Photo ID: 108050 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 23, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Spruce Spruce, CO 1021 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF Not far north of Palmer Lake, and just north of "the sag", a southbound coal load passes by a sole ES44AC sitting in a stub track as a protection unit. Where this coal train to stall out getting over Palmer Lake, this unit would be called to the rescue. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108049 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 23, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Spruce Spruce, CO 880 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF For several years now, BNSF has stored a "protection unit" in a short stub track off of Main 1 just north of "the sag" around Spruce. On occasion, a southbound coal load will stall out at the top of hill at Palmer Lake. If this happens, the unit can be retrieved and used to add some extra shoving power on the train. Prior to this, another unit would have to be borrowed from a following train. If there was no immediate following train, an engine might have to be called from Denver to come and save the day. On this particular day, the ES44AC would not be needed. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108048 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 23, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Larkspur Larkspur, CO 999 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF As we continue to push toward the summer solstice, the longer days mean the sun stays on the north side of the bridge south of Larkspur for more of the day. Such is the case here as a southbound coal train crosses the bridge (and both West Fox Farm Road and Spruce Mountain Road) on its continued journey south. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108047 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 23, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed North of Larkspur Douglas County, CO 1032 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A different perspective of a southbound at Skyview Lane, north of Larkspur. I-25 fairly closely parallels Main 1 between Castle Rock and Skyview Lane, whereas Main 2 is much farther to the east, and much harder to get pictures of! No northbounds at the moment, but you can see the rails of Main 2 in the foreground. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108046 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 23, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Castle Rock Douglas County, CO 932 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF From a slightly elevated perch, the rock from which the town of Castle Rock gets its name is clearly visible to the right. Construction on adding a new toll lane in both directions of I-25 continue to progress. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108045 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 23, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Castle Rock Douglas County, CO 902 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF The minor changes in grade are apparent on Main 1, south of Castle Rock. However, the predominate grade is still a step one, meaning the four units on this southbound coal load (two on the point, two on the rear) are all in Run 8 and working as hard as they can to keep the 124-car coal train rolling south. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108044 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 23, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Sedalia Sedalia, CO 1029 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF An SD70ACe leads a southbound coal around the bend on Main 1 toward downtown Sedalia. The town of Sedalia would be a grea one to live in as a railfan as downtown is sandwiched by the Joint Line. Main 1 on the south side of downtown and Main 2 on the north side. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108043 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 23, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed North of Louviers Louviers, CO 911 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF On the northern edge of the town of Louviers, which is located between Littleton and Sedalia, a southbound BNSF coal load grinds its way south on Main 1 on a beautiful May morning. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107950 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, December 31, 2019 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 996 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A pair of DPUs bring up the tail end of this southbound coal load, which is now in dynamic braking mode as the train is descending downhill. The head end of the train is not far off from the first of the four sidings the train will pass by on the single track, Monument. The three others beyond Monument are Academy, Colorado Springs, and Kelker. The last, Kelker, is generally not too useful for meets as it is too short to accommodate most of the trains on the Joint Line. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107949 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, December 31, 2019 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 971 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A timeless, classic shot of a southbound coming around the south edge of Palmer Lake on the single track. For the 108 miles of the Joint Line between Denver and Bragdon, roughly 76 miles has 2+ main tracks. However, the roughly 32 miles through Colorado Springs only has a single track with four sidings. The single track is frequently something of a bottleneck for trains. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107948 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, December 31, 2019 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 1095 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A slightly different perspective from Palmer Lake! A southbound coal load starts to pick up a little speed as it comes over the top of the hill. Decades ago, when there were still two tracks through Colorado Springs (Rio Grande and Santa Fe), the Santa Fe main (Main 2) would have been visible toward the top right of the picture, on the opposite side of the lake. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107947 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, December 31, 2019 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed North of Palmer Lake Douglas County, CO 989 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF It is a rather light day, traffic wise, on the Joint Line on this New Year's Eve. This southbound coal train is nearing the top of the hill at Palmer Lake and has a clear signal on to the single track and all the way through Colorado Springs. Much of the landscape is still covered in snow from a storm that hit three days earlier. Cold temperatures has kept the snow on the ground. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107946 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, December 31, 2019 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Larkspur Larkspur, CO 1065 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A slightly different perspective on a classic bridge on the Joint Line. This old Santa Fe bridge spans both West Fox Farm Road (closer) and Spruce Mountain Road (further) on the south edge of Larkspur. These two units are the tail end DPUs bringing up the back of this southbound coal train in wonderful afternoon light. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107945 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, December 31, 2019 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Larkspur Larkspur, CO 1022 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF Long have I wanted to be able to get a good vantage point of the old Santa Fe bridge on Main 1 on the south edge of Larkspur. Thanks to the advent of drone photography, it was finally possible on New Year's Eve 2019! A pair of BNSF SD70ACes lead a coal train south across the impressive bridge. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 107944 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, December 31, 2019 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed North of Larkspur Douglas County, CO 1125 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF You could not ask for better lighting for this southbound coal train as it approaches the Sky View Lane grade crossing just a few miles north of Larkspur. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

Previous Page     Next Page