The Unofficial Moffat Route Tour!!!

Well, for starters, I did a lot of research online to find out how to access these places. I bought a book, Rio Grande Secret Places, by RC Farewell, that details all the Tunnel District from Denver to Tunnel 30. Invaluable for doing your homework on fanning the Moffat Route.
I also found a great source on the web, http://www.matts-place.com/trains/colorado/ that has a "how do I get there?" section for how to find these areas. Mostly the only way to find these spots is to hike in. I usually hike 2-4 miles one way to find these pots. I sometime hike around tunnels to get more exercise, or when I'm feeling chicken.
I usually hike thru the tunnels. I carry a Mag lite to see where my feet are going, because even with the light at the ends of the tunnel, you cannot see your feet. In some tunnels, like 27, 16, 8, ect, the bore is so tightly curved, that all light is gone within a few feet in from the portal. You NEED a good light. I usually listen to the scanner for a good half hour before getting out of the truck, usally while driving in. I listen for whos where, what direction, and such. By the time I get there, I usually have a good idea what's going on. I still hike with caution. Eastbounds of any sort are impossible to hear in any advance, until they are within yards from you. Westbounds, you sometimes hear for miles coming upgrade, depending on wind, & weather (snow muffles the sound a lot). I generally hike in as far as I can, before encountering a train, and set up for a shot. I then follow the train thru the next tunnel. If the train is WB, and I am EB, I wait till it clears my position, then hike on thru. My biggest fear is getting caught inside when a hi-railer is on the rails. Trains can't stop on a dime, and if I get caught in a tunnel with a train, I'll hit the deck, and huddle as close to the tunnel wall as possible. A hirailer could stop, radio in, and well, you can draw your own conclusions... I hike along the tracks thru the open spaces, and in tunnels, at a brisk pace. Half the time the train crews never see me perched up high to get a shot.
One thing to remember, if you have no fear of being hit, you may get stupid, and one lapse of judgement could be your last. If you lose respect for the trains, and the inherent danger of railfanning, you have no business being out along the rails, you should stay in your car, and get the lame grade crossing shots I try not to duplicate.

*plink, plink*

 

I generally don't hike alone. I usually go with my buddy Alaska GP49 here.

Hirailer?
These, or any thing on the rails that's not a train:
Tunnel 2 is just behind the truck.


Moffat, you ask?
David H. Moffat, the guy who financed building the Moffat Route--with his OWN money. He started with incorporating the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific in 1902, and construction to Rollins Pass was started. Moffat Tunnel wasn't begun till '23, and finished in '27.

 

*chuckles*
Grey One, Don't worry, my friend.
Since Darren posted the West Portal, I need to post the East Portal:
Coal load exiting East Portal after a blizzard:


And the East Portal area in better weather:

 

Thanks for the kind comments!
I would have heard it on the scanner (never leave home without it), and half the time the train crews, much less MOW guys never see Mike and I out on our perches.
You're more than welcome to come on out!

 

More material! I made another trip this weekend, and have 190+ shots to dig thru.... Stay tuned!!!!

 

Here's a teaser:
BNSF WB manifest climbs the 2% grade thru Tunnel 7:

 

Trip report, part I:
(in chronological order of the shot, not by time)
As we arrived at Plain siing, at first light, we were greeted with a meet of an empty and a loaded coal train. Not ready and set up to move, we missed out. Little did we know the next train we'd see was 2 hours from then!
We hiked as far as T8, east portal, shooting reference shots along the way. Bored, and hearing nothing on the scanner, we hiked to T10. Tunnel 8 is a long, tightly curved beast of a tunnel, and even the flashlight didn't do much to cut the darkness...
We hiked around the T8-10 area for a while, checking out new shots, and passing the time. All the while, the sun was brilliantly illuminating T10's east portal:



Old tunnel 9 collapsed during construction, leaving the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific with no choice to bypass the obstacle by builing a super tight shoofly (and the obligatory slow-order of 5MPH). It lasted for 35 years, before old 9 was daylighted. Hence the cut,a nd rockslide fences... See the perimeter of the old shoofly? It must have been realy tight!





