Photo ID: 108690 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, June 10, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East Portal (5,750 ft) Gilpin County, CO 796 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr comes around the final curve before the Moffat Tunnel alongside the siding and wye at East Portal. The Moffat Tunnel, as you can see, is dead ahead! The 6.2-long tunnel will take the train under the Continental Divide at the highest elevation of any remaining mainline in the United States, roughly 9,200 feet above sea level. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108689 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, June 10, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East of East Portal Gilpin County, CO 880 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Just east of East Portal, the westbound Zephyr follows along South Boulder Creek and East Portal Road as it continues west toward the Moffat Tunnel. From the days before the Moffat Tunnel, the grade for Rollins Pass is visible on the left side of the frame. The old grade is now a dirt road that people enjoy driving, cycling, ATV-ing, and dirt biking on these days. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108688 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, June 10, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East of East Portal Gilpin County, CO 890 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr crosses over East Portal Road just east of the siding of East Portal, about 1 1/2 miles east of the Moffat Tunnel. The Zephyr has a clear signal at the east end of East Portal, and will pick up a little speed as it will head in to the tunnel. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108687 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, June 10, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West of Tolland Gilpin County, CO 844 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The landscape opens up a bit at (and just west of) Tolland. The westbound Zephyr passes underneath the "shifted load" detector - also sometimes referred to as a "high/wide" detector - just west of Tolland at MP 48. The Zephyr is currently under one of many slow orders, keeping its speed down to about 15 MPH. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108686 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, June 10, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS019 (West Rocky) Arvada, CO 930 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Crawling along at a mere 10 MPH due to a speed restriction, the westbound Zephyr leaves Rocky behind and starts to really dig in to the grade that will take it up and around Big Ten Loop to Eisele (Clay). Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108685 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, June 10, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky (7,330ft) Arvada, CO 813 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak After meeting UP's MGJNY at Rocky, the Zephyr passes by the end DPUs and is climbing west out of Little Ten Loop. There are a lot of speed restrictions in place on the Moffat right now due to heat, so the Zephyr is actually slowing down to 10 MPH at this point. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108684 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, June 10, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS016 (East Rocky) Arvada, CO 877 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak At the east end of Rocky, UP's eastbound Grand Junction to North Yard manifest holds in the siding to meet the daily westbound Zephyr. Note the Rocky spur off to the left toward the top of the image. The spur breaks away from the main a few thousand feet to the west, and climbs an 8% grade to rapidly gain elevation up the hill. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108683 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 4, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 844 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF BNSF's daily westbound manifest out of Denver, destined for Pueblo, slowly makes its way through the narrowest part of Barbara's Gulch, just east of Rocky. The train is slowing as it had an Approach (yellow) signal at the last intermediate. However, upon getting around the bend, they will find a Clear (green) signal waiting for them. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108682 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 4, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 777 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Running on some Approach (yellow) signals, BNSF 4245 and two fellow BNSF GEs keep pulling the Denver-Provo west through Barbara's Gulch. The signal at east Rocky is currently red as the dispatcher is working to clear up some maintenance. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108681 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 4, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Blue Mountain Drive (MP 22.43) Arvada, CO 825 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Under a high June sun, a westbound UP coal empty works its way through the S-Curves at Blue Mountain Road. Rumor has it that the mines at West Elk and Energy have picked up some new coal contracts. Hopefully, that'll mean a few more UP coal trains showing up! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108680 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 4, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Blue Mountain Drive (MP 22.43) Arvada, CO 851 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific One of the older GEs on the roster these days, an AC4400CW, and one of the newer GEs on the roster, an ET44AC, are two of the leaders on this westbound coal empty at Blue Mountain Road. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108679 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 4, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Blue Mountain Drive (MP 22.43) Arvada, CO 804 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific UP 6321 leads a coal empty west toward the crossing at Blue Mountain Road. Something worth noting is that UP 6321 started life in scarlet and gray! At its birth in 1995, this was SP 277. Any evidence of its original heritage is now long since gone as it wears the full flag and wings logo now. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108678 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 4, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS020 (East Eisele (Clay)) Arvada, CO 826 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A trio of GEs lead a coal empty west on the main at Eisele (Clay). Aside from being a shorter siding, the siding at Eisele has a weight restriction (so heavier trains cannot use it), and it has a speed restriction. All these things add up to the siding being seldomly used. It has, in fact, only been used twice since May 1! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108677 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 4, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 864 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific An AC4400CW, an ET44AC, and an ES44AC lead a westbound coal empty as it snakes its way around Big Ten and toward a clear signal at the east end of Eisele (Clay). After getting flagged by a red signal at west Rocky, the coal empty has creeped up Big Ten! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108676 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 4, 2021 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Arvada, CO 824 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific After getting stuck in the siding at Rocky for close to three hours due to maintenance, this coal empty is finally on the move again, climbing out of Rocky and up and around Big Ten. The train is limited to restricted speed as the dispatcher could not get a signal at west Rocky. The train had to be flagged by the red signal. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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