Photo ID: 112442 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, May 14, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Crescent (5,550 ft) Boulder County, CO 88 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Following closely behind the Rocky Mountaineer, the westbound Zephyr has come to a stop at a red signal at the west end of Crescent. As soon as the Rocky Mountaineer clears the block to the west of Crescent, the Zephyr will get a yellow (Approach) signal, allowing it to continue west as well. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112441 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, May 14, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Crescent to Cliff (MP 31.8 to MP 36.7) Boulder County, CO 114 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Rocky Mountaineer After meeting an eastbound BNSF oil train at Crescent, RMRX 8600 (a former SD45, now an SD40M-2) heads west toward the east portal of Tunnel 19. Off in the distance, you can see Gross Reservoir is indeed growing (getting taller) as part of the project to triple the volume of the reservoir. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112440 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, May 14, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Crescent (5,550 ft) Boulder County, CO 177 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Rocky Mountaineer Too many trains and not enough track! This eastbound BNSF oil train was in the siding at Crescent, but could not fit between switches; the end of the train was hanging out the west end of the siding. Plain, Eisele (Clay), Rocky, and Leyden were all unavailable for a meet, so both the Rocky Mountaineer and the Zephyr came up to Crescent. The Zephyr got a restricting signal to follow the Mountaineer down the main. With the oil train finally able to depart east, the Rocky Mountaineer is now starting to pull to the west switch, as the Zephyr is stopped, waiting for the Mountaineer. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112439 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, May 14, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 94 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Rocky Mountaineer An eastbound UP manifest is tied down on the main, short of the grade crossing, at Plain. The manifest is waiting for a crew to untie the train and take it east to North Yard. Meanwhile, the Rocky Mountaineer rolls west through the siding. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112438 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, May 14, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS024 (East Plain) Arvada, CO 109 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Rocky Mountaineer The Rocky Mountaineer throttles down a bit as it enters into the siding at Plain. An eastbound UP manifest, the MGJNY, actually died on the main (meaning the crew hit their max hours of service). Until a new crew can come out from Denver, all trains will have to run through the siding. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112437 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, May 14, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele to Plain (MP 21.8 to MP 24.0) Arvada, CO 100 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Rocky Mountaineer The westbound Rocky Mountaineer is using the SD40M-2 and SD18M, in addition to one of the GP40-3s, for power this morning. The SD18M and GP40-3 kick up quite a bit of exhaust as the train accelerates. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112436 Date Shot Photo By Monday, May 12, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky (7,330ft) Arvada, CO 112 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific This westbound rail train is sitting on the siding at Rocky, and has come to a stop. The train is waiting on MOW to clear up west of Rocky. Once they get the green, the train will head west to drop off some strips of rail at various locations between Plain and Cliff. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112435 Date Shot Photo By Monday, May 12, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 99 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A track tamper, which has been working on Big Ten Curve, and a hyrailer are both rolling east down the grade back toward the main track at Rocky. They are clearing up for a westbound rail train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112434 Date Shot Photo By Monday, May 12, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden to Rocky (MP 13.4 to MP 17.4) Arvada, CO 85 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The second of two units on this westbound rail train is UP 3055. This is one of roughly 100 Tier-4 EMD units that UP has on their roster. The complexity and expense of the units has resulted in minimal sales in the United States. Class 1 railroads are instead choosing to rebuild older units on the roster to give them an extended life. It is cheaper than investing in the Tier-4 units. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112433 Date Shot Photo By Monday, May 12, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS013 (West Leyden) Arvada, CO 120 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific After meeting two eastbound trains at Arvada, it was finally this rail trains turn to head west. The train only has a handful of strips of welded rail, which are to be dropped off in various locations between Plain and Cliff. As the summer draws closer, maintenance projects are beginning to pick up! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112432 Date Shot Photo By Monday, May 12, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Arvada to Leyden (MP 7.5 to MP 11.9) Arvada, CO 98 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF A long string of tank cars loaded with waxy oil rolls east through the heart of Arvada, led by an SD70ACe. BNSF and UP both run oil trains on the Moffat that load at the Wash transload facility near Wellington, UT. UP seems to run a few more trains than BNSF, but catching either is not uncommon. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112431 Date Shot Photo By Monday, May 12, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Arvada to Leyden (MP 7.5 to MP 11.9) Arvada, CO 97 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF In the cut between Carr Street and 66th Avenue in Arvada, an eastbound BNSF oil train heads east with three units on the point. DS-380 was concerned the train may not be able to make Denver before the crew went dead (ran out of hours), but the crew assured DS-380 that they'd be able to make it. Indeed, the train was running close to track speed...about 40 MPH...as it headed east here. They did indeed make Denver. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112430 Date Shot Photo By Monday, May 12, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS012 (East Leyden) Arvada, CO 109 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific May is without a doubt my favorite month in the Denver-Metro area. The foliage has greened up for Spring, and the temperatures generally are not too unbearably hot just yet! Regarding the green scenery, a case-in-point is here at East Leyden as UP's MGJNY heads east for the final ten or so miles toward North Yard. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112429 Date Shot Photo By Monday, May 12, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 170 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific After about a month with Leyden be open and available for meets, UP once again brought a string of about 40 gondolas out for longer term storage. The West Local brought the car out on May 7, 2025. After a derailment at Rocky on Friday, which still has the main out-of-service, it sure would be nice if the siding at Leyden was open for meets! Alas, such is not the case. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112428 Date Shot Photo By Monday, May 12, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky (7,330ft) Arvada, CO 148 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Quite a bit going on in this shot. In additional to the manifest rolling east through the siding at Rocky, we see a regulator on the main to the right. You might also notice that the spur switch to the Rocky Flats Industrial Lead is also open. The main track here at Rocky is currently out-of-service. UP is checking for track damage on the main after a derailment last Friday. They are also storing some MOW equipment on the main and on the spur in the meantime. The tank car that derailed can be spotted to the left on the house track. 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