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Sunday, September 8, 2024
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Kevin Morgan
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Rock Creek Canyon
Routt County, CO
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46 (Add a Comment)
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Moffat Tunnel (UP)
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Union Pacific
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When the Moffat route was originally built and the railroad was faced with Rock Creek Canyon, there were two options. Build a roughly 1,800 foot long bridge across the canyon, or build back into the canyon roughly a mile in and back out, where a fill and four tunnels could facilitate the journey. The railroad chose the latter option. The westbound Phippsburg Local has just completed that journey in and out, and is now continuing west toward Phippsburg.
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Sunday, September 8, 2024
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Kevin Morgan
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Tunnel 48
Routt County, CO
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43 (Add a Comment)
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Moffat Tunnel (UP)
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Union Pacific
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Deep in Rock Creek Canyon, the Phippsburg Local emerges from Tunnel 48 on the Craig Branch. The west portal of Tunnel 46 is also visible on the right side of the frame. Tunnel 47 is obscured behind a curve.
There are rumors that UP is trying to negotiate with UP to potentially bring daily passenger runs between Denver and Steamboat Springs. That would be great, allowing people to see the amazing scenery. Scenery that hasn't been scene by train passengers since the demise of the Yampa Valley Mail, the final train running on April 8, 1968.
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Sunday, September 8, 2024
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Kevin Morgan
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Crater Loops
Routt County, CO
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49 (Add a Comment)
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Moffat Tunnel (UP)
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Union Pacific
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Since the fall of coal traffic in Colorado, the Craig Branch is only a few steps above abandonment. The mines at Energy and Axial have each loaded one or maybe two coal trains in the last year that have left the branch. The Phippsburg Local is about the only train that runs between Bond and Steamboat Springs. I was lucky enough to catch the local on this Sunday afternoon. The local is climbing through the loops S-curves of the Crater Loops as it gains elevation on the trip west.
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Sunday, September 8, 2024
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Kevin Morgan
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Bond to Crater (MP 128.8 to MP 138.1)
Bond, CO
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49 (Add a Comment)
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Moffat Tunnel (UP)
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Union Pacific
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This shot really demonstrates the diverging of alignments from the original Denver and Salt Lake and the Dotsero Cutoff. The original mainline that David Moffat used in an attempt to reach Salt Lake City has the Phippsburg Local sitting on it in the foreground. The Dotsero Cutoff, built about 30 years later, is in the distance with the coal empty. David Moffat's original mainline never made it west of Craig, CO, and the line is now the most underused stretch of CTC mainline in the country. This Phippsburg Local is about the only train that runs on the branch, only making a few trips each week.
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Sunday, September 8, 2024
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Kevin Morgan
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CP DS129 (Bond)
Bond, CO
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49 (Add a Comment)
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Moffat Tunnel (UP)
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Union Pacific
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As the Phippsburg Local puts its train together at Bond, a westbound coal empty passes by on the main. Bond is a crew change point for UP trains, so this Denver-based crew is reaching its destination. A van is waiting around the corner in the yard at Bond to pick up the crew and take them to the hotel in Yampa. The same van also has the Grand Junction-based relief crew. The crews will swap out and the coal empty will continue west.
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Sunday, September 8, 2024
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Kevin Morgan
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CP DS129 (Bond)
Bond, CO
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50 (Add a Comment)
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Moffat Tunnel (UP)
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Union Pacific
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Bond is a major control point on the Moffat. It marks the start of the Dotsero Cutoff that connects David Moffat's original mainline to the Denver and Rio Grande mainline. In this shot, the Phippsburg Local is backing to the second half of its train (in a yard track), putting the 38-car train together. Once it is put together, the local will depart west up the Craig Branch.
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