A BNSF "H" train, the "H" indicating this is a High Priority Manifest. Finding a pair of Kansas City Southern units on the head end was a pretty great bonus to the train itself. The train is just a few miles away from the start of two main tracks at Berea.
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The area around Santa Fe Drive (US-85) and C-470 has become quite the busy, urban scene in recent years. CDOT is working on adding a toll lane to C-470. The Joint Line - both Mains 1 and 2 - cross over C-470. An on-ramp from southbound Santa Fe to eastbound C-470 now crosses over the mains. A coal empty glides by on Main 2, approaching the CTC limits of the triple main track at Littleton.
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Much to my delight, a Kansas City Southern ES44AC was bringing up the rear of this coal empty at Sedalia under cloudy skies. The unit was also facing the "right way" for a nice shot. Main 1 currently sits empty in the foreground, waiting for the next southbound to come grinding through south.
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I must admit that the Kansas City Southern "Retro-Belle" paint scheme is one of my favorite paint schemes among railroads today. With the nearest KCS tracks being in Kansas City, it is not too often that one shows up in Denver. It is even less common when one leads a train west on the Moffat, such as on this day.
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If UP ever decided to sell the Moffat at some point in the future, imagine the interesting scenario in which Kansas City Southern is somehow the railroad to buy it! If that were to somehow happen, then sights like this one would actually be common place. That has not happened, of course, and in this shot we see a KCS SD70ACe being power shared on the point of a westbound UP coal empty.
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A Kansas City Southern SD70ACe add a little color to the Moffat as it leads a westbound coal empty west from Leyden. While the high temperature the previous day was 78°F, today the high barely reached 40°F as a wintery cold front moved in to the area.
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A KCS SD70ACe leads a pair of UP AC4400CWs on a westbound coal empty just west of Leyden. The train will actually shoot past both the Craig Branch and the North Fork Branch and continue on it to Utah to near Price. There, it will load at the Savage load out on CV Spur.
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Fall colors are rapidly fading along the front range as October gets ready to turn to November. A westbound coal empty charges west out of Leyden with an unexpected visitor on the point.
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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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A KCS unit showing up on the Moffat does not happen every day. And, even less common is two KCS units! But two just happened to be added as DPUs on the tail end of this Provo-Lincoln as it heads east out of Leyden.
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A few days earlier, BNSF snuck a westbound (empty) oil train over the Moffat during the night. It had a pair of Kansas City Southern Belle's for power! Turns out that power was added as DPUs to the Provo-Lincoln yesterday! Just happened to catch the SD70ACe and ES44AC as they rolled past the long-abandoned depot at Leyden.
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This massive Provo-Denver (with six units on the point and one DPU on the tail end) had to stop and tie down here at Rocky. At the time, BNSF had no room train in the yard. A van is coming out from Denver to pick up the crew and take them to their hotel. When the yard is ready, a Denver-based crew will come out and take the train the remaining 17 or so miles in to the yard.
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I caught this train above the tracks at East Cliff and then hustled down to the base of Coal Creek to get ready for a shot. Fortunately, the train was restricted to 20 MPH between Crescent and Rocky due to high winds. That gave me some extra time to climb around in the Jefferson County Open Space to try to find the best perspective possible.
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An amazing consist rounds the curve at MP 23, right at the base of Coal Creek Canyon. Fortunately, mother nature cooperated and the skies are nice and sunny as the train continues east.
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The first five units in this rainbow consist are units that I actually shot earlier this week on Wednesday and Thursday. Units four and five were on the Denver-Provo on Wednesday (along with another NS unit that is not on this train). Units one, two, and three led the Denver-Provo on Thursday.
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