A UP oil train, with four elephant-style units on the head end, is preparing to depart Rocky westbound after spending the day here after one of the unit developed issues shortly after leaving Denver. Meanwhile, an eastbound loaded oil train glides east on the main at Eisele (Clay) above.
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Posted By Terry Ten Eyck On Wednesday, February 12, 2025 At 8:46:08 PM (PT)
Kevin Morgan's great photograph captures the essence of the H. A. Sumner's engineering solution of using DEVELOPMENT (increasing distance to allow for altitude gain) to descend at a 2.00% maximum grade from above Mammoth (Tolland) to Coal Mines Junction (Leyden). The Location Engineer working for Sumner in the Plainview to Leyden area in November of 1902 was Robert Edward Cowden. He did the location engineering for the alignment shown here.
The lead locomotives here are about 1,455 feet apart with about a 241' elevation difference between them.
The tank cars in the foreground are disappearing onto the 5°R curve leading to Little Ten Horseshoe (between 90° and 180° of curvature) Curve, which is hidden off the right side of this photograph. The cars in the foreground are just transitioning from the +0.50% slack grade of the siding earlier named Plateau until 1904, then Arena, and since 1952 - Rocky.
