Photo ID: 108263 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, July 1, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 869 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Looking west through the siding at Plain from above the westbound Zephyr. There is currently a 15 MPH slow orders in the siding at Plain, so the Zephyr is creeping along toward the west switch. Once there, the train will wait for a few minutes until BNSF's Provo-Denver arrives. The manifest is currently out of Crescent, a few miles to the west. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108262 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, July 1, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 1188 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Passenger on board the Sightseer Lounge car enjoy the view of the plains from the Zephyr at Plainview. A few passengers may have picked up on the drone, hovering not too far off in order to get the shot. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108261 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, July 1, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain (6,530 ft) Arvada, CO 954 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak There isn't a cloud in site on the first morning of July as the Zephyr enters the siding at Plain. A "Big Game" unit is number two in the lineup today. The train will be meeting an eastbound BNSF Provo-Denver that is out of Crescent. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108260 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky (7,330ft) Arvada, CO 955 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Near the east end of Rocky, the number of tracks expands from two to four for a short distance. The track on the far left is the house track. If you are not familiar with that term, a house track is usually a few hundred feet long and is often found alongside a siding. If a train needs to set out a car for some reason, a house track is a great place to put it so as not to have to block the entire siding. The track on the far right is the Rocky Spur, which runs about 4 miles to the north. the MGJNY here is rolling east on the main. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108259 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 881 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific The eastbound MGJNY is descending down from Big Ten, approaching a clear signal at the west switch of Rocky. this particular train has three units on the point and a single DPU set up on the rear. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108258 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1264 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A look directly down on the 10° curve which is where Big Ten Loop (or Big Ten Curve) gets its name from! UP's MGJNY is rounding the curve on the outside. You can clearly see the open hoppers filled with dirt on the inside of the curve, serving as a wind break for close to 50 years now. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108257 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1035 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A majority of UP's 900 or so ES44ACs and ES44AHs are in the 7000-8000 number range. However, 80 of them wound up in the 2500 and 2700 series. These 80 units are all known as Tier 4 "Credit" units. They were ordered after Tier 4 emissions standards were in place, even though they are Tier 3 units, by using "credits" UP had accrued. UP 2747 is one such unit, delivered in late 2016. Here, it is leading the MGJNY around Big Ten Curve on a largely cloudy morning. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108256 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1245 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A UP eastbound manifest peeks in to view around Big Ten Curve. A lot of graffiti has been applied to the open wind break hoppers in the last decade or so. They were repainted the tan-ish color you see in the 1990s. In the 25 years since (give or take), the blank cars became tempting targets for taggers. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108255 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Eisele (Clay) (5,780 ft) Arvada, CO 934 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The Zephyr is creeping west at restricted speed (about 10 MPH) through the siding at Eisele (Clay). UP's MGJNY sits on the main, patiently waiting for a clear signal at the east end. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108254 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS019 (West Rocky) Arvada, CO 926 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak At first glance, it certainly may appear as though the Zephyr and the UP manifest are headed the same direction on parallel tracks. While they are indeed both heading geographically south right now, they are on the same track. The Zephyr is climbing out of Rocky and will go around Big Ten Loop, ascending in elevation up to Eisele where the UP manifest is waiting to meet the Zephyr. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108253 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Rocky (7,330ft) Arvada, CO 950 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak It is a somewhat cloudy morning as the westbound Zephyr makes its way west on the main at Rocky. A P40DC, AMTK 824, is leading up the train this today. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108252 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, June 27, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Coal Creek (MP 23) Arvada, CO 982 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF BNSF's Denver-Provo moves directly away from the setting sun, as the sun offers a blast of lights just minutes before ducking behind the mountains. The crew will have clear blocks ahead all the way to the Moffat Tunnel and beyond as there is absolutely no eastbound traffic to oppose it at the moment. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108251 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, June 27, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Coal Creek (MP 23) Arvada, CO 946 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Exhaust shimmers in the sunlight as four units work to pull the Denver-Provo around the curve at the base of Coal Creek Canyon and up toward Tunnel 1. Due to a temporary slow order, the train is only making 10 MPH on the climb right now in the midst of the quickly setting sun. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108250 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, June 27, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Coal Creek (MP 23) Arvada, CO 995 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF The sun is just minutes away from descending behind the mountains to the west, casting a shadow here on the tracks at the base of Coal Creek Canyon. Fortunately, BNSF's Denver-Provo manifest is snaking through the S-Curves at Blue Mountain and Coal Creek just in time to catch the last light. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108249 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, June 27, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 890 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF BNSF's Denver-Provo departed Denver late in the evening on this Saturday. The crew was called at 17:10, but the train had to wait for the arrival of the Zephyr in Denver before they were able to head out. But here, the head end is running through the narrowest part of Barbara's Gulch on the approach to Rocky. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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