Photo ID: 112718 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 1, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Crescent (5,550 ft) Boulder County, CO 10 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak As the westbound Zephyr rolls at track speed away from the camera at Crescent, we get nice view of the Continental Divide in the distance, as well as a good view of the dam at Gross Reservoir. Construction on the dam has been ongoing four about four years, as the dam is being raised by over 100 feet, a project that will triple the capacity of Gross Reservoir. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112717 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 1, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Crescent (5,550 ft) Boulder County, CO 9 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak I really like this particular perspective at Crescent, roughly halfway through the siding. The tracks come out of a nice little cut from the east, where the House Track starts. There are several nice (and right now, green) deciduous trees in the area as well. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112716 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 1, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Crescent (5,550 ft) Boulder County, CO 7 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Near the east end of Crescent, the Zephyr is on the main and moving west at track speed. There are several residences in the area that, if you don't mind living a very rural life, would be quite nice. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112715 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 1, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain to Crescent (MP 25.3 to MP 30.6) Boulder County, CO 8 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The longest Tunnel in the Tunnel District is Tunnel 17, which is 1,752 feet long, or roughly 1/3 of a mile long. The tunnel allows the tracks to leave South Draw, and connect with the open valley at Crescent, near Gross Reservoir. The westbound Zephyr is approach a clear (green) intermediate signal just east of Tunnel 17 on the approach to Crescent. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112714 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 1, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain to Crescent (MP 25.3 to MP 30.6) Jefferson County, CO 10 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr is moving along one of the longer stretches without a tunnel in the Tunnel District, between Tunnel 16 and Tunnel 17. This area is known as South Draw, and is absolutely one of the highlights of riding the Zephyr (or other passenger trains) on the Moffat. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112713 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 1, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Plain to Crescent (MP 25.3 to MP 30.6) Jefferson County, CO 13 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr heads west through a cut that is known as "Old Tunnel 17". When the Moffat Route was originally be built in the early 1900s, the tunnel presented a lot of geologic problems, includes frequent cave-ins. The tracks were rerouted around a shoofly outside of the tunnel. That shoofly is now beneath all the pine trees on the outside of the cut in this shot. Old Tunnel 17 was finally daylighted, and the tracks were moved to their current alignment, now moving through a cut instead of a tunnel. While Tunnels 9 and 28 were daylight quite awhile after the route had been in operation, they retained their numbers. Since "Old Tunnel 17" had issues from the beginning of construction, at was ultimately bypassed, the next tunnel to the west was numbered Tunnel 17 from the start. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112712 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 1, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 16 (MP 28.7, 698 ft) Jefferson County, CO 10 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak Tunnel 16 is one of the longer tunnels in the Tunnel District, just two feet shy of 700 feet long. As a result, there is some exhaust that builds up in the tunnel, and you can see a bit of that exhaust coming out of the tunnel toward the left as the westbound Zephyr continues west in the Tunnel District. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112711 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 1, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 12 (MP 27.9, 429 ft) Boulder County, CO 11 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The start pair of P42DCs lead the westbound Zephyr as it emerges from Tunnel 12 and approaches Tunnel 13 in South Draw in the Tunnel District. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112710 Date Shot Photo By Tuesday, July 1, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Tunnel 11 (MP 27.8, 238 ft) Boulder County, CO 12 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Moffat Tunnel (UP) Amtrak The westbound Zephyr is deep in the (lower) Tunnel District as the head end emerges from Tunnel 11, while the last few cars on the train are still in Tunnel 10. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112709 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 30, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed BNSF Engine House Denver, CO 24 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots Amtrak There was a time when the tracks at Union Station were all CTC controlled by a local dispatcher. Then, for years, the station tracks were all uncontrolled yard tracks, as the Zephyr was virtually the only train to use the station. Now, the tracks are once again under the control of CTC, and Denver's RTD (Regional Transportation District) owns and dispatches the tracks. A-Line and N-Line tracks are the two commuter line tracks to the left. B-Line and G-Line tracks are the two commuter line tracks to the right. "Heavy" trains, such as Amtrak, the Winter Park Express, and Rocky Mountaineer, use the center track to get to Track 4 and Track 5 at Union Station. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112708 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 30, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed BNSF Engine House Denver, CO 20 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots Amtrak Union Station's Passenger Lead track passes beneath the intersection of Park Avenue and Delgany Street. With all the switches and derails verified to be properly aligned, the train is making a reverse movement beneath the intersection toward Denver Union Station. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112707 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 30, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed BNSF Engine House Denver, CO 22 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots Amtrak On a mostly overcast evening, the sun breaks through for a few minutes to light up a pair of GE units sitting near the BNSF Engine House while the eastbound Zephyr backs down the Passenger Lead to Union Station. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112706 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 30, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed 31st Street Yard Denver, CO 18 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots Amtrak While making a reverse move off of Coal 2, the Zephyr kicks up a bit of dust when the air compressor let go a bit of air. The train is headed for its evening station stop at Union Station. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112705 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 30, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed 31st Street Yard Denver, CO 22 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots Amtrak On the north side of the South Platte River, the front half of the Zephyr has re-entered CTC limits and is on a track called Coal 2. This track, and the next two to the right, are all in CTC, with Coal 1 being next to the Zephyr, and the main next to that. A BNSF switch job is preparing to pull forward even further to the right of the frame. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 112704 Date Shot Photo By Monday, June 30, 2025 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed BNSF Engine House Denver, CO 19 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots Amtrak The evening Zephyr is crossover over a couple of tracks in order to make a reverse move on the Passenger Lead toward Union Station. The South Platte River separates BNSF's Denver Yard from its Engine Facility. Three tracks cross the river, and those three tracks tend to be very busy most of the time as switch job use the tracks for a lead, mainline trains running to or from the Joint Line come through, trains headed for Rennicks and the Moffat come through here, and engine moves come through. This stretch of track is all yard limits and there is no CTC here. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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