Photo ID: 104623 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO 1848 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific The Cimarron Street overpass offers up a nice view of the tracks...although both sides of the bridge have tight chain link fencing, making it difficult to shoot through! I decided to use the chain link to frame this shot of UP's Drake coal train heading directly for the power plant. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104622 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO 1900 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific I was out chasing for about seven hours along the Joint Line on this Saturday and this ended up being the only UP train that I saw! UP supplies the coal for both the Drake power plant in Colorado Springs and the Nixon power plant just south of Colorado Springs. Here, the Drake train has left the mainline (concrete ties to the right) and is now on the Drake lead. The switch to the lead is back near the crossover at Bijou, just around the corner in the distance. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104621 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 2284 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF With the explosion in oil lately, BNSF has been suffering from a bit of a power shortage. As a result, they have been leasing a lot of power as well as activating power that has been in storage. Such is the case with the Warbonnet-painted SD75Ms. To make space on the roster, BNSF has moved the units from their 8200-series numbers back to their ATSF-original 200-series numbers. As you can see, it has been done a bit hastily, too! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104620 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 2246 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF At Palmer Lake, this southbound has left the double track behind. It is now on the UP-owned, BNSF-dispatched single main track. The single track runs for roughly 30 miles through Colorado Springs. At Crews (near Fountain, CO), double track starts again. There are only four sidings over this 30 mile stretch, so it can become something of a bottleneck for the dispatcher! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104619 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Palmer Lake Palmer Lake, CO 2003 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF We are at the "top of the hill" as this manifest makes its way around the west side of Palmer Lake. The shiny ES44C4 makes a fantastic contrast against the snow that fell the previous night. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104618 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Greenland Greenland, CO 2149 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF This red barn is something of a staple here in Greenland, CO. Railfans for years have been setting up shots like this one of southbounds on Main 1. Meanwhile, in the foreground, Main 2 lies quiet at the moment. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104617 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Greenland Greenland, CO 2069 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A southbound BNSF manifest passes by the big red barn in Greenland. The "New Image" / "Heritage 2" / "Warbonnet" schemes made for an interesting walk through history! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104616 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Lift Louviers, CO 2014 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF Decades ago, ATSF built an intermodal terminal called "Big Lift" south of Littleton. While it has been used as an intermodal facility in many, many years, it is still used as an unloading terminal for other types of freight. It is also where BNSF keeps helper sets for certain southbound coal loads. To save on fuel, some loads now run in a 2x1 DPU setup (instead of 2x2) and then two manned helpers are added to the tail end at Big Lift. The train then runs 2x3 to Palmer Lake. Here, a coal train passes an icy looking parking lot and a helper set waiting for the train to arrive that they will tack on to. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104615 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Acequia Littleton, CO 2434 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF Being the main that is further away from US-85, it can be easy to overlook it to a certain extent sometimes along the stretch south of Littleton. But when you do stop and check it out, it is well worth it! A southbound BNSF coal train is pulling hard on Main 1 (former DRGW main, now UP main), running south on the climb to Palmer Lake along the Rockies. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104614 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Acequia Littleton, CO 2103 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF At the south end of Littleton near Chatfield Reservoir is Acequia. There are a few industries that UP's South Local will switch out here on Monday's and Thursday's. Today, however, is this southbound BNSF coal load, pulling hard in Run 8. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104613 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, March 8, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Titan Road Littleton, CO 2533 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF This is one of the many reasons why I live in Colorado! A snow storm from yesterday afternoon blew out overnight and left blue skies and a crisp morning. A southbound BNSF manifest is on the move near Titan Road south of Littleton on Main 1. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104550 Date Shot Photo By Monday, February 17, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Military Jct (MP 10) Sheridan, CO 2053 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific The last shot of the day on this President's Day. A former Espee GP40-2 (now UP 1456) and a former Espee GP40P-2 (now UP 1373) work the South Local on the branch at Military Junction leading to the industries at Cedar Creek. The GP40P-2 is now just a GP40-2 and has been for nearly thirty years! The steam generator was removed in 1985. But the extended long hood still remains. Unfortunately, some graffiti has appeared on the long hood. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104549 Date Shot Photo By Monday, February 17, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Military Jct (MP 10) Sheridan, CO 2175 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific Shots like this just take me back to my childhood! I have always (and will always) LOVE the EMD Spartan Cab. Here, the South Local makes a safety stop on the Military Junction branch leading to Western Metals by Cedar Creek. You can see the intersection at South Natches Ct in the background. Note the "double green" traffic signal, indicating the local is clear to back across South Natches Ct. This prevents the traffic signal from giving a green signal across the tracks and enables a "no right turn" electronic sign for traffic approaching Oxford on Natches Ct. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104548 Date Shot Photo By Monday, February 17, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Military Jct (MP 10) Sheridan, CO 1992 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Union Pacific A pair of GP40-2s slowly backs down toward Cedar Creek on the branch at Military Junction. The grade here is actually quite steep (in railroad terms). The local backs down the branch about a half mile to Western Metals Recycling. Western Metals fills gondolas with scrap metal...hence all the (empty) gondolas seen in this shot. All-Coast Forest Products will also take delivery of a center beam or boxcar (or two) of lumber. Those were at the end of the local and out of the frame here. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 104547 Date Shot Photo By Monday, February 17, 2014 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Titan Road Littleton, CO 2008 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) Norfolk Southern One last shot of the Pennsy Heritage Unit for the day...and, considering how it is in fact a Norfolk Southern unit, quick possibly the last ever! Who knows If I'll have the chance again. It was a fun chase though and I was glad I finally got to see at least one of the NS Heritage Units in person. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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