Photo ID: 111495 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, December 19, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Arvada to Leyden (MP 7.5 to MP 11.9) Arvada, CO 305 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak In an unusual move, the westbound Zephyr has a trio of P42DCs on this particular morning, with AMTK 79 (Phase 7) on the point, followed by AMTK 207 and AMTK 168. All three units are elephant-style. Incidentally, within a month or so, Siemens Chargers are likely to start showing up on the Zephyr. Solid sets of P42s may be nearing an end. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111494 Date Shot Photo By Thursday, December 19, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Arvada to Leyden (MP 7.5 to MP 11.9) Arvada, CO 263 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The morning westbound Zephyr departed Denver right around 40 minutes late this morning. Here, the train is headed west through the heart of Arvada, having just crossed Olde Wadsworth. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111474 Date Shot Photo By Monday, December 16, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Chemical (MP 14.5) Arvada, CO 299 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Kansas City Southern de Mexico The full length of this BNSF unit oil train is clearly visible here, as it stretches roughly a half mile on either side of the intermodal signal at MP 14.5, in between CO-72 and the Arvada neighborhood of Leyden Rock. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111473 Date Shot Photo By Monday, December 16, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden to Rocky (MP 13.4 to MP 17.4) Arvada, CO 433 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Kansas City Southern de Mexico In 1997, a railroad named Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM) was created as a joint venture between Kansas City Southern and the Mexican company Grupo TMM. The railroad was born out of the failing (and Mexican government-owned) railroad Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México. In 2005, Kansas City Southern bought Grupo TMM's 46.6% stake in TFM, and the railroad was renamed Kansas City Southern de Mexico. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Kansas City Southern. The paint scheme of KCS de Mexico is virtually identical to KCS. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111472 Date Shot Photo By Monday, December 16, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Leyden to Rocky (MP 13.4 to MP 17.4) Arvada, CO 245 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Kansas City Southern de Mexico, BNSF Three units bring up the tail end of an eastbound loaded oil train. The final unit is a Kansas City Southern de Mexico Retro Belle. This unit, along with all of its brothers and sister, will eventually be repainted in the (predominantly red) paint scheme of the recently-formed CPKC. Born out of a merger between Canadian Pacific and KCS. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111471 Date Shot Photo By Monday, December 16, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 365 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF BNSF's strategy for powering their oil trains on the Moffat differs quite a bit from UP. UP will send westbound empty oil trains with anywhere from 2 to 6 units on the head end. When they come east, the power is usually 2 x something x something. BNSF, on the other hand, pretty consistently run trains west with six units on the head end, and returns east on loads with three on the point and three DPUs on the end. Such is the case here, as three units lead this oil train east through Barbara's Gulch. Note the covered hoppers, which is serving as a buffer car (protection car) between the power and the oil train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111470 Date Shot Photo By Monday, December 16, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 346 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) BNSF After spending nearly 10 hours tied down in the siding at Rocky, a fresh crew showed up and is now taking this loaded oil train the remaining 17 hours or so into the yard at Denver. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111459 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 15, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Coal Creek Canyon (MP 22.8 to MP 23.4) Colorado Springs, CO 346 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific UP 2692 is headed south in the siding at Colorado Springs. The siding is a massive 20,286 feet long, nearly four miles. In fact there are two crossovers in the siding. One at Bijou (see in the distance, here), and one at Cimarron. This allows for multiple trains to use the siding simultaneously. There is roughly two miles of siding north of Bijou. Cimarron, on the other had, is less than a mile from the south end of the siding. This UP manifest will be dropping off three cars in the yard here in Colorado Springs. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111444 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 15, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS000 (Prospect Junction) Denver, CO 289 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific At Prospect Jct, a southbound UP manifest is on Main 1, heading south toward the Joint Line. Meanwhile, a UP yard transfer heading for BNSF's 31st Street Yard has left Main 2 (and left CTC limits) as it heads toward the BNSF to deliver two units and a nearly a mile of cars. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111440 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 15, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed CP DS000 (Prospect Junction) Denver, CO 342 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Union Pacific Here we are at milepost 0 here at CP DS000 (Prospect Jct). Mileposts start counting up on the Moffat Tunnel Sub (the way the camera is looking). Mileposts also start counting up south on the Joint line (behind the camera). UP's MNYPU is currently stopped on Main 1 just north of the signal protecting Prospect Jct. You can clearly still see the switch is bent toward Main 2 on the empty track. The westbound Zephyr came through here about 25 minutes earlier. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111437 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, December 15, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Fox Jct to North Yard (MP 1.5 to MP 3.0) Denver, CO 416 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak After a perfect on-time departure at 8:46am, the westbound Zephyr has left the yard tracks behind and is on the mainline heading west. The track the Zephyr is on is UP's Moffat mainline and is CTC-controlled by UP's DS-378 in Omaha, NE. The tracks behind the Zephyr are the UP yard tracks in North Yard. The tracks in foreground on the opposite side of the Zephyr are BNSF, and part of their Rennicks intermodal facility. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111424 Date Shot Photo By Friday, December 13, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 340 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak On the south edge of Big Ten Curve, the Zephyr is making its way west. The Zephyr has not seen many ALC-42 Chargers, the power set to (largely) replace the P42DCs. The Chargers are Tier-4 compliant, and they require special additives mixed in with their fuel. the infrastructure currently does not exist in Denver to include the additives, so the Chargers have not been running on the Zephyr. Rumors are that the infrastructure will be added soon, and Chargers are likely to start showing up in 2025. That means this classic consist may be short-lived. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111423 Date Shot Photo By Friday, December 13, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 358 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The morning Zephyr is approaching the open hoppers that serve as a wind break on the eastern edge of Big Ten Curve. The cars have now been in the same place for over 50 years, diligently helping to redirect extreme winds up and over the mainline. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111422 Date Shot Photo By Friday, December 13, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Big Ten Curve (MP 19.5 to MP 20.2) Arvada, CO 296 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Just west of the west switch of Rocky, the westbound Zephyr is making its way up the (roughly) 2% grade, working to gain elevation to overcome the Continental Divide. I'm trying to find out seek out some new perspectives from around Big Ten; shooting new angles. This being one of them! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 111421 Date Shot Photo By Friday, December 13, 2024 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Barbara's Gulch (MP 15.9 to MP 17.2) Arvada, CO 302 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr is running nearly 90 minutes as it makes its way through Barbara's Gulch, just east of Rocky. The train was about 45 minutes late departing Lincoln, NE after picking up an ALC-42 "Charger", AMTK 341. That same Charger was then dropped off in Denver, adding a bit more of a delay to the train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

Previous Page     Next Page