Well, this was likely my last trip to the Mffat for a while.. Maybe a year or more... But in between setting up Wig-Wag's stuff at the Denver Great Rain Expo, I felt lazy, and not wanting to hike in a long ways. So then, the coverage at Tunnels 23 and 24 and 10-12 will not be featured for a while... But, I do have a couple new shots, and a few surprises! We managed to catch a 7-unit manifest, with a (patched) Rio Grande GP40-2 in consist! Not only that, but an 11-unit power transfer as well! We shot the new bridge west of Rollinsville, and caught a BNSF train with Warbonnets on both ends on the said bridge. What a treat! We saw a heavy load on a QTTX heavy duty flat car, and plenty of sun at the higher elevations. Photo coverage to commence after the Rail Images/TB server maintenance described HERE... Sneak peek: Under typical gray skies, 11 units charge out of Tunnel 1 westbound:
I for one have enjoyed your Moffat Route topic and will miss not seeing updates. Then again it will be fun to see what you find and post from Montana.
Thanks, Darren. I'll miss it too! With Mullan Pass, Marias Pass, Steven's Pass in WA, I should have plenty of new opportunities! Stay tuned....
After the server maintenance is done, I will post my shots from this last trip..... I have a few new ones, including the wye at East Portal!
I have promised a trip report, long ago, and with the server maintenance, I got sidetracked (derailed?).. I will deliver on that, and add another trip report from today!
The shot of the day? You tell me! Tunnel 6, MNYRO (manifest, North Yard *Denver* to Roper Yard *Salt Lake City*)westbound:
Trip Report (finally) 06 NOV 05: After church, and grabbing Starbucks for the road, we hit the hiway for Plainview. After getting to the east end of the siding, we heard a well-powered MNYRO charging out of Tunnel 1. Scrambling to get camera gear ready, he popped out of T1, and proceeded up the grade towards the siding: A now rare visitor to its old home turf! Another rarity:
After MNYRO cleared the block, we repositioned ourselves to a better vantage point on the opposite side of the tracks for a shot at an 11-unit WB light unit movement we chased from I-76/70... From the beginning of Big Ten: West Clay siding: Tunnel 1: After the light movement passed, we headed west to shoot the brand-new bridge at MP 45.18. After a short wait, a BNSF M-STODEN drifts by with Warbonnets on both ends! Up at East Portal, by special request from Jason, we have a shot of the rarely-used wye: Heading back to Rollins, we heard a WB manifest call for the DS, and we saw him just about ready to go when we arrived. Here he is, after getting the signal:
After I ran down the embankment, I popped a shot of him crossing the overpass proper: Earlier that morning, we stopped at North Yard, and had a nice surprise in store: After dusk, a coal load was stopped at Utah Jct cutting out midtrain DPU's: I think the dusk shot was a fitting end to a decently productive day!!!!
I have been scrolling through this thread and all I can type is WOW!!!!!!!!! Nice pics. Those of you who are lucky to be in this beautiful area to see and photograph these trains are very lucky. Keep up the great photos.....
I have another report to add.. Glad you like them. I have become infatuated with the Front Range crossing of the Rio Grande, and never tire of it. I would go every day If I could. I also plan to model the Tunnel District in N scale, Tunnels 1-29. Never discount what may be out you back door. Sherman Hill on UP is right out my back door,a nd it is a beautiful piece of railroad. More well-documented than that of the inner sanctum of the Moffat Route, but just as beatuful and rugged in its own way. Sherman is also a favorite of mine to railfan. You live in Canada, and while I am unsure of how far Ottowa is from any major mountainous areas, you may have a beautiful place to railfan as well, just out your back door. I am moving to Great Falls, MT soon,a nd plan to heavily railfan the MRL's Mullan Pass route, and cover some of Marias Pass' more hard to reach areas as well. I tend to want to work for a great shot, not just bail out of the car at a crossing, and pop a grab shot. A lot of work, but the results are worth it. The sun is hard to harness in the deep canyons, and train frequency is sporadic, but when everything is just right, the shot will be spectacular!
