On a morning that found most cloudy skies to the east, the eastbound Roper, UT to North Yard, CO manifest rolls towards a clear signal at the west end of Leyden.
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The eastbound MRONY is relatively short today, with two units on the point and a single DPU bringing up the rear. A UP ES44AC and a CSX AC4400CW lead the way toward a clear signal at Leyden.
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In the past few years, UP has made a concentrated effort to patch the remaining non-UP units on its roster, as well as repaint units in predecesor paint schemes. UP 6408 was original SP 362, delivered in October 1995. It recently received a full repaint in the "flag and wings" scheme.
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Nothing like a gaggle of power, all in a single shot! All five of these units are DPUs on an eastbound coal load. The four in the foreground are the mid-train swing helpers, while UP 6408 (ex-SP 362) brings up the rear.
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On a beautiful March morning, a coal load winds through the curves at Coal Creek and Blue Mountain on its way east. Of the seven units on the train, the lead unit (ironically) is by far the one that looks the worst for wear! That's okay though...gives the train a little personality. More than likely, this is the original paint scheme from when this guy was first delivered to UP in November 1995.
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The head end of an eastbound coal load rolls past the hot box detector at milepost 22.6. Most coal trains on the Moffat run with three mid-train swing helpers. However, this train (which loaded at Energy Mine on the Craig Branch) has DPUs in the middle, as seen in this shot here.
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One of my favorite places to shoot would have to be the S-Curves at the base of Coal Creek Canyon. Love in shots like this how you can see the DPU, the train just ahead of the DPU, and the train way, ahead of the DPU on the other side of CO-72. The distance between the tank cars in the foreground and the background is about 1,500 feet.
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Orange BNSF power and a single (faded) Warbonnet pass by the Coal Creek Canyon fire house on Blue Mountain Road as the manifest works its way west on the Moffat.
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A westbound BNSF manifest with an interesting display of paint schemes makes its way around the curve on the approach to the Blue Mountain Road grade crossing.
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It has been a few years since Oil Mesa moved out of Arvada, leaving no active business on Chem Spur. This week, with no active future in site for the little spur, UP removed the frog from the spur to give a smoother ride to mainline trains!
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A Kansas City Southern de Mexico ES44AC and BNSF ES44DC share the duty of shoving on this westbound manifest as it passes by Chem Spur and enters in to Barbara's Gulch.
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This westbound BNSF manifest had two units that are rather rare sites for the Moffat! In addition to a Warbonnet on the head end, this Kansas City Southern de Mexico ES44AC was one of two DPUs on the tail end. KCS units are rare enough in Colorado, but KCSdM units even more so!
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Earlier this week, an eastbound train started a (relatively) minor fire at the east end of Barbara's Gulch. No structures were damaged and the first was quickly contained and exterminated. Here, a westbound manifest approaches the burn site.
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I don't generally go for roster shots from the rear quarter of a unit. Then again, it isn't particularly common to find a Warbonnet on the moffat these days! BNSF 697 was the third of four units leading the westbond Denver-Provo.
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It is interesting how some Warbonnets have near-pristine paint after 25 years and others, like this one, are badly faded. Units like this have picked up the nickname "Pinkbonnet" amongst railfan as the red really has faded in to more of a pink.
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