Progress is being made on the addition of a second main track between C&S Junction and Arvada. In the last two weeks, concrete ties have been laid and a couple stretches of welded rail can be seen alongside the ties. A westbound UP coal empty departs from Bypass 1 westbound.
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After completing its work on the Rocky Spur, the West Local is now headed south back toward the main track. On the way back, the train will first have to run through the wye where Rocky Flats used to be located. This will allow the train to back down the Spur out onto the main and head east back to town.
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I love the classic sound of EMD's 645 two stroke engine! So, when the West Local was getting ready to start pulling on the string of hoppers, I decided it was a good time to make a recording. I was not disappointed and I hope you're not either. Click on the "Hear It" link above to download the sounds associated with this shot of the train throttling up.
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Peekaboo! UP 1482 (ex-SP 7112) peaks out from behind a hill of sand/dirt/aggregate as it prepares to start pulling south. Switching is complete at the TXI Aggregate plant and the brakeman is knocking off brakes.
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The West Local switches out covered hoppers at the TXI Aggregate plant at the north end of the Rocky Flats Industrial Lead. The West Local typically had two geeps until 2003 or so when it went to a standard of three. There was a time when it ran with four! However, now that the Rocky Flats cleanup has pretty well completed, the local is back to just two geeps most of the time.
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Who knows how much longer this branch line will remain active! For the time being, however, it sees a train twice a week when UP's South Local comes to switch out one or two industries on the branch. Here, the power for the South Local is return light to the Joint Line, which crosses over Oxford on the bridge in the distance.
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The branch line at Military Jct runs across Santa Fe Drive west a few blocks along Oxford Avenue to Western Metals Recycling. I've wanted to get a shot of a train on this branch for years and finally got the opportunity on this afternoon.
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Ouch! Talk about taking the scarlet and gray and patching it practically beyond recognition. In addition to the standard patch on the cab and the shield on the nose, note that "Union Pacific" has actually been placed on the long hood! The yellow frame stripe isn't helping out either.
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In this string of 17 tunnel motors headed for retirement, there was a single patched Espee unit. UP 8726 was originally delivered as SP 8526 in December 1978.
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A look at a funeral train which is transporting 21 units (17 tunnel motors) from Ogden, UT to Denver, CO. Once reaching Denver, the units will be moved to Burnham and placed in storage until they can be auctioned off.
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A side view of a snoot-nose SD40T-2 headed for retirement. This tunnel motor started off as Espee 8330 when delivered in April 1979. So as of this photo, it had just celebrated its 31st birthday.
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When it is not out on the road, you can always count on finding Union Pacific's Colorado Springs switch sitting just north of the depot on the east side of the siding in the Spring. Here, a patch Cotton Belt GP40-2 and a freshly repainted Rio Grande caboose (01513) sit waiting for their next assignment.
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An unpatched Espee AC4400CW, one of only 13 left on UP's roster, leads up the MSIDV (Manifest, Salina to Denver). While the Espee unit hasn't received a patch, it has received a yellow frame stripe.
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This was a bit of a surprise! Southern Pacific originally had 279 AC4400CWs on the roster, numbered 100 to 378. As of this picture, there were only 13 of those 279 left and unpatched on UP's roster. Not only was SP 343 in Colorado on this day, but it was leading the MSIDV-26.
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The east side of the shops have tracks on stilts that are three wide and each track can have four units. So a total of 12 units can be worked on at a time. Here, at the south end of the shop, three units are currently being worked on. UP 6199 (ex-SP 152) is getting its water drained.
(Photo taken with Union Pacific Permission during an official tour with the Rocky Club)
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