Amtrak celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2021, and painted up two units (a P42DC and a Charger) in a special commemorative scheme. For five years, the P42DC has managed to elude me, but I finally caught it on this beautiful Easter Sunday. AMTK 100 and AMTK 25 lead the eastbound Zephyr through the Denver suburb of Arvada, running about 25 minutes late.
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The eastbound Zephyr is running about 25 minutes late as it rolls east through Arvada at 66th Avenue. Spring has sprung on many of the trees in the Denver suburb. Leaves are starting to return and, despite a very dry winter, things are starting to green up a little bit.
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With its station stop at Fraser complete, the eastbound Zephyr is starting to roll east on the main. AMTK 100 and AMTK 25 lead the train as it approaches a green signal.
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I made the trek west over the Continental Divide to get a shot of the eastbound Zephyr with AMTK 100 leading. This is a specially painted P42DC, celebrating Amtrak's 50th anniversary in 2021. This is actually the first time I've seen it in person.
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The eastbound Zephyr is on the main track at Sulphur, along the headwaters of the Colorado River. The train met BNSF's westbound Denver-Provo manifest here at Sulphur.
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AMTK 164, the Phase 4 heritage unit, is likely the most common heritage unit to run on the Zephyr (and over the Moffat). I think I've seen this one way more often than the Phase 1 through 3 heritage units. In any case, it is leading the Zephyr west around Big Ten Curve this morning, along with AMTK 23.
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The westbound Zephyr just passed by some maintenance equipment in the siding and house track at Rocky. The Zephyr is about 25 minutes late this morning. UP's yard transfer between BNSF's 31st Street Yard and UP's North Yard was temporarily blocking the Zephyr down at Prospect Jct.
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Last weekend, I saw my first Superliner sporting Amtrak's Phase 7 paint scheme. That was on a lounge car. Here is the second Superliner I've seen, a coach/baggage on the tail end of the train.
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The east portal of Tunnel 1 is a fantastic spot for a shot of westbounds in the morning, as the tracks actually head (more or less) east, putting the train in great morning light. As a result, I like to try to explore some different perspectives. The lower view up toward the tracks was just right for the Zephyr with AMTK 176 and AMTK 203 on the point.
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Despite the extreme dry weather, it does appear that the foliage is starting to green up a little bit here around Eisele (Clay). AMTK 176 and AMTK 203 lead the westbound Zephyr on the main track here near the east end of the siding.
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This seemed like the perfect angle, along the east side of Big Ten Loop, for a shot of the morning Zephyr as it heads west. You can see Tunnel 1 in the distance, and even the east portal of Tunnel 4 further off in the distance.
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On the lower north edge of Big Ten Loop, the morning Zephyr is starting its climb. As we move in to Spring, the Denver area is still in the midst of the driest winter season in recorded history. It is unlikely the foliage is going to green up as much this spring compared to a typical spring.
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At the west switch of rocky, the westbound Zephyr is sporting a colorful consist as it climbs toward Big Ten Curve, running precisely on time.
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When The Zephyr left Chicago, it was led by AMTK 4 and AMTK 5. AMTK 4 was swapped for AMTK 150 in Denver, resulting in a roughly two hour delay. It is unclear if AMTK 4 had a mechanical issue, or it was just swapped with AMTK 150, and AMTK 4 will show up on the Winter Park Express tomorrow morning.
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This morning's Zephyr is almost two hours late after a delay in Denver. The lead unit on the Zephyr, AMTK 150, was taken from the Winter Park Express power. It is unclear why it was necessary to swap power. It is possible that AMTK 150 is due for a 92-day inspection and, as a result, had to be swapped and sent west to Emeryville. In any case, the Zephyr is just west of Tunnel 1, coming up to Plain.
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