Photo ID: 106419 Date Shot Photo By Friday, February 10, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Arvada Siding (MP 6 to MP 7) Arvada, CO 1600 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak For the second time in as many weeks, the eastbound Zephyr is about 14 hours late coming into Denver, making for a morning arrival. Mother Nature has had her way with the Zephyr (and all trains) over Donner Pass in California. The snow has been relentless and UP is doing all they can to keep the line open. Here, the Zephyr passes underneath the (not-yet-open) RTD Gold Line commuter tracks just west of Sheridan. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106418 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, February 9, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS013 (West Leyden) Arvada, CO 1391 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF A westbound copper train, which consists of gondolas loaded with dirt which contains copper tailings, heads west out of Leyden. Despite the relative short length of the trains, they are heavy. Even with five units, this train will not be able to make more than about 15 MPH up the 2% grade of the Moffat. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106417 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, February 9, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS013 (West Leyden) Arvada, CO 1326 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF A westbound BNSF copper train roles west at the west switch of Leyden. An ES44C4 and a C44-9W bring up the rear of the Provo-bound train on an unseasonably warm February day. Under partly cloud skies, the temperature is 64°F! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106416 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, February 9, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1263 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF At first glance, it looks as though these gondolas are empty. But if you look closely, you can just barely see some dirt along the edge of the car. This dirt is rich in copper tailings. This train originates in Rincon, NM and BNSF takes it to Provo, UT. I am unsure what company it is ultimately delivered to. But even as this train heads west, another empty train is coming east. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106415 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, February 9, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1339 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Although they have become less common, leased CitiRail ES44ACs still pop up on BNSF trains from time-to-time. Such was the case on this Thursday morning on the point of a copper train headed west on the Moffat. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106414 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, February 9, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden (7,020ft) Arvada, CO 1285 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Recently, a lot of UP coal contracts have expired and were not renewed. The result has been a radical drop in coal traffic on the Moffat. And with the MNYRO/MRONY only running every three days, there have been periods of 24+ hours with NO UP trains at all! BNSF, on the other hand, seems to be increasing traffic on the Moffat. Some new trains have been showing up. This is one of them: a westbound copper train. These gondolas are loaded with dirt that have copper tailings in them. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106413 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, February 8, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 1603 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Canadian Pacific, Union Pacific If you look closely in this 400mm telephoto shot, not only can you see the tail end of the MRONY (with the CP DPU), but you can also see the four UP units on the point. They are located just to the left of the head of the intermediate (red) signal. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106412 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, February 8, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 1568 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Canadian Pacific, Union Pacific The manifests that run over the Moffat, whether it be UP or BNSF, are frequently dominated by tank cars. In fact, I would say that tank cars are likely the most common type of car found on the Moffat these days. Obviously coal hoppers would have been the obvious choice a few years ago, but the coal drought continues into 2017. In fact, at the time of this picture, there hadn't been a coal train (loaded or empty) on the Moffat in five days! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106411 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, February 8, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 1669 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Canadian Pacific, Union Pacific And it is our neighbors to the north for the assist! A Canadian Pacific ES44AC brings up the tail end of this 7000-foot long MRONY as the train glides east through Barbara's Gulch. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106410 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, February 8, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 1495 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific A long MRONY-07 approaches a clear signal at the intermediate near MP 16. That is 16 miles to Union Station. Since this manifest will be stopping at North Yard, it means it has about 13 miles left on its journey. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106409 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, February 8, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 1588 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific While I certainly love the green of late spring and early summer, I also like shots in the dead of winter such as this one. The deciduous trees showing off their sticks. UP's MRONY rolls east through Barbara's Gulch. The bridge in the distance is CO-93. And for the careful observers, can you spot the hoppers that make up the windbreak around Big Ten Loop? Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106408 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, February 8, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 1640 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific An eastbound UP manifest slowly picks up a bit of speed as it enters the west end of Barbara's Gulch, just east of Rocky. The temperature is unseasonably warm at nearly 60°F. When this happens in the Denver-Metro area in winter, it typically means you can expect very high winds. Today is no exception, which resulted in a 10 MPH slow order around Big Ten Loop. The 7,000-foot train is just starting to pick up a little speed after clearing the restriction. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106407 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, February 8, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Blue Mountain Drive (MP 22.43) Arvada, CO 1593 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Canadian Pacific, Union Pacific Here is a sight that you don't see every day! A Canadian Pacific unit rolls through the S-Curves at Blue Mountain on the Moffat. The unit is bringing up the rear of the eastbound Roper to North Yard manifest. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106406 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, February 8, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Coal Creek (MP 23) Arvada, CO 1643 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Canadian Pacific, Union Pacific The rear DPU on the MRONY offer up a bit of foreign color! A Canadian Pacific ES44AC somehow found its way deep into Union Pacific territory. It is always great to catch something "out of the ordinary" on the rails you are used to chasing on. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 106405 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, February 8, 2017 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Blue Mountain Drive (MP 22.43) Arvada, CO 1496 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific I never pass up the opportunity to grab a roster shot of an SD70M. This is my personal favorite EMD six-axle unit since the SD40T-2 (and SD40-2). I particularly like the Tier 1 compliant units, which have the slightly-flared radiators, reminiscent of the SD45. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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