Most of the trees in the valley in which Tolland is located are in full fall colors on this third day of autumn. A westbound UP oil empty crosses the grade crossing at Tolland Road as it continues west toward the Moffat Tunnel.
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Just west of Rollins, there is a sea of yellow as deciduous trees start their transition from summer to winter. The winds can get very high up here and these leaves could be blown off the trees in just another week. Meanwhile, a westbound oil empty throttles up as it continues west toward the Moffat Tunnel.
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After checking for a potential hotbox on the train, the conductor is back on board the head end. With the Zephyr a couple blocks ahead, the train has received a signal to continue west.
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This westbound oil empty is stopped on the main at Rollins. The train tripped the hotbox detector at MP 39.2. Consequently, the conductor is inspecting the car that reported the hotbox, car 87. He has actually completed his inspection and found nothing wrong. He is walking back up to the head end. The Zephyr is not too far away, and will run around the oil train through the siding.
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UP 8879 is about to come to a stop on the siding at Cliff. A westbound empty oil train is about 20 minutes away. After meeting the oil train, the coal load will continue east, meeting the Zephyr at Crescent.
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This eastbound coal load is slowing as it rolls through the siding at Cliff. The house track is located to the left and the main, still cast in shadows, is on the right. The train will wait for a westbound unit oil train.
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A UP coal load wraps around one of the last curves in the narrow part of the valley leading up to the west end of Rollins. The fall colors around Rollins are really hitting their peak.
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This UP coal load is about to cross Tolland Road at the grade crossing near the east switch of East Portal. If you look off in the distance, you can actually see the east portal of the Moffat Tunnel.
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A UP coal load snakes out of the valley that the Moffat Tunnel is located in, following alongside the siding at East Portal on one side and South Boulder Creek on the other side.
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A UP coal load passes by some maintenance of way equipment currently tied down in the house track at East Portal. The coal load has the standard 2x3x1 setup as far as power goes. Dynamic brakes are starting to whine in the valley as the grade downhill grade increases.
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An SD70ACe and an AC4400CW lead a loaded coal train out the Moffat Tunnel at the end of September, just as fall colors are hitting their peaks. The coal train loaded at the West Elk mine on the North Fork Branch. There only seems to be about one coal train every few weeks on the Moffat these days, so this was a nice morning surprise.
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An eastbound coal load...one of few that run on the Moffat these days...emerges from the tunnel in glorious morning light amidst a sea of fall colors.
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If you look close, you'll notice a few wires cutting across and near the top of the frame. These wires are part of the high/wide detector at MP 48.0. The detector protects against cars...or more likely anything sticking out from a car...that would not clear a tunnel.
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Just west of the west end of Tolland, a UP oil empty makes its way west amongst a sea of fall colors in the last bit of direct sunlight before the sun dips behind the mountains.
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As the sun approaches the western horizon (well...mountains), the crew of a UP oil empty approaches a clear (green) signal at the west end of Tolland.
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