A southbound BNSF manifest heads south on Main 1 on the Joint Line, running on yellow signals. The train is following a slow-moving coal train just a few miles ahead. On the far right is I-25, with two crowded lanes of traffic in both directions. To left of that is the I-25 Frontage Road, which many cars utilize between Tomah Road and Castle Rock.
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I shot UTAH 5005 several times on various trips over to Utah. It was great seeing it and its five siblings running on coal trains on Soldier Summit. Alas, after a century of hauling coal, Utah Railway lost their last coal contract at the end of 2016. They now serve businesses primarily between Provo and Ogden, largely interchanging traffic with BNSF. I never thought I'd see one of these MK50-3s on the Joint Line!
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The "newest of the new" leads this southbound manifest on Main 1 at Castle Rock. BNSF 3881 is a Tier-4 compliant ET44C4. A pair of ES44C4s follow up behind. Fourth out is a Utah Railway MK50-3 which is Dead In Consist (DIC), being transported to the KYLE Railroad by BNSF.
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This scene has changed somewhat in the last seven years or so. As Castle Rock has continued to grow, the city wanted to connect the west side with the east side. The solution was to build Plum Creek Parkway. Prior to 2010, the bridge in this shot did not exist. It was simply hillside!
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A southbound BNSF manifest pulls up the grade on Main 1 over Plum Creek Parkway. The fourth unit is Utah Railway 5005, an MK50-3, which is being sent to the KYLE Railroad in eastern Colorado.
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The final shot of 2016 for ColoradoRailfan.com! Just a few minutes prior to the sun dipping behind the Rocky Mountains, a southbound UP manifest pulls through Sedalia on Main 1. Honestly, I don't think I could have wound up with a better final shot for the year.
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A trio of UP units leads a southbound manifest toward the Titan Road underpass. The unit passes in and out of shadows cast by trees in the low afternoon light.
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The sun dips closer and closer to the horizon as a southbound UP manifest charges west on Main 1 just north of Titan Road. Need a satellite dish? The telecommunications building here in Littleton is a great place to find one.
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A southbound UP manifest approaches a clear signal at Littleton where the train will leave CTC behind and enter Track Warrant territory on Main 1. In the foreground is RTD Light Rail line. This is the C and D line that opened 22 years ago.
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A pair of SD70ACes lead a southbound BNSF coal train from the CTC triple track and onto Main 1, controlled by UP DS-54 under track warrants. To the left, you can see the south end of the RTD's C/D Light Rail line.
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UP has a regular manifest that it runs between North Yard and Pueblo (and vice versa). Typically, the train departs either yard around 11pm, making it very difficult to get shots of the train. On New Year's Eve 2016, however, UP made the train a daylight run. It departed North Yard right around 2pm. After a bit of a delay at 20th Street, the train is now on the roll on Main 1 along Hogan's Alley (near 8th Avenue).
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A southbound UP manifest pulls on to the north end of the Joint Line at 20th Street. The train had been holding at a red signal, waiting for a few other trains to clear up.
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This southbound BNSF coal load is climbing the 1.4% grade on Main 1 about three miles north of Palmer Lake. Once at Palmer Lake, the train with throttle back and start the descent toward Colorado Springs, Pueblo, La Junta, and places beyond. Clouds from a large summer thunderstorm make for a dramatic looking sky.
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A beautiful afternoon along the Joint Line a couple miles north of Palmer Lake. A strong afternoon thunderstorm has moved east, leaving fantastic afternoon lightning and awesome colors in its wake. A southbound coal load is pulling toward Palmer lake on clear signals. Oh how I wish the days of five units on the point of coal trains was still here!
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This southbound manifest was just recrewed at Greenland after having spent a good portion of the day tied down on Main 1. Track maintenance in Colorado Springs was preventing trains from running in either direction for a good part of the day. Here, the train is on the move at Spruce as dark storm clouds linger to the east.
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