West Cliff is one of three locations on the Moffat (east of the tunnel) where UP has not yet replaced the signals. You can see the classic target signal standing along the main on the right side of this shot. Meanwhile, a colorful Denver-Provo manifest sits in the siding to allow the westbound Zephyr to pass.
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When EMD first introduced the SD9043MAC, I wasn't crazy about the car body. But, I must admit, over the years (and through the models...from SD9043MAC to SD70ACe), the look has grown on me. I am still not crazy about the funky notch-nose, but otherwise, I like the look of the SD70ACe.
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It was close to eleven years ago that I took a picture from this same bridge in Lodo. At that point, the tracks here were still mostly in a field, with just a few of the buildings under construction. Here, an SD70ACe leads a coal load south on Main 1 alongside an empty stopped on Main 2. (The 8,100-foot Lodo Siding sits empty to the right).
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Here, a northbound coal empties passes underneath Speer Blvd and then over 15th Street in Denver. There is something rather unusual about this coal empty that you may not realize at first. It is being led by a C44-9W, which has DC traction motors instead of AC traction motors.
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It has been nearly a decade since EMD first introduced the SD70ACe. Over 1,200 have been produced since then, several hundred of which have been delivered to BNSF. An example of three sit here, tied down in the siding at Leyden. While GE still outsells EMD, perhaps EMDs (relatively) new owner Caterpillar can help turn that around.
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This train hadn't turned a wheel since I was on my way in to work this morning. At that time, the last crew was still onboard, getting ready to tie the train down. There was also nearly an inch of snow on the ground, all of which had melted by this point over eight hours later.
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The morning of the first appreciable snowfall found this BNSF coal load hanging out in the siding at Leyden. BNSF's Denver Yard didn't have room for this train and, due to the crew having less than an hour left on their hours, the train was tied down shortly after this picture was taken.
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A trio of SD70ACes make up the power on this eastbound coal load at Leyden. Considering that about 60% of BNSFs roster is GE (and only 18% of its purchases in the last ten years have been from EMD), finding an all-EMD consist like this is something of a rarity!
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This BNSF coal train was loaded at the Wildcat Mine on Utah Railway not far from Helper, UT. BNSF and Utah Railway have a good working relationship and occasionally send trains east from Helper to Denver and points beyond.
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The Galesburg, IL to Denver, CO mixed freight has just about reached its destination! The train just knocked down the triple signal at 48th Avenue, the entrance in to BNSF's Denver Yard.
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The ever-expanding city of Brighton, along with I-76, is visible in the background as BNSF's Galesburg, IL to Denver, CO mixed freight crosses over a creek at MP 527.92. The freight has GECX 2022, a prototype for a Tier 4 GE GEVO, DIC in tow.
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A relatively short BNSF Galesburg, IL to Denver, CO (HGALDEN1-04A) makes its way west toward Denver between Barr and Irondale. It is running parallel to I-76 and the tail end is crossing underneath 120th Avenue.
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BNSF Galesburg-Denver mixed freight charges west past the small lake near the east switch of Tonville. At this time of year (and day), the train is heading almost directly in to the sun...makes it hard to get well-lit shots of the side of the train!
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A BNSF (reroute) molten sulfur train sits in the siding at Platteville. It was rerouted because floods from a week earlier took out the Front Range Sub, which was still under repair at this point. The BNSF train is awaiting the arrival of the California Zephyr, rerouting through Wyoming as the Moffat was also damaged in the flooding.
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There is a little bit of clutter in the foreground, but I figured it was worth it to get this rare shot of a BNSF (reroute) train sitting in the siding at Platteville. The train is awaiting the arrival of Amtrak so it can continue north and move back to its own property in Cheyenne.
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