A BNSF train makes its way around Big Ten Loop. But the question is, which way is it going? If you guessed west, you'd be correct. The three units toward the right side of the screen are on the head end and the train is pulling up grade. There is a single DPU unit on the tail end of the train.
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Hey! Quit tailing me! Because BNSF tends to under power their coal trains, they can only go 10-15 MPH up the Palmer Divide. Consequently, manifests frequently get stuck behind the slow moving coal drags. Here, a UP auto rack train has caught up to a slow-rolling coal load.
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At Greenland, this BNSF coal load passes by the handful of houses and barns located in Greenland, CO.
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An angle on the Joint Line that I haven't seen before. This is the end DPU of a southbound coal load that is rounding the curve that leads towards Larkspur.
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When I first took this shot, I was very unhappy with the clouds that were casting a shadow over half the scene. However, the shot has actually grown on me now as I like the sunlight drawing the viewers eye to the lead units.
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A wide angle shot with a polarizing filter makes for a nice view of this southbound coal train running on Main 1 along I-25. Note the new interchange with Plumb Creek Parkway that was recently built. Castle Rock's namesake rock stands in the distance.
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In order to accommodate Plum Creek Parkway continuing west of I-25, a new bridge was recently built for Main 1. Prior to the construction of the bridge, the tracks ran along a fill all the way through this picture!
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At Sedalia, there is a pretty massive fill that was built for both tracks to keep them on close to the same grade. This shot is looking up at the tail end DPU of a southbound coal load on Main 1. You can see Main 2 just barely visible on the far left side of the photo.
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An SD70ACe and a AC4400CW lead up a loaded coal train approaching Titan Road just south of Littleton. The train has 120 hoppers and four units for power. This is pretty typical for BNSF and the train won't make much better than 15 MPH for its trip up the Palmer Divide.
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BNSF's Buck Local has just received a warrant to proceed from MP 18 down to MP 11. There, it will have to wait for a few minutes for MOW to clear up!
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After summer showers threaten to move in from west as a BNSF coal load heads south on the Brush Sub toward the diamond at Sand Creek.
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Ahh, how times have changed! There was a time not long ago when you could count on seeing GE units putting on a great show, kicking up a ton of thick black smoke. Well, here we see a coal load doing just that. But it is the SD70ACe that is spitting out the black stuff!
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After spotting the front half of the train at the power plant, the back half of the Valmont coal train will be placed on the Stazio Siding west of the plant. A plant switcher will pick up these loads and replace them with empties.
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When BNSF arrives with the Valmont coal train, half the train is spotted within the power plant, spread across multiple tracks. While this is happening, the second half of the train hangs out on the main track, east of 63rd Street.
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The Valmont coal train pulls into Boulder across 63rd Street alongside the Valmont power plant. Recently legislation in Colorado may result in the Valmont power plant converting to natural gas. So the Valmont coal train's days may be limited!
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