Tunnel ten is 1572' long, and rifle bore straight. Not one to hike it, I shot the length of it instead:



Just about the time we were getting really bored with the lack of action, a thunder from the canyon grew a little louder...
And out of T8 a westbound manifest with 8 units popped out: The shield on the leader seemed to stick out, so I kept this one:

 

Trip report, pt II:
We returned to the east side of T8 after the WB cleared, and set up a shot west of T7 and the east portal of T8, and awaited another WB train. Little did we know, an EB was headed our way! We were set up for a WB shot, and heard the lead units on a EB manifest behind us.... Spun around, composed, and fired the shutter capturing this:



The going away shot of the power, like so:



Another going away shot, on the tangent that T7 slices thru:



After that EB cleared, we heard a thunder up the canyon, int he form of a BNSF WB manifest. 3 manifests, back-to-back! What a treat!

Looking downt he tangent toward the west portal of T7:



And before disappearing into T8:



After the WB cleared, we hiked to the west side of T6, and awaited another WB, which we heard on the scanner.

The WB coal empty's power pops out of T6's west portal, into lush greenery:



A better shot of the leader:



Going away shot, entering T7, from atop the cut east of T7:

 

The title said it was gonna be a big one - and it certainly is!!! I can see why you love the route. Keep up the excellent coverage

 

Trip report, pt III:

We returned to the east side of T6 after the WB cleared, and set up a shot west of T5 and the east portal of T6, and awaited another WB train. Turns out, Amtrak was next in line! The foggy shot I got at this location last trip? Redone, lead motors popping out of T5 with good light:



And again, at the east portal of T6:



After Amtrak cleared, we hiked to T4, and awaited an eastbound. We hoped for one, anyhow. The shot we had picked out was only for an EB. Also turned out an EB ballast trainw as coming thru: (looking thru T4, into T5, with an EB approaching--creative use of telephoto and a bunch of running..)



The ballast train, at Rainbow Cut, as seen from T4:



From our spot at T4, we could see WB trains as far away as Big Ten curve, and Plainview siding. Turned out a WB empty fleet was starting up the mountain. The DS fleets WBs up the mountain about lunchtime. 2-4 of them in close succession. We set up for a dramatic shot, low-angleand all. Blasted clouds just didn't wanna cooperate!



Going-away shot, like so:



Since we could see Big 10 in the distance, we saw a WB empty led by 8 units..... Just where do you shoot a consist with 8 units? West side of T2, that's where. We hoped it was, anyhow. We then allowed the WB to clear, and hiked to T2, and we really hoofed it! A careful eye will see 8 units on this train: (of couse, UP put the filthiest, ugliest patched AC on the point!)



In the consist was an unpatched SP Ac4400CW::

 

Trip report, pt IV:

Same train, going-away shot, entering T3:



And the sun finally cooperated, AFTER the head-end passed... Coal empties obediently follow out of T2:



With no trains on the radar, we hiked out to the truck,and drove toward the Divide. We stopped and ate at a little place called 'Wondervu Cafe'. Huge portions at a decent price. Great food too. Filled to the brim, we drove to the east end of Rollins Siding.

This is the view we were greeted with, at the end of the siding: (the bedrock domes are unlike any rock formation elsewhere in the tunnel district, so their presence gives instant recognition)



Further along east into the canyon; real estate shared by the railroad, and South Boulder Creek:



Further into the canyon, the walls are closing in.... Thhis S-curve looks like a great place to shoot, but no trains when we had light!



Opposite end, looking back toward my previous spot:



Tunnel 30, west portal! It's just around the last curve I showed. The crek is so wild and whitecapped, that you can't hear yourself think! No train, either....



The east portal of T30:



More to come from T30 area! Stay tuned!!

 

Trip report, pt V:

Looking away (east from T30, you see this:



After hiking outta T30 area, due to immense cloud cover, the sun broke thru a sucker hole... Or course! And a WB empty climbs out of T30 area, meeting an EB load at East Rollins siding:



Rollins Siding, west end, the coming and going shot:



Further along west into the canyon; real estate again shared by the railroad, and South Boulder Creek; an EB coal load seen west of Rollinsville: (same EB load seen above, chronologically out of order, but so goes life!)



Same head-end, just farther east:



DPU pushers:



The clouds came in and blocked any light,a nd it got dark quickly. We then headed back towards Denver, stopping east of Pinecliffe, to bag a WB, or the EB #6 CZ.
Looking for a new shot, we passed the normal pulloff, and headed for some serious high-ground. Here, we see T29, and old T28, along with a portion of T27. I just couldn't get far eonugh out to get a shot of 27, but it was close!

Old T28:



The east portal of T29:

 

This thread should be preserved as the ultimate photo essay on the Moffat Route