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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Just south of Mineral Avenue, this blade train is now in track warrant limits on Main 1 under the watchful eye of UP's DS-86. Another 39 miles to Palmer Lake and single track CTC.
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After a quick crew change at Fox Junction, the train was stopped for less than 15 minutes! Here, the train is rolling south on Main 2 about two miles south of the yard. In the distance, the tower at Elitch Gardens stands tall.
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Hooray! A GE unit running the way I remember from my childhood! The second unit in this consist was having some issues and putting out quite a bit of exhaust as this southbound manifest works out of the Littleton Trench.
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This is a shot that deserves the title "The Right Place at the Right Time"! A southbound Light Rail train approaches the camera as a northbound train sneaks past heads toward Union Station. The Light Rail trains were just a bonus as I was waiting on the BNSF manifest in the distance!
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This is without a doubt one of those timeless locations you see in rail photography. Railfans have been shooting southbounds coming around this bend since the dawn of the camera, I would image! Nothing too special about this consist...just another BNSF coal train working over the top of the hill.
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Two miles north of Palmer Lake, this southbound coal load is entering "The Sag". It is so-named because of the relatively rapid descent southbounds make. Track ownership changes here and while most of the load is still on BNSF property, the head end is now on UP property!
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This is probably one of the most photogenic spots to shoot a southbound anywhere on the Joint Line. It is around 2 o'clock in the afternoon as this BNSF coal load works hard to climb the remaining seven or so miles to Palmer Lake.
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This is why I love the Joint Line! When you are lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time, you can catch a northbound and a southbound in the same frame. In this shot, a southbound coal load is approaching on the left as an empty darts north over to the right.
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It's pretty unusual to catch a UP coal train on the Joint Line these days. UP puts sufficient power on its coal trains to make descent speed up the hill to Palmer Lake. Which is why it was fortunate that this train was on the tail of a BNSF load that was dragging up the hill.
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Unfortunately, it was well after sunset when the Circus Train finally departed south out of Denver. The last shot I was able to get was a times shot of the train on Main 2 at Kalamath Street, about 2 1/2 miles south of town.
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At the very start of the Joint Line (20th Street), the Circus Train heads south on Main 2 with the addition of an SD70MAC. This is the first time I've ever shot 20th Street from the north side of the tracks.
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A coal load heads south at 20th Street with the same crew that brought the train down the Brush Sub. The train will make a quick stop at Kalamath Street to swap out crews so the next crew can the train to La Junta.
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