The West Local has received authority to enter the main track at Rocky. The brakeman is walking down from the hopper to throw the switch from the main to the Rocky Spur. In the distance, you can see the mainline just out of the west portal of Tunnel 1.
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The West Local is backing down the 8% grade toward the main at Rocky. The switch is still locked and the crew will need to tone up the dispatcher and request permission to enter the main track.
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Weeds have somewhat overtaken portions of the Rocky Spur. The West Local is about to back over parts of those stretches of track. In fact, the track the local is starting down carries a rather hefty 8% grade. But no problem for these two peeps, particularly when a single covered hopper is all they have with them.
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There is a circuit in the rails at the CO-72 grade crossing that turn the stoplight red for traffic and green for trains as a train slowly approaches. Such is the case here as the signal for the West Local has turned green. The brakeman is riding on the sole covered hoper to protect the shove and ensure no cars decide to try to beat the train over the crossing.
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The West Local, with a single covered hoppers, backs down the Rocky Spur in the foreground as the relatively new housing development of Candelas in western Arvada is now fully built out in the distance.
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A brakeman stands on the platform of the covered hopper to protect the reverse move of the West Local back to the mainline at Rocky. It is passes by Rocky Flats Lake, also known as Francis Smart Reservoir.
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The West Local backs down the south leg of the wye on the Rocky Spur with a single covered hopper. GP40-2s are still pretty common in 2023, but it is really great to see GP15-1s are still roaming the rails as well. The Moffat mainline crosses the mountain in the background, from Tunnel 1 to Tunnel 8.
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The Lonely Local In the open space surrounding the former Rocky Flat plant, the West Local prepares to back down the south leg of the wye to the main track at Rocky. A single covered hopper is the only car the local is taking back to Denver on this Wednesday.
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Amongst the weeds, the West Local heads toward the east switch on the wye on the Rocky Spur. The brakeman stands ready to throw the switch to reverse down the south leg of the wye. Back in the distance, you can clearly see the mainline at East Plain.
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The West Local is on the north leg of the wye just south of the road that used to be the west entrance to Rocky Flats. If you know where to look in the background, you can see Tunnel 4 quite clearly on the mainline!
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The West Local starts around the north leg of the wye on the Rocky Flats Industrial Lead. It will soon back down the south leg on the right, and continue backing down the spur until it reaches the main track back at Rocky.
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A GP40-2 and a GP15-1 are the power on the West Local today. The two units have picked up one single covered hopper from the aggregate plant at the north end of the Rocky Spur. The train will wye before back down to the main at Rocky.
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The West Local has picked up a single covered hopper on the Rocky Spur. The only car it needs to pick up on this particular trip west of North Yard.
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A brakeman on the West Local walks along a single hopper to ensure that the wheels are not chalked before the train heads back to the main track.
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There is a single covered hopper waiting to be picked up at the aggregate plant at the north end of the spur, about four miles north of the mainline.
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