What is the work like on the Moffat?? Long runs?? Yes perhaps we will meet one day!! Happy Railroading!! John ------------------ The Santa Fe and Southwestern, Chief of the Southwest!!
Life on the Moffat. Well my first trip back in 18 months was, well, Loonngg. Deadheaded up to Pburg along with another crew.(4hour onduty) stayed in Pburg for 24 1/2 hours. Called for the MRODV 09 out of Bond. The crew we deadheaded up with along with a second crew deadheaded back to Denver There was a small rock slide in Gore Canyon MP108.7 that tore out some slide fence and part of the pole line which is used for the CTC etc. So CTC and power was out from west Gore all the way to center Bond. We proceeded to the east switch of Bond to await the westbound fleet.(9 trains) After 61/2 hours we proceed to flag out of Bond all the way to Radium to meet another wb and wait for the dogging crew to show up. Back in the bus back to Denver.(13 3/4 hours on duty and 42.25 hours awy from home) Just to move a train 12 miles. Man I sure miss my local job. But it was a beautiful day to spend in the mountains. Saw at least 300 head of elk and 14 bald eagles just between Bond and Radium. At 1030am there were 14 trains between Denver and Bond and only my train and the coal load ahead of us had to be dog caught despite the rocks in Gore canyon. It's a good thing we had a veteran Rio Grande disp or else it could have resulted in a total melt down. Well off to bed I'll more than likely be getting out on my rest in the morning. Mike ------------------ Defy Gravity. . .Ship Rio Grande http://railblazer.homestead.com/index.html
Sounds incredibly intense!! You are right about missing home, but enjoying the outdoors. That is a huge benifit in my line of work as well. After you rest up a bit, keep me posted on what's happening. Are you still on night shift?? Happy Railroading!! John ------------------ The Santa Fe and Southwestern, Chief of the Southwest!!
There are no set hours working on a pool turn. Just first come first serve. So far I've worked 3 day trips and 1 night trips. Getting 18-24 hours off at home. Still running 20-24 trains per day, so it hasn't slowed down on this part of the rr yet. Heard that the West Elk mine is down due to electrical problems. Mike ------------------ Defy Gravity. . .Ship Rio Grande http://railblazer.homestead.com/index.html
So is this a busy time of year for the rr or is this unusual?? Hope your hours mellow out soon!! Happy Railroading!! John ------------------ The Santa Fe and Southwestern, Chief of the Southwest!!
Just got home after 56 hours away from home due to the derailment at Tabernash. Usually January thru March is the slower time of year, but we are running several new coal contracts. On the 16th, 28 trains ran through the Moffat Tunnel Mike ------------------ Defy Gravity. . .Ship Rio Grande http://railblazer.homestead.com/index.html
Sounds like the old days at the Moffat !! Hope no one was hurt in the derailment! Where is the coal headed?? Happy Railroading!! John ------------------ The Santa Fe and Southwestern, Chief of the Southwest!!
The coal train was the Converse Mine, CO, to Indiana Michigan Power at Metropolis, IL. No one was hurt. Back to work called for the ZDVRO at 3:00 am Mike ------------------ Defy Gravity. . .Ship Rio Grande http://railblazer.homestead.com/index.html
Hope your trip out was a good one! Keep us updated on the line clearing at the Moffat. Happy Railroading!! John ------------------ The Santa Fe and Southwestern, Chief of the Southwest!!
Main line and siding at Tabernash are back in service. They still have to clean up the wrecked cars. Amtrak #5 derailed at mp 121 just east of Yarmony saturday at 3:00 pm. Broken and/or rail rolled over. Just the lead truck of the lead unit on the ground and no injuries. Mike ------------------ Defy Gravity. . .Ship Rio Grande http://railblazer.homestead.com/index.html
That is a tough place to have a derailment. How much work is there in track replacement??Happy Railroading! John ------------------ The Santa Fe and Southwestern, Chief of the Southwest!!
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DRGWEngr: Heard that the West Elk mine is down due to electrical problems. Mike <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Mike, That explains why there's a cut of coal hoppers in one of the sidings at Fruita, and why there's a surplus of AC locomotives. Heard any more as to when the West Elk will be loading again? ------------------ Southeast....Southwest.. Ship IT on the Frisco! Bob T. Member # 362 http://hometown.aol.com/slsf1630/myhomepage/profile.html
It took approx 10 track panels, switch frog and ballast to get the main line reopened. They are slowly cleaning up the wrecked coal cars. The 10 mph sloworder was lifted yesterday(Friday) afternoon. The rail joints between Tabernash and Granby and Gore to Bond are getting really bad. Suprising there hasn't been more broken rails and/or derailments. Running 116 car coal trains with upto 145 tons per car and lack of maintainence is taking it's toll on the track. Where Amtrak #5 derailed last week, That was rail laid last summer. According to the UP yesterday, so far this month Colorado has loaded 169 coal trains. That is just the Craig and North Fork branches. That's 7 coal loads per day not including the empties and trains from Utah. We're running between 22-28 trains a day through the Moffat Tunnel. So one little incident can jam things up in a hurry. The problem at West Elk was just temporary, trains are still running. On a side note. AC traction is amazing compared to DC. Last Wed I was down to 4.5 units out of 6 in a 2x2x2 configuration with a 16,200 ton coal load. We went up Winter Park hill at a constant 2.5 MPH Where as if we had the older SD's we would never have left Tabernash until additional power arrived. Of course we wouldn't have had that problem with the SD's.(crankcase over pressure and a computer shut down. Common with GE AC's). Mike ------------------ Defy Gravity. . .Ship Rio Grande http://railblazer.homestead.com/index.html
Mike, Sounds busy, and the traction info is really cool!! Keep em rollin in DRGW style!! Happy Railroading!! John ------------------ The Santa Fe and Southwestern, Chief of the Southwest!! Proud to be NARA Member #14
