Do you recognize this face? Baby wings throwing you off perhaps? Prior to August of 2001, you definitely would have known the face of DRGW 5410! This former Grande T-2 has received a full repaint, including the previously mentioned baby wings and the "lightning bolt" on the long hood. The unit was idling away in the 36th street yard.
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UP 1989 hustles west on the point of the MNYPV-08. The door on the long hood is open because the crew was checking for an extra jumper cable at the request of DS-86.
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The MNYPV-08 heads west through Arvada with the Rio Grande Heritage Unit, UP 1989, on the point. The train is making track speed on the approach to Carr Street, just west of Old Wadsworth Blvd.
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UP 1989 makes only its third run west on the Moffat since it was unveiled in Denver in July. At Lamar street in Arvada (just shy of DS007), the train came to a stop for about 90 minutes while waiting for a second crew to come out of Denver. The second crew was for a westbound tied down in the siding at Plain.
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As the sun gets very low in the western sky, UP 1989 and the MPUNY-06 head north at track speed near Tomah Road. The train would arrive at North Yard about an hour later, nearly 24 hours after departing the yard in Pueblo. High traffic volumes were the cause of the delay. The single track through Colorado Springs is a huge bottle neck on the Joint Line.
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Normally, UP 1989 would make the run from Pueblo to Denver in the pitch black. The manifest usually passes through the community of Palmer Lake sometime between 1:00am and 2:00am. High levels of traffic delayed the train enough the prior day that it passed through Palmer Lake in daylight on this particular Sunday.
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UP 1989 wraps around the snowy south end of Palmer Lake on its way north. The train departed Pueblo (about 65 miles south) the previous night at 7:30pm. High levels of train traffic on the Joint resulted in the train being tied down on the siding at Kelker until 1:30pm the next day (the day this picture was shot). At the time of the picture, it was about 4:00pm.
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UP 1989 and two SD70M's lead a whole whopping 11 cars on the MPUNY-06 just north of Colorado Springs siding. The train is approaching the underpass at Fillmore Street. Cheyenne mountain is clearly visible in the background.
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A quick roster shot of UP 1358 - the Colorado Springs switcher - as it idles away on a Sunday afternoon. UP 1358 is one of the few former Rio Grande units to still have its class lights in place and operational (although they were off at this point).
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UP 1358 has been the Colorado Springs switcher for several months now. It sits near the Colorado Springs depot. A coal empty sits tied down on the Colorado Springs siding on the conductor side of 1358. The Rio Grande caboose behind is still used when 1358 departs the yard on local duties.
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UP 7111 pushes behind DRGW AX-41, an authentic Rio Grande Jordan Spreader. This snow special (WDVDV-31) is following UP's rotary plow east on the Limon Sub to help clear the line from major snow drifts!
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As the sun moves further west in the afternoon sky, the snow-covered Rockies make a nice backdrop to the Rio Grande Jordan Spreader AX-41 which is headed east on the main at Mesa.
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AX-41 was the Jordan Spreader that Rio Grande kept and maintained in Minturn. The spreader was used to clear Tennessee Pass after major snow storms. Today, it is stored in North Yard and is only used once every couple of years on average.
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The WDVDVF-31 stops at Roydale to pick up some crew to help man the Jordan Spreader. The train, which is normally stored in North Yard, is headed east on the Limon Sub to help free some stranded trains in the snow.
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Rio Grande Jordan Spreader AX-41 passes UP 1348 (ex-DRGW 3126) at Roydale. The spreader is headed east on the Limon Sub to help clear snow from the line. The ex-Grande geep is working as power on the Roydale Local.
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