It's been a great topic/story and I look forward to see another one from your new digs when you get a chance.
I look forward to 'fanning Mullan Pass.. Marias is very popular, and is well-documented in many areas. Mullan is less well-known, thus my immediate interest! Glad everyone's enjoyed the tour! Once I'm established in Montana, we'll be having a layout progress tour, featuring many of the areas I have covered here. It'll be my way to railfan the Moffat, while being 800+ miles away!
Oh contrar' my friend! Amongst NP buffs, and MRL fans, it is very well followed. Mullan is holy ground, amongst devotees of Montana Rail Link. You may have a hard time, if thinking about finding yourself alone there. Someone else will likely be around with a camera as well! Boxcab E50
Guess what? I just had another chance to visit my favorite piece of real estate in Colorado; the Tunnel District! Only 3 and ahalf hours, but a score of 4 trains ain't bad! I can't upload pics for a while, but I arrived at first light, and shortly after arriving, a WB empty coalie thundered up the grade. i scrambled for a shot, near Blue Mtn. Road's crossing. I have a shot of the head end at Tunnel 1, and the tail end 20' from me... Amtrak was next, and another series of shots was taken at the same locale, in the Coal Creek Canyon area. I hustled to Plainview, and bagged shots of the WB MNYRO, and was surprised on my drive out by a glint off of Big ten in the distance; another WB!! I boogied back to Plain, parked the car (the truck is too fuel-hungry) and in a dead run, went to Rainbow Cut, and shot the WB empty as it progressed thru T2-T3 and T4. The aluminum hoppers contrasted nicely to the alpine landscape of the Flatirons.
Upon a last-minute invite to a Denver slideshow, I piled my gear into the Pontiac, and headed south again.. This time the camera was an afterthought.. I should have grabbed mine, but I grabbed my wife's digicam--not nearly my fav, but it worked well enough... At first light, I arrived at Blue Mtn Road's crossing and parked. I had no scanner, also an afterthought, since I wasn't originally thinking I'd have time to hit the mountain. I did have a contact at North Yard, who advised me of lineups, which was nice! Not long after arriving, while sipping a hot Starbucks coffee, and munching of a fresh donut, a westbound emerged from around the curve at Clay siding, into the heavy shadow of the canyon mouth: While braving the brutal winds blasting downt he Front Range, I waited for the head end to pass thru the Coal Creek curves, and approach Tunnel 1. When the engines got onto the grade out of Coal Creek, I popped a shot like so, of the head end: (note the tail end still in front of me!) Back in the safety of the car, I kicked back, since Amtrak can't be far away.. Right about 0912, #5 storms toward Tunnel 1: I headed from Blue Mtn, whose shots are optimal for late morning, or afternoon light, depending on the angle; to Plainview. I no sooner parked, and a westbound was heard laboring up the grade east of Tunnel 1. The MNYRO, with a pure EMD lashup whined past me at East Plain: Spinning around for the going-away shot--this light is best for eastbounds:
After walking back to the car, I drove back out towards CO-72, and home. I figured there was no more. My NY contact made no mention of a heavy traffic day. As I eased down Painview Road's hairpins, a glint in the distance caught my eye... I'd been had! I spun a quick U-ie and hard on the throttle, back to my original parking spot. As I parked, the thunder of high-HP GEez grew louder, and closer. As I grabbed camera, and spare batteries, He thundered around the last curve before the tangent at Plain siding. I took off in a dead run down the MOW road, really trying to outrun the train, literally, and failing miserably. The empty coalie made quick work of Plain's tangent, flatter grade, chugging by me just east of Rainbow cut: Back to a dead run, after popping the last grab shot, I ran to the west side of Rainbow Cut, and shot the power entering Tunnel 2, 3 and 4; as well as the mid-train and pushing DPU's (most DPU's on WB empties are on the head-end, offline): I have more shots of this train threading Tunnels 2-4, but they are in my album, in the Moffat Route subalbum.
The following shots, photoshopped-in with approximate location labels, shows the Tunnel 2-8 area. Tunnel 1 is also visible from the same vantage point, not shown. I should have taken a shot of that, big Ten, and Clay. All are visible from CO-93.
It's amazing, after all the trips I have made up there, I didn't have any shots *that I recall* of a train threading Tunnels 2-4.. So here's another, WB coal empty, with DPU's already Mid-train, units nearing Tunnel 3:
New material, from my railfan partner, Alaska GP49! Tunnel 30's aftermath of a coal hopper straying from the rails INSIDE the bore! Here's the spilled coal outside the east portal of T30: Mike Levine photos: West portal mess--note the new rails and ballast: Note the scarred rock inside Tunnel 30--these rocks are actually supposed to look like that, rather than soot black?!?
All the shots will likely have red 'x's.. I have recently uploaded my new album with Moffat meterial, and deleted the old, to free up some space. The images will be re-posted/edited over the next week or so. If you see that, don't worry!
New material! I have resurrected a few shots from the cutting room floor, and since they were underexposed, overcast and underlit; I have gained a few skills in photoshop... Granted, these shots suck quality-wise, but it's the only way some folks will ever see the Moffat Route. Especially with UP's new trespassing policies. Yikes! Alaska GP49 may not remember this, but it is the same train we caught after catching a meet with 2 unmolested SP AC4400's. Here's a shot I have not shown before, looking east of the CO-72 crossing in Pinecliffe: And his donkey:
Never before posted... This photo is highly modified, but it shows an almost un-reproducible scene at West Cliff: Here's what I started with:
I have a number of red-x's to fix.... Crud! Anyways, I dug around, and found a shot that I wasnt happy with, but works well in black and white. Here is, just west of Tunnel 27:
New material!!!! After a recent trip to railfan the entire route from Winter Park to Glenood Springs,a nd parts of the Craig Branch, I have 500 photos to sort thru. I am trying to document all the existing Denver & Salt Lake CTC signals, like the one below, before they are replaced. I also have some coverage of the Dotsero Cutoff. (not technically Moffat trackage, but hey, why not?) Teaser: WB coal empties thunder past Troublesome, CO at first light: And MUCH more to come!!!!!
Is that the shade, or is that last UP unit really that black??? And are those signals to be replaced by those crappy looking UP "flathead"s?
Indeed they will be, in time. Tis' why I am documenting them while I stillcan. Many on the east slope of the Moffat are already gone! That is shade--the shadows are very long at 0630.... The sun had only risen about ten miinutes before we bagged this shot.
