I apologize that I have not kept updates to this thread coming, but I have been busier than a one-legged-man in a buttkickin' contest!! Coverage from Tunnel 4 will resume soon.
A wonderful series of pictures so far! What a great way to illustrate a route. I wonder if Matt Hannes will be tempted over here? Keep 'em coming Jerry
Tunnels 4 and 5!! Here's a view of a WB coal empty, threading the Flatirons: And the rest are by Matt Hannes: Since Tunnel 4 must be hard to photograph, I have no portal shots to show, but here's one looking from T4 toward T5 with a BNSF manifest grinding upgrade: Another angle on a similar coal load eastbound: And in the vicinity of Tunnel 5, another EB coal load heads downgrade, with the eastern Colorado plains in view: Next stop, Tunnel 6!!
I got derailed with a vacation, and life happens. I will resume coverage from Tunnel 6 starting tomorrow, with more regular postings, hopefully! Here's a teaser: Tunnel 27, with WB BNSF loads:
That NS on the tail end of the lashup looks cool. Now I have a reason to get one! Its hard to tell, but it looks like it might be a Dash 9, could be a AC4400. Looking forward to the continued tunnel progress Jeremy!
Tunnel 6! All photos in this post are by Matt Hannes, and are used with permission. Be sure to visit his site, it is PACKED with great shots from the more inaccessible areas on the Moffat Route! Tunnel 6 is apparently not an easy place to shoot, as out of all of Matt's great pics, I only found a few that were of the T6 area. Tunnel Six, at milepost 26.35 is 536 feet long, with bare rock portals. Here's a UP coalie westbound, approaching T6's east portal: (Matt Hannes photo) Here's another view of T6's east portal, with DPU's about to pierce the bore: (Matt Hannes photo) Here's another shot of the area between T5 and T6: (Matt Hannes photo) Next stop, Tunnel 7!
Tunnel 7! All photos in this post are by Matt Hannes, and are used with permission. Be sure to visit his site, it is PACKED with great shots from the more inaccessible areas on the Moffat Route! Tunnel 7 is 208 feet long, with a concrete west portal. Here's an EB UP train, approaching T7's west portal: (Matt Hannes photo) BNSF 4659 leads an EB manifest out of T7: (Matt Hannes photo) Here's a view of the massive Flatiron that T7 bores thru: (Matt Hannes photo) Amtrak #5 chugs westbound out of T7--the view is looking compas north towards Eldorado Canyon and the rails to T8: Next stop, Tunnel 8!
Tunnel 8! All photos in this post are by Matt Hannes, and are used with permission. Be sure to visit his site, it is PACKED with great shots from the more inaccessible areas on the Moffat Route! Tunnel 8, at milepost 26.91, is 753 feet long, with concrete portals. Here's an EB UP train, exiting T8's east portal: (Matt Hannes photo) Amtrak #5 heads toward T8's east portal: (Matt Hannes photo) Amtrak #5 enters T8 from the east: (Matt Hannes photo) A UP DPU set disappears into T8: Next stop, old Tunnel 9 and Tunnel 10!
Old Tunnel 9 and T10! All photos in this post are by Matt Hannes, and are used with permission. Be sure to visit his site, it is PACKED with great shots from the more inaccessible areas on the Moffat Route! Tunnel 9, at milepost 27.00, was to be about 120 feet long, but unstable shattered rock continued to cause the graders headaches, even with interior wood bracing. The tunnel was abandoned before completion, and a VERY sharply curved shoofly was built; with a permanent 5-MPH slow order. The slow-oder headache existed till 1938, when the 1938 excavation of old T9's perimeter lessened the curvature and eliminated the slow order. Here's an Amtrak #5, looking towards T10, gliding by old T9's perimeter: (Matt Hannes photo) Tunnel Ten, at milepost 27.42, is an arrow-straight 1572 feet long, with a concrete east portal. Warbonnets lead an EB BNSF freight into T10's west portal: (Matt Hannes photo) SP 348 obediently follows an EB UP coalie into T10: (Matt Hannes photo) Next stop, Tunnel 11!
