It is nothing short of amazing that in an era when a computer would have been something of a Sci-Fi novel, surveyors scouted along what is now the grade of the Moffat Tunnel on the edge of the Colorado Rockies and said "sure, we can build a railroad there"! Like tens of thousands of trains before it, the westbound Zephyr passes over fills and through a cut on the approach to Tunnel 3.
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At the west switch of Plain, the westbound Zephyr enters the narrow single track territory of the Tunnel District. The head end is just about to enter into Tunnel 2, and there will be another 15 closely spaced tunnels after Tunnel 2 before the train reaches the next siding of Crescent, and the end of the lower half of the Tunnel District.
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This has come to be one of my favorite views on the Moffat along the Front Range. "Sister" units AMTK 180 and AMTK 179 lead an on-time Zephyr through a powdery white scene about halfway through the siding of Plain.
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Last night, about two inches of snow fell in a small storm that was actually unanticipated in the weather forecast. The result was, of course, a nice blanket of snow to provide some nice scenery for passengers on the morning Zephyr. The train has the typical pair of P42DCs, a baggage car, and seven Superliners for the journey.
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The Zephyr has come through the first of the 28 tunnels that it will pass through on its way to the Moffat Tunnel. A cloud was just clearing the tracks to allow some sunlight as the train heads west.
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Just west of Leyden, the Zephyr has a pair of "sister" P42DCs for power. I use the term "sisters" because the two units are next to each other on the roster. AMTK 180 is leading with AMTK 179 in the trailing position.
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The morning Zephyr is right on time at Leyden as it passes by a string of open gondolas in the siding. The gondolas are in long term storage. They showed up about two months ago and the start of October. The question, of course, is how long will they remain?
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The morning Zephyr is in the control point of Fox Jct (CP DS001). Construction on the pedestrian overpass started in 2014, and was completed and opened in 2015. It connects a lot of new apartments and condos on the west side of the tracks with the RTD B and G-Line Commuter tracks on the east side of the tracks.
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Running pretty much right on time, the morning Zephyr has left Denver Union Station behind and is continuing its trip west toward California. The train is on UP's Main 2 between Prospect Jct and Fox Jct. Between those control points, a distance of about a mile, UP has two main tracks. You can just see Main 1 on the far right side of the shot. The yard tracks are BNSF and part of Rennicks (intermodal) yard.
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Just west of Blue Mountain Drive and the hotbox detector at MP 22.6, the westbound Zephyr is having no issues moving along at track speed in the continually-falling snow. Without question, passengers aboard the Zephyr are going to have a better experience on the trip west today compared to folks driving in the high country on I-70!
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AMTK 140 and AMTK 207 have the duty to lead the westbound Zephyr this morning. The train is approaching the Blue Mountain Drive grade crossing in a winter wonderland as fresh snow continues to fall.
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A pretty substantial snow storm has set in along the Front Range. A total of 5-6 inches (12-15 cm) is forecast to fall, with right around 3 inches (7 cm) having fallen so far. The westbound Zephyr is indifferent to the snow, however, as it approaches the Blue Mountain grade crossing, moving along at track speed.
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AMTK 168 and AMTK 81 lead the westbound Zephyr along the north edge of Big Ten Curve. It is the week of Thanksgiving, so the Zephyr is probably pretty booked with passengers making their way to friends and family for the holiday on Thursday.
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Just west of Rocky, the Zephyr is making its way up the roughly 2% grade of Big Ten Curve. As the elevation slowly increases, so does the morning frost, clinging to the foliage. In short order, the frost will completely melt under the morning sun.
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A fairly decent sized herd of elk are enjoying the morning on the north side of the rails. The engineer let the conductor know so, in turn, the conductor could announce the herd to the passenger so they could try to get a view of them. The Zephyr is on time on the main at Rocky.
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