Just north of the Academy siding, the Colorado State Fair special is heading down the 1% grade. The train received preferential treatment by both UP dispatchers and BNSF dispatchers for the trip to Pueblo. There were no delays on the single track main between Palmer Lake and Crews.
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At Greenland, UP 844 has the Colorado State Fair passenger special well in hand, UP 1989 idling and enjoying the ride. There had been some question as to whether the special would run on Main 1 or Main 2 between Littleton and Palmer Lake. The train ultimately took Main 1, as seen here.
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UP 844 steams south, its smoke partially obscuring the Denver skyline in the background. The passenger train is headed for Pueblo for the Colorado State Fair. To the left of the train (to the right in the picture) is Main 2, Main 3, and two Light Rail tracks.
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At the Evans Street overpass in Englewood, UP 844 is putting on quite a show! The train has a clear signal down Main 1 through the CTC as well as a warrant to continue south on Main 1 to Palmer Lake.
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In the foreground, a BNSF manifest heads south on Main One at MP 0.0 on the Pikes Peak Subdivision. In the distance, UP's South Local waits for its turn to head south on the Joint Line to perform its thrice-weekly switching. The strange obstruction at the top of the picture in the HOV ramp from I-25 to Union Station.
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UP's South Local sits patiently waiting on UP's Main track leading from Prospect Junction to 20th Street. The local is staring down a red signal (where ownership of the track also switches from UP to BNSF) as the Brush Sub dispatcher has already cleared a BNSF manifest to come out of 31st Street and head south.
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A string of nine units awaits for BNSF's Brush Line dispatcher to a clear a route back toward North Yard. The nine units are on UP's Burnham Lead, and hostlers are taking the units back to North Yard (via the Joint Line and 20th Street) as they are ready to be placed into service.
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In honor of Norfolk Southern's paint scheme, I thought this picture should be in black and white! Two NS units on an "earthworm" train - a unit covered hopper train - enters the LoDo siding for temporary storage. The train is passing one of the many building that has popped up in LoDo in the last few years.
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A roster shot of UP 1989 in some nice afternoon light as it leads the MPUNY-25 north through South Denver. The elevated platform behind 1989 carries the Regional Transportation District's (RTD's) Light Rail line south to Littleton.
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Running rather late, the northbound MPUNY-25 is moving north on Main 2 past Evans Avenue. The train left Pueblo (about 110 miles south) the night before and barely made it past Colorado Springs before the crew died. The train was tied down on Monument siding until today when a new crew took the train north into Denver.
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It is one of a kind! BNSF's so-called "Vomit Bonnet" was a test paint scheme applied only to BNSF 9647 shortly after the merger. This was a test paint scheme that mixed the colors from BN's "green and cream" scheme along with the pattern of Santa Fe's Warbonnet scheme. Rather amazing that, ten years ago, the unit is still roaming the rails!
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This southbound coal load on Main One crosses over Iowa Avenue just south of Denver along Santa Fe Drive (US-85). The train has just entered the triple track main that will take the train down to Littleton where it will enter track warrant territory for the trip to points south.
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To make sure the Governor's Special made the best time possible, the train was run south on Main 2 between Littleton and Palmer Lake. The train was making great time just south of Castle Rock as it was about to pass underneath Plum Creek Parkway.
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Just a few miles out of Union Station, UP 4898 leads the Governor's Special south on Main 1 near 8th Avenue. In the distance, the observation tower at Elitch Gardens stands high in the sky line.
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As the sun gets very low in the western sky, UP 1989 and the MPUNY-06 head north at track speed near Tomah Road. The train would arrive at North Yard about an hour later, nearly 24 hours after departing the yard in Pueblo. High traffic volumes were the cause of the delay. The single track through Colorado Springs is a huge bottle neck on the Joint Line.
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