Photo ID: 109080 Date Shot Photo By Monday, May 8, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS020 (East Eisele (Clay)) Arvada, CO 495 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Just minutes after climbing through the S-Curves toward Big Ten Loop in the foreground, the westbound Zephyr is now moving geographically north at the east end of Eisele (Clay). Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109079 Date Shot Photo By Monday, May 8, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 529 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak May and June are my two favorite months in the Denver area. They tend to be the two greenest months of the year. The fields here are greening up in the temperate weather after some good snow and a few rains earlier. The Zephyr is climbing toward Big Ten Loop and, in just a few minutes, will be knocking down a clear (green) signal at the east end of Eisele (Clay) near the top of the shot in the background. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109078 Date Shot Photo By Monday, May 8, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS019 (West Rocky) Arvada, CO 691 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr, currently heading geographically south, is rolling slowly up the grade out of the west end of Rocky. There is currently a 10 MPH slow order through here. I did not hear a specific reason for the slow order. The Zephyr has a typical consist of seven Superliners this morning. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109077 Date Shot Photo By Monday, May 8, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky (7,330ft) Arvada, CO 498 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) AMT The morning Zephyr rolls west on the main at Rocky, passing by some maintenance equipment tied down in the house track. Some individual strips of rail lay on the ground. If you happen to be new to trains, this shot illustrates one way you can (in general) identify which track is the main line. If you look on the right two tracks, you can see angle bars...steel bars used to connect to pieces of track. The track Amtrak is on is welded rail, so each piece of track is 1/4 of a mile long! Consequently, you really do not see any angle bars. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109076 Date Shot Photo By Monday, May 8, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS016 (East Rocky) Arvada, CO 459 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr knocks down a clear (green) signal at the east end of Rocky. When UP took over the Moffat after the UP/SP merger, UP assigned control point IDs to every control point in addition to their name. For example, East Rocky was given the ID "CP DS016". The "CP" stands for "Control Point". The "DS" represents "Denver and Salt Lake", the original owner of the line. The "016", in theory, represents the nearest milepost. However, East Rocky is actually around milepost 17.5...so "CP DS017" would have made more sense. An interesting little enigma that lasts to this day. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109075 Date Shot Photo By Monday, May 8, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 555 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr, running about two hours late as it passes through Barbara's Gulch just east of Rocky. Interestingly, the foliage on the south side has sprouted leaves while the north side is still barren. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109074 Date Shot Photo By Friday, May 5, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 5 (MP 26.1, 866 ft) Jefferson County, CO 365 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak A little over a mile west of Plain, the westbound Zephyr is between Tunnel 5 and Tunnel 6, moving along at track speed. In just over half a mile, the Zephyr will make a hard turn to the left and dive into the Rocky Mountains, leaving amazing scenes of the plains behind. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109073 Date Shot Photo By Friday, May 5, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 5 (MP 26.1, 866 ft) Jefferson County, CO 357 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr is approaching Tunnel 5 in the Tunnel District. At 636 feet in length. Tunnel 5 is the longest tunnel the train will pass through so far on its way west. But there are plenty of tunnels ahead and that are quite a bit longer. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109072 Date Shot Photo By Friday, May 5, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 3 (MP 25.8, 369 ft) Jefferson County, CO 428 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak As the sightseer longue car emerges from the west end of Tunnel 3, the head end approaches the east end of Tunnel 4. This is why this area is called the Tunnel District! Trains just move in and out of tunnel for miles. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109071 Date Shot Photo By Friday, May 5, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 3 (MP 25.8, 369 ft) Arvada, CO 433 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The Zephyr is approaching the east portal of Tunnel 3, gaining speed after passing through a slow order alongside maintenance at Plain. The giant fill on the left side of the frame is relatively new, having been created in 2013 after epics rains washed out the old fill. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109070 Date Shot Photo By Friday, May 5, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS025 (West Plain) Arvada, CO 375 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr creeps along at 10 MPH, passing by maintenance workers sitting in the siding at the west end of Plain. After the Zephyr is clear, the maintenance crew will get track and time on the main out of Plain heading west up the hill. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109069 Date Shot Photo By Friday, May 5, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rainbow Cut Arvada, CO 466 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak AMTK 55 and AMTK 167 lead a shorter-than-average Zephyr through Rainbow Cut on the main. These days, the typical Zephyr consist includes a pair of P42s, a baggage car, a transition sleeper, two sleepers, a dining car, a longue car, and two coaches. This morning, however, there is transition sleeper on the train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109068 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, May 4, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS024 (East Plain) Arvada, CO 369 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A UP Maintenance worker has a conversation with two people (and their dog) about their campsite. They have a tent setup (out of frame to the left) that is within 10 feet of the mainline. The MOW worker is presumably advising them that they are (dangerously) trespassing and that they need to leave ASAP. UP has called a special agent and, if these folks are still present when the agent shows up, they'll like be ticketed. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109067 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, May 4, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS024 (East Plain) Arvada, CO 420 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific When the Zephyr passed this spot a few minutes earlier, the headend crew informed the dispatcher of these campers. A UP Maintenance worker overheard the conversation and drove down to inform the campers that they are trespassing and that they should break camp and leave immediately. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 109066 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, May 4, 2023 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS024 (East Plain) Arvada, CO 532 (2 Comments Posted) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Possible Darwin Award nominees? These folks thought that this location, just east of the east switch of Plain, inside a cut, would be a great place to set up their tent and their campsite. 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