Photo ID: 108317 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 7, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Cliff (6,900 ft) Gilpin County, CO 928 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF About halfway through Cliff on the main track, this BNSF Provo-Denver is rolling on clear signals alongside South Boulder Creek amidst a rapidly setting July sun. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108274 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, July 1, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plastic (MP 16.1) Arvada, CO 878 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF BNSF mainly moves tank cars between Denver and Salt Lake City (well, Provo) over the Moffat. However, every once in awhile, you'll see something less common, such as these track bins riding in well cars past the intermediate signal at MP 16.1 in Barbara's Gulch. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108273 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, July 1, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plastic (MP 16.1) Arvada, CO 877 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF BNSF's Denver-Provo passes by an Approach Diverging (yellow over yellow) signal on the approach to Rocky. The train is running in and out of the siding at Rocky due to maintenance on the main. Closer to the top of the frame, you can see some of the hundreds of new houses that have been built in the northwest Arvada neighborhood of Candelas. Indeed, some portions of the neighborhood are still under construction! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108272 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, July 1, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 922 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF No sooner had BNSF's Provo-Denver arrived in town that the Denver-Provo departed! The trains actually met at Arvada. Immediately thereafter, the Denver-Provo got a signal to head westbound. Here, the train is entering the east end of Barbara's Gulch east of Rocky. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108271 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, July 1, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed 72nd Avenue Arvada, CO 850 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF A pair of ES44C4s bring up the tail end of BNSF's Provo-Denver manfiest. The train has 80 cars today, with six units on the head end in addition to the two DPUs. The train is just a handful of miles away from its destination at the yard in Denver. It originated yesterday evening in Provo, UT. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108270 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, July 1, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed 72nd Avenue Arvada, CO 855 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Cars on 72nd Avenue wait for two DPUs to bring up the end of this eastbound Provo-Denver to clear the crossing so they can continue on their way. A few years from now, and these cars should not have to stop here at all anymore as 72nd Avenue will run underneath the tracks on a new grade separation. It is interesting to note that, once this grade separation is complete, there will be about 7,000 feet between Kipling Street and Simms Street. Enough room for a train to stop (if it needs to) without blocking any crossing. Something that cannot really be done today throughout most of Arvada east of Leyden. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108269 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, July 1, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed 72nd Avenue Arvada, CO 946 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF This scene is going to change rather drastically in the next two years or so. In 2018, Arvada residents voted to widen 72nd Avenue (from two lanes to four lanes) between Kipling Street and Swadley Court. 72nd Avenue is seen here as the Provo-Denver crosses. Not only will the road be widened, but a grade separation is also part of the project. 72nd Avenue will be lowered underneath the tracks and a new bridge will be built for the Moffat. I'll try to get some aerial footage of the work as it progresses. Plans for the underpass are slated for completion in Q2 of 2021. Construction will theoretically start in Q4 of 2021 and completion of the entire project at the end of 2022. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108268 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, July 1, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed 72nd Avenue Arvada, CO 946 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF It is not yet 10 o'clock in the morning, yet the sun is already getting high enough for shading to appear alongside the side of the Provo-Denver as the train approaches the grade crossing at 72nd Ave in Arvada. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108267 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, July 1, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 1 (MP 23.4, 366 ft) Arvada, CO 913 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Just east of Plain, the Provo-Denver is on the approach to Tunnel 1 with six units on the head end. The train departed Provo at 5:20pm the previous evening, so it took about 16 hours to get here, and will take right around 17 hours to get in to Denver. Two crews (Provo to Grand Junction, Grand Junction to Denver) can pretty easily handle the train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108266 Date Shot Photo By Wednesday, July 1, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS024 (East Plain) Arvada, CO 906 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF The Provo-Denver typically has 3-4 units, but today it had a bit of a bump with six units on the head end (and two more DPUs on the rear). The "green and cream" paint scheme is becoming less and less common, but one still shows up ever now and then! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108252 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, June 27, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Coal Creek (MP 23) Arvada, CO 938 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF BNSF's Denver-Provo moves directly away from the setting sun, as the sun offers a blast of lights just minutes before ducking behind the mountains. The crew will have clear blocks ahead all the way to the Moffat Tunnel and beyond as there is absolutely no eastbound traffic to oppose it at the moment. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108251 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, June 27, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Coal Creek (MP 23) Arvada, CO 904 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF Exhaust shimmers in the sunlight as four units work to pull the Denver-Provo around the curve at the base of Coal Creek Canyon and up toward Tunnel 1. Due to a temporary slow order, the train is only making 10 MPH on the climb right now in the midst of the quickly setting sun. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108250 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, June 27, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Coal Creek (MP 23) Arvada, CO 946 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF The sun is just minutes away from descending behind the mountains to the west, casting a shadow here on the tracks at the base of Coal Creek Canyon. Fortunately, BNSF's Denver-Provo manifest is snaking through the S-Curves at Blue Mountain and Coal Creek just in time to catch the last light. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108249 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, June 27, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 856 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF BNSF's Denver-Provo departed Denver late in the evening on this Saturday. The crew was called at 17:10, but the train had to wait for the arrival of the Zephyr in Denver before they were able to head out. But here, the head end is running through the narrowest part of Barbara's Gulch on the approach to Rocky. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108244 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, June 27, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed East of Hudson Adams County, CO 1190 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Brush (BNSF) BNSF The Front Range does not see much intermodal traffic, compared to many other parts of the country. However, one intermodal train you can find 5-6 days a week is BNSF's Denver to Chicago Z-Train (and its counterpart). It is the highest priority train in or out of Denver. The train departs Denver in the mornings, typically between 6:30am and 8:00am. The Chicago to Denver generally arrives Denver between 5:00pm and 7:30pm. Here, just east of Hudson, today's Z-Train has a trio of GEs on the point making track speed over Box Elder Creek. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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