road. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108387 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, July 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Castle Rock Douglas County, CO 852 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A long line of wind generator blades snake their way north on this unit blade train, heading north on Main 2 on the east side of I-25. If you look very closely in the distance near the top-right part of the frame, you may notice the headlight of a southbound UP coal train coming this was on Main 1. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108386 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, July 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed North of Larkspur Douglas County, CO 1028 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF As storms start to build in the late morning, a northbound BNSF "blade train" clips along at track speed on Main 2 in between Larkspur and Castle Rock. While I knew a northbound was coming, the blade train was unexpected and a welcome surprise rather than the typical coal empty. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108385 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, July 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Sedalia Douglas County, CO 1095 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific Even if you are familiar with the Joint Line, the location of this spot may not immediately jump out at you! This bridge at MP 26.5 is a bit secluded and hard to see from US-85. The bridge crosses over East Plumb Creek and a pair of UP units bring a loaded coal train across the bridge. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108384 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, July 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed North of Sedalia Douglas County, CO 1099 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific In between Louviers and Sedalia, UP 8837 and UP 7221 have this southbound coal load moving along well. The train is set up in a 2x2x1 configuration, actually giving it more horsepower than BNSF coal load on the Joint Line, which run 2x0x2. The extra unit makes a significant difference, and the train is making 20 MPH whereas BNSF trains are usually limited to 12-15 MPH. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108383 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, July 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Lift Douglas County, CO 1145 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific A southbound UP coal load on Main 1 grinds past Big Lift a few miles south of Littleton. Big Lift was originally built by Santa Fe to server as an intermodal facility. The intermodal trains ran between Denver (well, here at Big Lift) and La Junta, CO and vice versa starting in the late 1980s. The intermodal trains did not last, and the facility has been repurposed as an auto facility for BNSF. If you buy a car in the Denver-Metro area, there is a chance your car arrived via train and Big Lift! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108382 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, July 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed North of Walnut Street Denver, CO 994 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF, Union Pacific A single BNSF ES44DC brings up the tail end of this southbound UP coal load as the train passes by the last bit of Elitch Gardens. Due to Denver's climate, the amusement park is only open on a seasonable basis. Alas, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the park remains closed over halfway through July with no open date in sight. The white roller coaster is known as the Mister Twister 2. A classic wood-built roller coaster. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108381 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, July 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Walnut Street Denver, CO 1005 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific The home of the Denver Broncos is now Empower Field at Mile High, a name it has had for just over a year. The stadium has gone through multiple names since opening in 2001. It started as Invesco Field at Mile High. Ten years later, in 2011, the named changed to Sports Authority Field at Mile High. When Sports Authority went bankrupt, the name ended up changing to Broncos Field at Mile High for about 18 months prior to Empower taking the naming rights. In the foreground, a pair of mid-train swing helpers shove on a southbound UP coal load as an RTD Light Rail W-Line train heads for Union Station. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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