The West Local ran out to Rocky this morning to bring two gondolas of tie plates out to the house track. The local will also take four other gondolas back to town. For the westbound trip, this snoot-nose SD40-2 led the trip. This particular unit has warn UP yellow since it was originally delivered in March 1977!
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A look at the Rocky Mountaineer in the siding at Rollins from the north side of the rails, just before the train passes underneath the "Peak-to-Peak" highway, CO-119.
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RMRX 8020 and RMRX 8021 both spit out a blast of exhaust as the engineer increases the throttle by a notch. The train has cleared the east switch of Rollins, and is now running west through the 8,320-foot long siding. The sun glints off South Boulder Creek to the right.
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Exiting from the extremely narrow canyon just east of Rollins, the westbound Rocky Mountaineer enters into the siding at Rollins. UP had some track and time on the main track at Rollins, so the mornings trains were routed in and out of the siding.
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The westbound Rocky Mountaineer is approaching Tunnel 30, the final tunnel the train will pass through prior to reaching the Moffat Tunnel. There are not a lot of shots from the Tunnel 30 area, as it is remote and isolated from the other tunnels between Denver and the Moffat Tunnel.
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At Pactolus, in between Cliff and Rollins, the westbound Rocky Mountaineer passes by a small (private) lake and the Lincoln Hills Fly Fishing Club.
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UP 4533 crosses over South Boulder Creek just east of Tolland with 10 cars in tow. The Engineering special is checking out the tracks between Denver and Grand Junction today, and will continue west through the desert and over Soldier Summit tomorrow, in to Salt Lake City.
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Since entering the drone era, I have really enjoyed exploring parts of the canyon between Rollins and Tolland. In this shot, a UP engineering special, led by a single SD70M, heads west through the canyon under partly cloudy skies.
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A UP engineering special rolls west through the siding at Rollins, high in the Colorado Rockies. The special will make it to Grand Junction today, and will continue west to Salt Lake City tomorrow. In the distance, you can see some low-level clouds hanging out on the plains.
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UP 4533 is the sole power on a westbound UP engineering special, climbing the grade from Coal Creek Canyon and now approaching Tunnel 1. There are a slew of UP track engineers on the train. Equipment on the train scans the rails for proper gauging, defects, and other items, ensuring everything is in order.
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Under mostly cloudy skies, a single SD70M leads a UP engineering special west out of Eisele (Clay). The green foliage of early summer has given way to browns and yellows. Very typical in August in the Denver area. Another month or two, and fall colors will appear in this same scene.
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While UP 4533 rolls through the OS at the west end of Eisele (Clay). Meanwhile, the westbound Rocky Mountaineer is approaching the east end of Eisele (Clay), slowing to a stop at double red signals.
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This UP engineering special has come to a stop on the main at Eisele (Clay). The signal at the west end is showing a red. Interestingly, DS-378 showed the signal as being aligned westbound, and was a bit surprised to hear it was red from UP 4533. DS-378 would then proceed to flag the train by the red signal to continue west.
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A westbound UP engineering special rolls by a UP track maintainer at Eisele (Clay). The maintainer has his hyrail pickup in the siding, while he is out on foot to give a roll by to the special. The maintainer will follow the special out of Eisele to check on any potential defects the engineering special might find.
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This is a great two-for-one shot! To the right, we have a westbound UP engineering (passenger) special on the main track at Eisele. To the left, we have the westbound Rocky Mountaineer, wrapping around Little Ten Curve, two blocks behind the engineering special!
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