A single covered hopper sits on the south leg of wye on the Rocky Spur as the West Local pulls east down the north leg of the wye. This lone hopper will be added to the six the train already has in tow for the trip back to Denver.
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The West Local heads around the north leg of the wye on the Rocky Spur. This will allow the train to back down the south leg of the wye and continue to back down the spur all the way to the mainline.
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The West Local is coming to a stop alongside Colorado Wood and Metal so the air brakes on the six hoppers the train picked up can be charged. That'll be necessary for the journey down the 8% grade back to the mainline, as well as on the mainline itself.
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The West Local passes by Colorado Wood and Metal, a business along the line that is not served by rail.
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An overview of Arcosa Lightweight, the "lightweight" aggregate plant located at the north end of the Rocky Spur. While the name has changed over the years, the plant itself has been here for decades.
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A couple of covered hoppers have to be shuffled around at the aggregate plant at the north end of the Rocky Spur. The West Local, with just a single GP40-2, is facilitating the moves.
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The West Local makes the long reverse move north up the Rocky Spur, ready to deliver three covered hoppers to the aggregate plant located at the north end of the spur.
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The West Local backs away from the camera across Colorado Highway 72. A trash truck and two cars wait patiently for the slow-going train to clear the crossing.
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The stop light protecting the tracks across (very busy) Colorado Highway 93 has turned green for the West Local, slowly backing up toward the crossing. Note that the light covers on several of the stop lights for CO-93 are missing, likely due to the high winds that are often found out here.
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A single GP40-2 of Espee heritage shoves a trio of covered hoppers up the 8% grade of the Rocky Flats Industrial Lead. The siding (right) and main (left) tracks lie empty on the right half of the picture.
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The West Local has received authority to enter the main track at Rocky. The brakeman is walking down from the hopper to throw the switch from the main to the Rocky Spur. In the distance, you can see the mainline just out of the west portal of Tunnel 1.
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The West Local is backing down the 8% grade toward the main at Rocky. The switch is still locked and the crew will need to tone up the dispatcher and request permission to enter the main track.
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Weeds have somewhat overtaken portions of the Rocky Spur. The West Local is about to back over parts of those stretches of track. In fact, the track the local is starting down carries a rather hefty 8% grade. But no problem for these two peeps, particularly when a single covered hopper is all they have with them.
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There is a circuit in the rails at the CO-72 grade crossing that turn the stoplight red for traffic and green for trains as a train slowly approaches. Such is the case here as the signal for the West Local has turned green. The brakeman is riding on the sole covered hoper to protect the shove and ensure no cars decide to try to beat the train over the crossing.
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The West Local, with a single covered hoppers, backs down the Rocky Spur in the foreground as the relatively new housing development of Candelas in western Arvada is now fully built out in the distance.
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