My wife surprised me with asking if I wanted to go hit the Moffat again on Friday, and of course, I nearly wet myself in glee... OOps, did I say that out loud? Ahem... Anyways, with the snow lightly falling in Cheyenne, i got up long before dawn, and picked up my friend John, and we blasted on down the freeway to hit the mountain. I left in time to arrive at first light, and as we arrived at Plainview, an EB coal load surprised us. We couldn't see him from the highway, and arriving at Plainview road, he was still out of sight, so he really surprised me! Not a peep from the scanner, however... Driving to the end of the siding, we parked, got our heavy clothes on--insulated Carhartt bibs, heavyparkas, thick hats, gloves, insulated heavy boots--it was just above zero! The cold numbed our faces, and made it difficult to speak, but we were determined to get great shots. We hiked in as far as Tunnel 6, and as we exited Tunnel 5, the eastbound 'Macaroni' MRONY was descending the grade, just outside Tunnel 6. We scrambled for a shot, and I popped off one like so, just outside Tunnel 5's west portal: I spun around to shoot the last car, about to disappear into Tunnel 5's 585 feet of darkness: We waited for the line to clear, then headed thru Tunnel 6, and climbed atop the cut that is just east of Tunnel 7. We were awaiting Amtrak, but a hi-railer gets track & time to ocupy the main, and rolls by out of Tunnel 6: After the Hi-railer cleared at Crescent Siding further west, Amtrak nearly effortlessly chugs out of Tunnel 6, deeply in shadow: High-tailing it to the top of the cut, I bagged the going-away shot entering Tunnel 7, this time with tasty light: [ February 04, 2006, 03:11 PM: Message edited by: HemiAdda2d ]
Wanting to bag a shot of the Tunnel 5/6 area again, we headed east, and climbed atop the cut, nearly parallel with Tunnel 5's west portal. Expecting a coal load, and a fleet of empties headed up the hill, we waited. And waited.. And waited.. We were toasty, but again, my fingers were very cold, even with gloves, and our faces going numb again... Suddenly, a thunder out of the canyon announced the westbound MNYRO, headed for Salt Lake City. Much more well-powered than the EB counterpart, all 8 units will not fit in the shot, so I shot a few to capture the passing of the train thru the majestic Flatirons: After he cleared, I bagged a shot of 'Mickey Mouse Wall', as local rockclimbers call the humongous Flatiron: Getting hungry, anticipating a lunch meet with Keith, we headed back for the truck. More WB empties were headed our way, but we made our way to Wondervu Cafe, for some good mexican food.. MMMMmm.... Burritos.... Getting sidetracked again... After some good food, and good chat, we--Keith, John and I--headed west to East Portal, noting nothing tied down in any siding.. Nothing in Cliff, Rollins, Tolland, or East Portal. We chatted for a while, swapped stories,a nd looked at Keith's amazing collection of D&RGW paper items. All of the sudden, surprising us again--not a peep on the scanner; a pattern here?--was a WB coal empty, unheard until he was almost on top of us, at East Portal, in a raging snowstorm: After a quick run to the top os a snowbank near which I was parked, I bagged the going-away shot, under dark, snowy skies, about to enter Moffat Tunnel: I had heard rumor that Uncle Pete added some more logos to the curtain, so I checked it out. Last I saw, only the big UP Shield was on the curtain inside the tunnel, and with the incredible snowfall, I had to enter the tunnel for a few feet to get a clear shot: How do you like that? Denver & Salt Lake, D&RGW, SP, and UP!! I hope you enjoyed the tour, this will likely be it for a long while... Until the next update, maybe there will be a Mullan or Marias Pass tour, so who knows! Stay tuned!
And standing on the same snowbank, I just barely managed to get the train, as well as Hemi, taking his shot! Was just about it for the day, as far as photos went. Getting too cold and dark to continue.
OOps, wasn't trying to be in your shot, Keith! Had our lunch meet been later in the day, I would have stayed on the hill, and waited till the DS turned off the faucet of trains... We still managed to miss another westbound!
With train moving at a pretty good clip, I just barely had enough time to grab camera, climb snowbank, point and shoot. Gotcha in action anyway!
Fantastic pic's gents,I like the shot of the curtain Hemi & that last action shot,get to see some MOW items!Please keep them coming.
