Photo ID: 108084 Date Shot Photo By Friday, May 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed West Bill Bill, WY 811 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF The sun is sinking in the western sky, revealing a brilliant sunset after evening storms. A southbound BNSF train passes through the OS of the West Bill Crossover on its way south on Main 1. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108083 Date Shot Photo By Friday, May 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 77 Converse County, WY 883 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF The Orin Subdivision is 127 miles long and has 11 coal loadouts over that stretch. It is extremely rare to find a non-coal train running in the Powder River Basin, but such was the case on this lucky evening as an eastbound (geographic southbound) BNSF train came through carrying Vestas windmill nacelles. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108081 Date Shot Photo By Friday, May 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 77 Converse County, WY 783 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF, Union Pacific The Powder River Basin (Orin Subdivision) has a stretch of four main tracks over a roughly 20 mile stretch of track going over Logan Hill. With the recent downturn in the demand for coal, traffic in the Powder River Basin has dropped. In addition, there is less of a need for hoppers to haul coal. To kill two birds with one stone, UP and BNSF have stored over a dozen completely train sets of open hoppers on Main 4 in the Powder River Basin. You can see several of those train sets here. Mains 1 through 3 are clear and available for running trains. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108080 Date Shot Photo By Friday, May 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 97.9 Converse County, WY 829 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF One of the earliest ES44AC "GEVO" units on BNSF's roster brings up the tail end of an eastbound coal load on Main 2 as afternoon thunderstorms build to the west. The train has about 30 minutes left to go before exiting the south end of the Powder River Basin. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108079 Date Shot Photo By Friday, May 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Bridger Jct Orin, WY 814 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Canyon (BNSF) BNSF After waiting for a handful of westbounds, this eastbound coal load now has a clear signal at Bridger Jct to head east on the BNSF Canyon Sub on Main 1. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108077 Date Shot Photo By Friday, May 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Bridger Jct Orin, WY 809 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Canyon (BNSF) BNSF As is typical on the majority of BNSF coal train, this empty has a pair of DPUs on the tail end. The rain is leaving the Canyon Sub behind and is entering the Orin Sub and the southern end of the Powder River Basin. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108076 Date Shot Photo By Friday, May 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Bridger Jct Orin, WY 865 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Canyon (BNSF) BNSF Just south of Bridger Jct on BNSF's Canyon Subdivision, a westbound (geographic northbound) coal empty crosses over the North Platte River on Main 2. The addition of a second main here is relatively new, accounting for the different in style of the bridge compared to Main 1. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108075 Date Shot Photo By Friday, May 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Bridger Jct Orin, WY 855 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Canyon (BNSF) BNSF A westbound (geographically northbound) BNSF coal empty, led by a pair of SD70ACes, approaching a clear signal on Main 2 at Bridger Jct. The empty is headed for the Powder River Basin to load. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108074 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, May 28, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 874 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF A loaded BNSF sand train grinds west through a green and lush Barbara's Gulch on a cooler, overcast day. The train has three units on the point and two bringing up the rear. Just ahead around the bend is an Approach (yellow over red) signal at the east switch of Rocky. The train will have to sit between switches on the main at Rocky for a few hours to wait for Maintenance of Way to clear up further west. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108064 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 23, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Littleton Highlands Ranch, CO 1140 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A pair of GEs shoves hard on the tail end of a southbound coal load on Main 1. The train is crossing over CO-85 not far south of the end of triple track at Littleton. For decades, Main 1 here had been dispatched by Rio Grande and then Union Pacific and Main 2 here had been dispatched by Santa Fe and then BNSF. That all changed 18 months ago when the railroads swapped duties. BNSF now dispatches Main 1 - which also happens to be CTC now - and UP now dispatches Main 2 - which is still operated using Track Warrants and ABS. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108063 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 23, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Littleton Highlands Ranch, CO 1035 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF A southbound coal train is about to hit the start of the grade on its climb to the top of Palmer Divide at Palmer Lake. Northbounds, going down hill, make the trip in about an hour. Southbound loads often can take anywhere from 1-4 hours to make the climb! The train is crossing C-470 just south of the end of triple track at Littleton. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108062 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 23, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed South of Littleton Highlands Ranch, CO 1121 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF, Kansas City Southern The area around Santa Fe Drive (US-85) and C-470 has become quite the busy, urban scene in recent years. CDOT is working on adding a toll lane to C-470. The Joint Line - both Mains 1 and 2 - cross over C-470. An on-ramp from southbound Santa Fe to eastbound C-470 now crosses over the mains. A coal empty glides by on Main 2, approaching the CTC limits of the triple main track at Littleton. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108061 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 23, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Sedalia Sedalia, CO 1077 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF, Kansas City Southern Much to my delight, a Kansas City Southern ES44AC was bringing up the rear of this coal empty at Sedalia under cloudy skies. The unit was also facing the "right way" for a nice shot. Main 1 currently sits empty in the foreground, waiting for the next southbound to come grinding through south. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108060 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 23, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Sedalia Sedalia, CO 918 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF If you've ever traveled on Hwy 85 around Sedalia, then you know you can pretty easily see Main 2 from the highway. However, you cannot see the rails for Main 1. That is because they are slightly lower than Main 2, hiding them from the highway. This is a location where Rio Grande and Santa Fe once crossed paths via a grade separation. Today, it is one of only two places between Littleton and Palmer Lake (the other being Big Lift) where there is a means of crossing over between the two mains. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108059 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 23, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed North of Larkspur Douglas County, CO 952 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Colorado Springs (UP)/Pikes Peak (BNSF) BNSF Main 2 north of Larkspur moves along the base of some lush hills, across the way from I-25 and Main 1. There is no real great way to access Main 2 from the ground, but I always though there could be a great shot of it if it could be accessed. Fortunately, modern technology finally made that possible as this elephant-style coal empty makes its way north. 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