The Unofficial Moffat Route Tour!!!

As we hiked up the slick, snowy trail, an EB coal load rolled by, with an apparently malfunctioning horn. The horn was sounding from the grade crossing at Gross Dam Rd at Crescent Siding, all the way past Plainview!

My only grab shot that turned out worth a hoot of this load:



Amtrak #5, near Tunnel 10:



Stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!

 

Trip report, day 1 of the 3-day Moffat Route trip!

We (Alaska GP49 and I) started the day at Eldorado Springs State Park, hiking up Rattlesnake Gulch Trail. It's a 2.2 mile hike to Tunnel 10's east portal, and it's a tough one! The trail gains 1200 feet of elevation, and connects with the DNW&P-built Crags Hotel ruins. The trail also heads to the west portal of T10. We tried that trail leg, and quickly found ourselves in waist-deep snow (minus snowshoes), heading downgrade again. The trail was slick, and with the heavy snow, hard to follow. We were slipping off the edge more often than not, and most of the edges of the trail were steep, rocky drops. We quickly turned around, and headed back to T10 east portal.
Any doubts as to how deep the snow was are quickly removed, when you see sights like this:



We managed to miss the WB Ski Train, and an EB coal load, while hiking the difficult trail (marked as moderate, on the trail info sign--only in dry conditions is it moderate). We hiked to the cut where old Tunnel 9 is, andset up for Amtrak. It was about an hour or 2 late at that time, and of course, the RR shut the line down for Amtrak, about an hour out. The wind was pretty chilly on that rocky outcropping.

Here's the high green intermediate signal at T10, announcing #5's imminent arrival:





Alaska GP49's shots on Amtrak are far superior to mine....

The light was very difficult to harness, and sometimes you just have to grin and bear it, and take the shot anyways...

 

Moffat trip, day 1, cont'd

After Amtrak cleared, an 11-unit power transfer rolled by our location on its way to Grand Junction:



After the light units cleared, a manifest thundered past, with a clean ACe on the point!
Exiting Tunnel 8:



Skirting abandoned Tunnel 9:



http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/629/WB_manifest_old_9_a.jpg

 

Moffat trip, day 1, cont'd

I almost forgot, the light unit movement had 4-of-a-kind int he consist:



While awaiting another train, I snapped a few artsy-fartsy shots of the intermediate signal guarding Tunnel 10:

 

Moffat trip, day 1, cont'd

After the manifest cleared, another of the same was hot on his heels. I was poking around, looking for a new shot, trying thru the slide fence wires, but I didn't like the look. I climbed up a steep, slick, rocky outcropping while Mike hiked over Tunnel 10. He made it not even 1/3 of the way over in waist-deep snow, when this train thundered past us:







And an interesting pip load on the same train:

 

Moffat trip, day 1, cont'd

After the manifest cleared, we were surprised by another WB, a coal empty. Scrambling for a decent shot, I bagged a wide shot of him near where I grabbed the ACe:



Wonderfully snaky curves:



With that, we figured the midday maintenance inspection shutdown had commenced, and we hightailed it back to the truck for lunch. We ate some great mexican food at Wondervu Cafe, a tradition with Mike and I, fueling up for another tough hike (although we were exhausted already, we planned on taking it easy at the next shot.
Little did we know, while setting up for EB Ski Train that afternoon, we would grab one of our most spectacular shot series ever.
Stay tuned!!!!:shade:

 

Maybe not, but it sure was good. The pork green chile was excellent!

Thanks, many, many more photos to come!!!!

Mike, please feel free to toss in some of your shots!

 

The shot of the day, donchathink?

After a big lunch, we headed to Pinecliffe. We hiked along the ridge, and bagged a quick grab shot of an EB load, but that didn't turn out well on my end. We climbed up to a rocky point overlooking East Cliff, the light had gone to crap, and we figured Ski Train was due soon, so we made a break for a different shot I had seen in CTC Board. It was one of the toughest hikes all day; slick, icy rocks, hidden holes in the snowpack that awaited a foot or leg, loose rocks, and more ice.....

We hiked along till we came to a point overlooking the canyon almost directly across from old Tunnel 28. After a short few moments, a coal load whistled for the CO-72 crossing a mile or so west. We readied our cameras for what was the most spectacular shot series all day.

The coal load in deep shadow, in the teeth of the grueling 12.08-degree curve:

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/630/snowy_curve_EB_load.jpg

As the head-end swings back into brilliant, cloudless sunlight, I capture it at Old T28:



SP 334 is unmolested at this date:

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/630/SP334.jpg

The head end nears Tunnel 27:



Wonderfully snaky curves:



The sun is really setting fast, and the shadows are catching up on the train.... Time to use some telephoto to bag the tail end DPUs:

 

That's still not the whole of day 1, yet... MANY more to come!!!
Thanks for the kind comments! My legs, on the other hand, sure got a heck of a workout!

