Photo ID: 108214 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 22, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 1037 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific An SD70ACe leads five GEs (including a Norfolk Southern unit) on the climb up Big Ten Curve from Rocky. This coal empty is the first in over a week to run west from Denver. The train has 105 cars headed for the West Elk Mine on the North Fork Branch south of Grand Junction. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108213 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 22, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS019 (West Rocky) Arvada, CO 972 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Whereas coal used to be the main commodity on the Moffat, with as many as 9 loads and 9 empties running in a 24 hour period in 2007, today it has become extremely scarce! The Moffat will now go days, weeks, or even months between coal trains. I was lucky to catch one on the second day of summer, seen here climbing west out of Rocky toward Big Ten. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108212 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 22, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 993 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Despite having four units, this Provo-Denver is actually pretty darn short! Only 21 cars making up the train today, including a box car, three covered hoppers, an empty centerbeam, and 16 tank cars. The train is paralleling CO-72 and Welton Reservoir. This Reservoir was built in 2002 and started filling in 2003. It's primary use is for drinking water. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108211 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 22, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 961 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF After meeting the Zephyr at Rocky, BNSF's Provo-Denver manifest rolls east toward Leyden alongside CO-72. The train now has a clear shot in to the yard. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108210 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 22, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East of Leyden Arvada, CO 1107 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The Zephyr just crossed Simms Street in Arvada and is approaching a clear signal at the east end of Leyden. In the distance, you can clearly see the Denver Skyline, where the Zephyr just departed from about 30 minutes earlier. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108209 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, June 20, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Crescent (5,550 ft) Boulder County, CO 915 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Just west of the grade crossing at Crescent, the Zephyr is wrapping around the near-180° curve toward the west switch. With as few trains as there are running on the Moffat these days, it's likely been many days or even weeks since the siding here at Crescent was last used. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108208 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, June 20, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Crescent (5,550 ft) Boulder County, CO 1043 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak AMTK 184, the Phase IV Heritage Unit, is making another round trip on the Zephyr. Alas, it is second in the consist as the 20 minute late Zephyr rolls west on the main at Crescent. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108207 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 1 (MP 23.4, 366 ft) Arvada, CO 838 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Emerging from Tunnel 1 to the west, the Zephyr continues its climb up the east slope of the Rockies up to the Moffat Tunnel. Just around the corner ahead of the Zephyr is a clear signal at the east switch of Plain. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108206 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 1 (MP 23.4, 366 ft) Arvada, CO 991 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The head end of the Zephyr is just about to duck in Tunnel 1, having gained a few hundred feet since crossing Blue Mountain Road just out of the frame to the left. CO-72 heads up Coal Creek Canyon to the top-right. Interestingly, when David Moffat was building the line in 1902, one of the possible routes surveyors considered would have taken the tracks straight up Coal Creek Canyon, where CO-72 disappears in the background. This would have necessitated a long tunnel (to get from present day Crescent Village to Pinecliff). It was largely due to this the railroad opted to instead take the current alignment along the Front Range to South Boulder Creek. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108205 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Arvada, CO 924 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr, with seven Superliners in tow, makes its way up from the base of Coal Creek Canyon toward the east portal of Tunnel 1. CO-72 does head west up Coal Creek Canyon, meeting up with the tracks again in Pinecliff. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108204 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Blue Mountain Drive (MP 22.43) Arvada, CO 961 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The hills at Blue Mountain are very green this morning as the westbound Zephyr passes by the grade crossing and the hot box detector at MP 22.6. The train is on time and should not hit any major delays in the foreseeable future. No eastbounds coming against it anywhere nearby. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108203 Date Shot Photo By Friday, June 19, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Blue Mountain Drive (MP 22.43) Arvada, CO 1071 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr is right on time as it approaches the Blue Mountain Road grade crossing. A summer cold front moved in to the Denver area yesterday, producing a lot of overnight rain setting up a sky full of dramatic clouds in the morning. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108202 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, June 17, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 948 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific UP is running their EC-4 test car west over the Moffat today. The test car has a lot of equipment onboard for monitoring and measuring the track. It can detect defects that need to be repaired, among other things. Several years ago, the EC-4 was self-propelled. When it broke down, rather than bother to repair it, UP now simply hauls around the system behind a unit and a flat car! On this trip, the test car is running through every single siding between Denver and Phippsburg on the Craig Branch. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108201 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, June 17, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 20 (MP 32.5, 458 ft) Boulder County, CO 844 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Just a few days before the official start of summer, the westbound Zephyr is briefly visible in the Tunnel District as it moves between Tunnel 19 and Tunnel 20. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108200 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, June 17, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS032 (West Crescent) Boulder County, CO 980 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr is right on time as it leaves Crescent behind and gets ready to duck in to Tunnel 19. One of the more well-known landmarks that passengers on the Zephyr watch for is Gross Reservoir. The dam is one of the primary water supplies for Denver and currently holds roughly 14 billion gallons of water. As Denver is growing though, there is a project to also raise Gross Reservoir another 131 feet by 2025. This will nearly triple the amount of water in Gross Reservoir, adding 25 billion gallons of capacity, allowing a total of roughly 39 billion gallons of water to be stored. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

Previous Page     Next Page