That unit is NS 9484, looks to be a Dash-9. Here's another view, with the head end just exiting Tunnel 27:
I just love the Moffat Area I've never been there but I would like to go if I lived by it you guys would never hear from me again. Also How many Trains does Moffat Have a Day Including 5/6? AmtrakFan
Amtrak #5/#6, Ski Train on weekends WB/EB, Jazz Train on selected summer weekends WB/EB, BNSF trackage rights DENSTO manifests WB/EB, numerous coal trains, sporadic UP manifests, and the oddball UP work train. Maintenance-in-the-way (MOW) tends to shut downt he main about mid-day for inspection work and such, but early morning can be busy. I would venture a guess, in 24 hours, about 16 or so trains per day in winter on weekends, about 10-12 per day on weekdays. In summer, about the same. I have never counted, or been on site all day to count, so I am making a very rough estimate. EB coal loads tend to 'fleet' down the mountain in the morning, while WB coal empties tend to fleet up the mountain in mid-day. The morning usually is clear, but about lunchtime, it clouds up all day long.
Tunnels 11 thru T14! Tunnel 11, curving at milepost 27.81, is 238 feet long. No photos I could find on Matt's site nor on the net were protraying T11, so I'll have to get there sometime, and make my own pics... Tunnel 12, on the other hand is 429 feet in curving length, at milepost 27.93. Here's a UP EB coal load easing downgrade: Here's an EB coal train at T13: The Summer JAZZ Train enters the South Draw area, Tunnels 13-15: Another shot of the Jazz train: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/629/South_Draw_Jazz_train_b.jpg Tunnel 14, at MP 28.28, is 434 feet of straight length. Here, WB coal empties head upgrade, from T14 into T15: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/629/T15_empties.jpg Tunnel 14 and 15 catch the brilliant first light of the day as the WB #5, California Zephyr on which I'm riding, glides thru the South Draw: A UP coal load descends the grade at South Draw, exiting T15. The viewer is guided to see the tail of the train at the lower RH corner of the photo. This is ONE train! http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/629/South_Draw_empties.jpg Next up, The South Draw horseshoe: Tunnels 15-17!
Tunnels 15 thru T17! Tunnel 15, at milepost 28.46, is 444 feet long. Here's a UP coal empty thundering grade under the usual overcast skies: Tunnel 16 at MP 28.72, a curving 698 feet long, is at the apex of South Draw's horseshoe curve. The portals on both ends are shrouded with deep forest cover, and rarely sees the light of day. Here's a WB welded-rail train headed upgrade, with a different view of T16 and old T17: WB coal empties climb out of T16: 'Old' Tunnel 17, at MP 29.00, was to be 110 feet long, but collapsed when partially completed. The collapse necessitated a shoofly, much like old T9's, with its 5 MPH permanent slow-order. It was daylighted in 1938, and the slow-order shoofly eliminated. Coal loads cautiously drift down grade thru old 17's cut--the shoofly was made though the cut just visible with trees in it, above the locos: Tunnel 17, at MP 29.50, is rifle-bore straight, and 1730 feet long. Here, Amtrak #5 heads upgrade, approaching T17. My photo position is directly over T17: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/629/5_at_T17.jpg UP coal empties disappear into T17: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/629/WB_empties_T17.jpg Here, Amtrak #5 blasts out of T17's west portal: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/629/5_at_T17_b.jpg Next up, The Tunnel 18, and Crescent Siding!
Tunnel 18, and Crescent Siding! Tunnel 18, is 238 sharply curving feet long. Here's a WB work train headed upgrade out of T18's west portal: EB coal loads drift thru a cut towards T18: T18's west portal: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/629/T18_WP.jpg Crescent Siding, east switch at MP 30.62, and west switch at MP 31.79 is so-named due to the 150-degree curve at its western end: Amtrak #5 is observed heading west from the top of T18--this is a LONG tele shot: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/629/Crescent_from_T18.jpg UP coal loads at the apex of the 150-degree arc headed east: A BNSF manifest with a solid block of tanks in the pouring rain at Crescent at dusk: Crescent's west switch, and the approach to T19: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/629/West_Crescent.jpg Next up, T19, 20, and 21!