 

Day 1, continued...

With the imminent passing of the EB Ski Train, we moved again, to bag it deep in the cold, dark, icy shadows of South Boulder Canyon near Tunnel 29. Here's the head end crossing Bridge 36.45:



Entering Tunnel 29:



Private car California:



Private car Kansas:



More to come!!!

 

After the Ski Train cleared, I bagged shots of the icy, frigid canyon:



The bridge:



My faithful, hardcore railfan friend:



And a shot that proves autoracks can pass thrut he Tunnel District--a bad-ordered 'rack in the Cliff house track:

 

Day 2, Moffat Trip!

The day dawned overcast, and breezy on the Front Range--we got up to be near Boulder at First Light. We had hoped to catch an aluminum hopper coalie heading thru Tunnels 6-8. The clouds did not cooperate, so we headed west, to Winter Park. The first shot is not a train, but the old ROW for the Rollins Pass route:



And near this is a historical Rollins Pass landmark sign:



We drove west till we could catch something--as we crested the overpass at East Tabernash, I spied a headlight incoming... Mike deftly did an about face, and we tore off east again, bailed out of the truck railfan-style,a nd ran thru knee-deep snow to bag the train at the D&SL-style signals at East Tabernash:



Stay tuned!!!!

 

Day 2, part 2:

After a quick shot at Tabernash, (we thoughtfully had the truck running, ready to bolt back on US40 east to Fraser, our next shot) we hit the highway like we were on a mission. After again readying the truck for another movement, we set up at a grade crossing at Fraser. The former D&SL signals stood proudly among the dridted, deep snow:



A slightly different angle:



And the DPU Warbonnet doing battle on the 2%:



After watching the manifest slugging it out on the grade, we headed west again, scooping a WB empty coalie at Granby. We set up off a dirt road between Granby and Hot Sulphur Springs (Sulphur).

Here's that coalie, with 7 units on the head-end (likely headed for the Craig Branch):

 

Day 2, part 3:

That coalie wasted no time heading west. Once out of the 2% from Winter Park to Tabernash, and exiting Fraser Canyon, trains really move all the way to Sulphur. Speeds of 60+ are normal, which makes scooping a train on the move a challenge. The wind was really blowing hard, and it was still well below freezing, so time spent out of the truck was kept to a minimum....

Here's the head-end of that train, with a neat rock outcropping background:



We had to wait till it cleared, to get back to US40, but it was hard chase to pass it before it reached Byers Canyon, just west of Sulphur.

Here's Byers Canyon, as heavily-covered as it is, here's the token roadside shots (there's nowhere else can you shoot from!), it's easily chased, thanks to 20-MPH permanent slow orders:







http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/1036/Byers_Canyon_empties_1.jpg

Byers Canyon is beautiful, but it's not at all a 'Secret Place'... We headed west, easily passing the coalie, and blew past Parshall, Flat, Troublesome, and Kremmling; there we took a real detour, 'Trough Road'........

Stay tuned!!!

 

Day 2, part 4:

Trough Road is winding, and really strays from the tracks (unlike US40 which basically parallels the tracks all the way to Steamboat Springs) several miles, and was slick and icy that morning. After what seemed like 20 miles of winding, punishing, slick, snowy roads, we came upon some pavement.... Gee, where did this come from?!? We're out in the middle of nowhere, 20 miles from Kremmling (the nearest sign of civilization), and a rutted, washboard dirt road suddenly becomes paved... We soon found out why.. Just a mile or so ahead was a most beautiful overlook. Gore Canyon!!!
The road has a pulloff adjacent to, and about 700+ feet higher in elevation to Tunnel 38!
The view was breathtaking thru the lower portion of Upper Gore Canyon, and into a broad, open bowl (Azure and Radium) that separates Lower and Upper Gore Canyons. The pulloff also had a touristy sign:



The view on Tunnel 38 was great:



Looking east:



The overlook, looking west at Azure and Radium:

 

Day 2, part 5:

If you think Upper Gore Canyon is rugged, just you wait!
The first Gore shots were not our typical style, we could have grabbed them fromt he truck, but we got out, and walked 20 feet....
The next series were a bit more tricky to get to, and deep snow made the hike treacherous.
We drove on a few more miles, to the lower canyon, and awaited Amtrak. #5 was due within an hour, so we tried not to waste any time reaching our next shot, a high perch overlooking Tunnels 39 and 40!

After what seemed like ages, #5 comes into view, several miles away, and I bagged it somewhere between Azure and Radium: (sharp-eyed readers will spy West Azure's signals about the 2-o-clock position behind Amtrak)



A few moments later, she peeks out of Tunnel 39:



Ducking into Tunnel 40:



As you can see, we're several hundred feet above the tracks, and almost a thousand feet above the Colorado River!

Heading west of Tunnel 40, for Yarmony, Bond, and points west:



More coming, stay tuned!!!!!!!