UP's MGJNY (manifest from Grand Junction to North Yard) is making a daylight appearance on the Front Range. Five units, elephant style, are approaching the west portal of Tunnel 1 on a beautiful March morning.
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A look at the end of this very old Rio Grande tank car located near the east switch of Eisele (Clay). There are two reporting marks that have clearly been hand written on the car: DRGW X-2901 and DRGW X-2906. I'm not sure which is correct, if either of them!
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Near the east switch of Eisele (Clay) is this very old Rio Grande tank car. It is now partially buried as it has most likely been here for at least a century.
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The Zephyr is kicking up a bit of exhaust as it rounds the bend and approaches the east switch of Eisele (Clay).
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Several reports have indicated that Amtrak is planning to add another sleeper and another coach to the Zephyr for Spring and Summer of 2025. While the westbound Zephyr has had a handful of runs with eight Superliners in the past few weeks, at the moment, it is still typically only running with seven. It is seen here, climbing the north edge of Big Ten Curve.
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The westbound Zephyr is at the base of the north leg of Big Ten Curve, just west of Rocky. While brown is still the dominating color in the landscape, there is perhaps a hit of green mixed in. The 2024-2025 winter season has seen an above-average snowfall, so hopefully we will be setting up for a nice green May and June.
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In the midst of golden hour, about 30 minutes before the sun dips behind the Rocky Mountains, the Winter Park Express cruises along at track speed in the Denver suburb of Arvada.
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The eastbound Winter Park Express crosses 66th Avenue in the middle of Arvada, about nine miles away from its destination at Union Station.
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At the start of Golden Hour, you couldn't ask for better light as a westbound BNSF oil empty charges west out of Leyden. BNSF pretty consistently runs their eastbound oil loads in a 3x(0)x3 configuration. Consequently, it makes sense that this westbound empty has six units on the head end. Three of the unit move to the east end of the train for journey back east.
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The eastbound Zephyr is about to knock down a clear (green) signal at the east end of Rocky, hustling to make it in to Denver on time. In fact, it will end up arriving in Denver 11 minutes early. To the left, not the back end of a UP oil empty, which is starting to pull west out of Rocky. The oil train will go up to Plain to meet the Winter Park Express.
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One of my favorite times of year is the start of Daylight Savings Time. Once that starts up, it is easy to get shots of the eastbound Zephyr in daylight, providing it is not excessively late. Fortunately, it is on time this evening as it meets with a westbound UP oil train at Rocky.
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The eastbound California Zephyr is out of its 10 MPH speed restriction around Big Ten, and is accelerating to track speed as it meets a westbound UP oil train at Rocky. The conductor from the UP train is out of view behind the lead unit, giving a roll by to the Zephyr.
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We are almost to the spring equinox, but the sun still hasn't moved quite far enough north for direct sunlight on the side of the eastbound Zephyr as it rounds the northeast edge of Big Ten Curve. The train is restricted to 10 MPH right here due to forecasted high winds.
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A westbound UP oil empty sits on the siding near the west end of Rocky, wrapping around Little Ten Curve. The train is awaiting the eastbound California Zephyr, current approaching the east end of Eisele (Clay).
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The evening California Zephyr passes through the OS at the east switch of Rollins along South Boulder Creek. The train departed Fraser 37 minutes late, but would have a straight shot from there into Denver and make up some time, arriving in Denver 11 minutes early! AMTK 167, sporting Phase 7 paint, is in the second position this evening.
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