A westbound ballast train has suffered a broken drawbar. When the drawbar broke, the engines (obviously) pulled away from the cars, putting the train into emergency.
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Union Pacific is starting a significant maintenance project on the Moffat. It appears they are going to re-ballast much of the line (if not the entire thing). They are also going to re-tie the Moffat Tunnel itself. Here, a ballast train was preparing to head west and drop ballast. Unfortunately, the train broke the drawbar on the lead ballast car, so it is not going anywhere anytime soon!
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This westbound ballast train stopped in the siding at Rocky to meet the westbound Rocky Mountaineer. After the Mountaineer passed, the ballast train started pulling west and broke the drawbar on the west end of the lead ballast car!
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BNSF consistently runs oil train in a 3x3 configuration, and this eastbound is no exception. The train has a buffer car on either end of the train, and 95 tank cars loaded with waxy crude oil. The train is just about to enter the final tunnel on the Moffat, Tunnel 1.
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This eastbound loaded oil train has been making track speed since Cliff, but is coming up on a 15 MPH slow order. The slow order is about a mile long, and there is a second two mile long slow order around Big Ten Curve. The crew only has 70 minutes remaining on the clock, so the train will take the siding at Rocky and tie down.
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BNSF 5830 just met the westbound Rocky Mountaineer, and is now departing Cliff on the main track eastbound. East Cliff is a bit of an interesting OS, as it is about 1,000 feet long. The curve of the track prevents the east switch from being visible from the grade crossing, so the signals at the east end are quite a ways west of the switch itself.
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The Rocky Mountaineer is running west through the siding at Cliff, meeting a BNSF oil train that is on the main. DS-378 is keeping the oil train on the main to help it keep its speed up after the meet. The crew has less than two hours left on the clock. At this point, it is not clear if the train will be able to make it in to Denver or not.
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Lighting is not the best, but the westbound Rocky Mountaineer has taken the siding at Cliff to meet an eastbound BNSF oil train.
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It can be a bit of a challenge getting shots in the area around West Cliff as it is on the north side of a mountain and, as such, almost always cast in shadows. However, this shot of an eastbound BNSF oil train turned out quite well.
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BNSF 5830 leads a unit oil train across the South Beaver Creek Road grade crossing about a half mile west of Cliff. This road leads from CO-72 to Pacolus, a private neighborhood along the tracks and South Boulder Creek between Cliff and Rollins.
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In the canyon between Tolland and Rollins, this BNSF oil train is quickly rolling east at track speed. The crew is running short on time, with only two hours left to work. For now, the train is following South Boulder Creek and Tolland Road, trying to get as close to Denver as possible with the time left.
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BNSF 5830 and two additional GEs lead an eastbound loaded oil train across South Boulder Creek about a mile east of the east switch of Tolland. You could not ask for a more perfect morning on the last day of August, with barely a cloud in the sky. The peaks in the distance are the Continental Divide, which the Moffat Tunnel runs beneath.
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The westbound Zephyr has taken the siding at Tolland to meet an eastbound BNSF oil train, which is holding the main. In the distance, peaks of the Continental Divide extend above 12,000 feet above sea level, taking the tops above timber line.
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The passengers on the Northern Sky are getting a first class view of the Colorado high country. You can see a handful of them hanging out in the vista dome in the private car.
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AMTK 207 leads an on-time westbound Zephyr across South Boulder Creek, just east of Tolland. The train will be taking the siding at Tolland to meet an eastbound BNSF oil train, which is already waiting on the main. The Zephyr will be taking the siding as DS-378 is trying to keep the oil train moving as it's crew is short on time.
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