On a crystal clear Colorado morning, a westbound coal empty leaves Eisele on the approach to the Blue Mountain Road crossing. Unlike so many other coal empties, this particular train had quite a surprise in store with an SD40-2 on the point! Not only is it a DC unit instead of an AC unit, but a spartan cab!
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This westbound coal empty, headed for the West Elk Mine on the North Fork Branch, has some very rare units (in Colorado, anyway) on the head end. It's been years since a non-local train on the Moffat was led by a spartan cab unit!
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In early morning light, a westbound coal empty works its way into and through Barbara's Gulch just east of Rocky. The train has some exceptionally unusual power as it is CSX and the lead unit is an SD40-2!
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A very rare occurrence on this particular morning as a CSX SD40-2 leads a westbound coal empty headed for the West Elk Mine on the North Fork Branch. Something else I noticed that I found even more interesting is that the trucks are originally from an SD40, not an SD40-2.
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This is the second coal train within a few weeks to arrive in Denver with a solid set of CSX power. The truly amazing part of this is that the SD40-2 that led was not removed or replaced when it arrived. Here, the train is headed west through Barbara's Gulch.
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Do not attempt to adjust your monitor! Here, in 2017, an SD40-2 is leading a westbound coal empty on the Moffat. Not only is it an SD40-2, but it is a Dark Future CSX SD40-2. Unheard of!
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This eastbound coal load has a colorful consist of mid-train swing helpers. A fair number of CSX units have been showing up as power sharing on UP trains in Denver lately. I enjoy the added blue in the scene!
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An ET44AH, a C40-8W, and an AC4400CW, all CSX, lead a westbound coal empty through the S-Curve at the base of Coal Creek Canyon. The train is climbing up toward Tunnel One. On the other side of Tunnel One, the train will take the siding at Plain to allow the Zephyr to pass by.
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They are a little hard to spot, but if you look closely you can see several deer trying to make a rapid retreat from the loud rumble of the trio of CSX units running on the point of this westbound coal empty. The train is headed for the West Elk Mine on the North Fork Branch, southeast of Grand Junction.
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Man, if this was not such a well-known scene, you'd almost think this could be somewhere in West Virginia! A trio of CSX GE's lead a coal empty west on the Moffat on the approach to the Blue Mountain road crossing. Frequently, when foreign power like this comes in to Denver from the east, it is swapped out for UP power. So it is pretty great to see a solid consist of CSX units on this overcast afternoon.
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CSX 3278 is leading a westbound coal empty toward a clear signal at the west end of Rocky. The train will run around a freshly maintained Big Ten Curve (fresh rails, ties, and ballast) before continuing west through Eisele and into the siding at Plain. There, the Zephyr will run around the train.
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It is not very often that you see a consist like this on the Moffat! This coal empty is headed for the West Elk Mine on the North Fork Branch. The lead unit, which is an ET44AC, has CSX's latest paint scheme applied. The train is coming around Little Ten Curve at Rocky.
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Despite the fact that the Moffat is back open after an eight day closure last week, there is still a lot of maintenance going on! The westbound Zephyr is being held in Denver until 12:30pm. Departing ahead of the Zephyr was this coal empty with an all-CSX consist. Note the incredible amount of equipment that UP is working on putting away in the house track, off the siding.
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When the Evolution Series engines were first released by GE, CSX and Norfolk Southern both ordered units that were only 4,000 horsepower instead of the typical 4,400 horsepower. One such example is this ES40DC. The railroads believed they could save on fuel and that the extra 400 horses were not needed.
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This unit is actually an older CSX unit, but looks mighty good as it just recently received a new paint job in the CSX Dark Future scheme. this is actually a C40-8W, built in the 1980s, and was one of the earlier wide cab units.
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