Just south of Platteville, UP's daily MNPNY (North Platte, NE to North Yard, CO) manifest is rolling on green signals. It is hustling to get to town ahead of the Frontier Days Steam Train special.
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The Cheyenne Frontier Days Steam Train is making great time on its trip south. The train is approaching the north switch of Nunn, where it will meet with a northbound manifest. Note the people enjoying their ride on the back vestibule of the train.
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On its return trip from Cheyenne to Denver, the Frontier Days Steam Train approaches the US-85 overpass just north of the town of Nunn. With all the afternoon thunderstorms Colorado has had this year, it's nice to have a sunny afternoon for the trains run south.
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Talk about a serious passenger train! The Ringling Brothers circus train is just shy of a mile in length. The train carries all the performers, all the animals and all the equipment for the show from city to city. Here, the train is just passing through Denver as it runs from Colorado Springs to Las Vegas, NV (via Cheyenne and Salt Lake City).
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This is definitely the kind of shot that needs to be in black and white. My dad managed to get roster shots of nearly ever Rio Grande unit back in the late 1970's and early 1980's. He always shot in black and white, so even with the UP patch, this reminds me of those shots.
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An interesting look at some windmill blades loaded onto articulated spine cars. Interesting the way there is such an efficient use of space!
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The MNYNP heads north on the mainline in Carr. Not a lot of shots come out of Carr because it is roughly halfway between US-85 and I-25 in northern Colorado, so it is a bit of a drive to get there! Note the windmill blade on the left side of the shot. This is where windmills components are being offloaded.
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Just north of Nunn, the MNYNP is led by UP 6000 and a patched CNW AC4400CW. I always wonder where a handful of coal hoppers are headed when they aren't a part of a unit coal train!
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Just south of Greeley, a northbound coal empty has a clear signal. The empty came from the Nixon power plant south of Colorado Springs. It'll load at the North Antelope mine in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming.
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Kind of looks like some futuristic science fiction train, doesn't it? It reality, these are simply wind turbine blades being transported to northern Colorado for a wind farm.
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This windmill blade train consists of 21 sets of articulated spine cars (five cars per set). That means there are 42 blades on the train. Enough for 14 windmills at a wind farm.
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It is interesting to see windmill blades transported by rail. The use sets of five articulated spine cars whose original purpose was for trailers (piggy back). Here you can see how two blades fit on a set of five cars.
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Just north of the Adams Hold signal, UP 4791 has a windmill blade train rolling. The Denver skyline is a bit obscured by a rather humid day.
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Sitting on the outbound track north of 36th Street, UP 4791 has a fresh crew. This train is carrying blades for wind turbines. The turbines are headed for Carr, CO where they will be offloaded.
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All too often, as a rail photography, I curse the code line along the tracks for getting in the way of shots. With the advent of newer technologies, code line is starting to disappear! So perhaps it is time to start incorporating it in more shots before it is completely gone.
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