In order to accommodate Plum Creek Parkway continuing west of I-25, a new bridge was recently built for Main 1. Prior to the construction of the bridge, the tracks ran along a fill all the way through this picture!
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At Sedalia, there is a pretty massive fill that was built for both tracks to keep them on close to the same grade. This shot is looking up at the tail end DPU of a southbound coal load on Main 1. You can see Main 2 just barely visible on the far left side of the photo.
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An SD70ACe and a AC4400CW lead up a loaded coal train approaching Titan Road just south of Littleton. The train has 120 hoppers and four units for power. This is pretty typical for BNSF and the train won't make much better than 15 MPH for its trip up the Palmer Divide.
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Not too hard to tell where this train is! The rock, towering like a castle, kind of gives it away. A pair of CP SD40-2s and a SOO SD60 lead a southbound BNSF manifest along its way on the Joint Line.
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In my (very humble) opinion, the SD40-2 (and T-2) has the best profile shot of darn near any units ever produced. I really enjoyed catching two of them, along with an SD60, on a southbound manifest on the Joint Line in 2010!
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After receiving a new track warrant (with authority extending further south), this BNSF manifest (with very colorful power) throttles up to continue pulling south.
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These three classic EMDs are working to pull this manifest south on Main 1 over a (currently dry) creek in Louviers.
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The overpass on Titan Road offered a great view of this southbound BNSF Denver-Pueblo manifest. Note the winterization hatches on the radiator fans on the leading SD40-2 and the SD60. Very common on Canadian Pacific units.
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At the south end of the Littleton Trench, the sun was finally able to break through the clouds, bringing some great Spring sunlight to this southbound manifest, running through the Trench on Main 2. Imagine, a trio of standard (Spartan) cab EMDs on a mainline freight, on a class one railroad in 2010.
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Nope, I honestly didn't make a quick trip up to Winnipeg in Canada! Canadian Pacific was repaying BNSF some power miles in the form of two SD40-2s and a (SOO) SD60. The train is coming down through Hogan's Alley on Main 1. The tower at Elitch Gardens is visible in the distance.
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This manifest was running right on the yellow blocks of the coal load ahead of it, so I didn't have enough time to get north of Palmer Lake and back into the light (note the house and hillside in the distance). Instead, I settled for this shot at the grade crossing at Palmer Lake. This is BNSF's daily Denver to Pueblo manifest. When I first saw it, I thought it was a baretable train as I only saw the empty well cars initially!
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Minutes before the sun ducks behind the mountains west of Palmer Lake, this southbound works through the S-Curve just south of the lake. Leave it to BNSF to run the last unit nose-forward!
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A southbound coal load makes the final effort to get over the top of Palmer Divide, about 7,200 feet above sea level. Here, the double track ends and the single track CTC begins. The single track runs for 32 miles between Palmer Lake and Crews, and there are four sidings along the way to facilitate train meets.
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It can be hard to get northbounds in good light on the Joint Line, but the tracks sweep to the west, offer a nice opportunity around Kelker for some good light. Case in point is this northbound, running on clear signals on the main at Kelker.
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After meeting a southbound manifest here at Crews, this northbound has a clear signal and is throttling up to enter the CTC-controlled single track mainline.
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