Man, was it snowing! As I was trying to find a better angle on the S-curve, that coalie missed my lens.. Nice shot; the snow was really falling hard!! At least one of us caught that SD70MAC... More! More!
Mike, I tried to fiddle a little with that T18 shot, here's what a few minutes could do: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/1001/Empties_at_West_181.jpg If I had the full-size shot emailed to me, I could work a little more with it.
Yep, the infamous 3800's.. I have an N scale version! The layout is mostly stalled. Just no time or energy to work on it!
I had to comment on the excellent photo's and kudo's for all the footwork, nicely done! I've been caught in a tunnel when a hi-railer zipped in on me along the deschutes river, that was no fun at all. I was about 1/2 way through a good 200 yd long tunnel when I heard something coming. I ran as fast as I could for the opposite end. Luckily it was doing about 50mph and didn't see me as I bailed out the end of the tunnel and off to the side. Is there any kind of map that shows the route with the tunnel positions/numbers? I'm pretty set on modeling this area, and I'm collecting all the data and photo's I can get my hands on. I'd like to model the Gore Canyon to Big Ten area in an around the walls construction with 2-3 peninsula's jetting out into the middle. At either end I'm thinking of a smaller/freelance version of the Denver yard with a few industry spurs and have the layout loop back to the beginning again. I'll be running SP with a few D&RGW units tossed in here and there, modeling the time of the SP just before UP swallowed everything. We're moving soon and I've been in planning stages all winter for utilizing a 40x30 pole building to provide the most trackage I can get. I've talked the wife into an older home on more land closer to town rather than our newer house that's a little too far out Our net equity will ultimately decide the pole building size but I am going to get the biggest one I can.... I also notice in the pictures that most/all the searchlight style signals are gone and replaced, but if I remember correctly I will want to purchase these for the era I am modeling? Would the rock nets-safety system been in place during this time or are those recent UP installations?
I appreciate the kind compliments. It's good to know someone else is making use of these images! As for a map of the tunnels, here's a good start: http://www.matts-place.com/trains/colorado/locations.html Rockslide fences have been in place on the 'Grande for years--I beleive before SP took over as well. I don't know if the current slide fences would be correct for 1994-96, however. That does place you solidly into AC4400, Speed letters, and Dash-9 territory, with fresh paint on the Moffat. Should be an exciting layout to build! Yes, your signals should be this type, for Denver-Bond: Some of the tunnels on the Moffat are huge, like 1000 feet long and longer. I once hiked thru Tunnel 17, and at 1730 feet, it was so nerve-wracking. Never again.
Thank you for the reply and the info. While I can't start building the layout yet, I am using my spare time to collect and detail loco's, scenery supplies, and build detail items such as signals. I have recently added to my motive power: 3ea Athearn SP SD40T-2's, 2 speed letters, 1 regular letters. 1ea Athearn D&RGW SD40T-2, got used-already fully detailed. I find it interesting that many of the tunnels don't have portals. The searchlight signals would all be 3 aspect lights on top and bottom correct?
More photos coming soon, thanks to a brutal 2.2 mile hike that gained 1200 vertical feet of elevation... Tunnel 10-15, and some more by Tunnel 26 and 27! Stay tuned!
Ben, I appreciate your enthusiasm. This was actually a modeling reference trip. I intended on getting shots of that neat rock spire west of T25, and loads of shots at Crescent. The rest was gravy. Alaska GP49, my companion on the mountain, found the trail to Tunnel 10's west portal, fromt he Rattlesnake Gulch trail at Eldorado Springs St Park. A brutal climb it was, but it was worth it. Most of the locations we visited were in deep shadow, with the sun so far south. I made the best of it by framing the photos with the sunny areas out of the shot. There are sunny shots, too, but not many. Traffic was unbelieveably light, with the midwestern blizzards disrupting traffic (Amtrak was canceled from Denver-Chicago last friday!) We only saw one Amtrak train, a nearly on-time #5 on Sunday. Only 1 coal load, a few empties, and a few manifests from both BNSF and UP. I suppose if the empties can't get to the mountain, there'll be no loads to come down! We had a number of shots that would be good, had a train been within 60 miles of the location, but a trainless shot is better than nothing. New angles on old shots, and new locations to see! I won't have much time to process photos till the weekend at the earliest, so stay tuned!
Coverage begins! Sunday morning, before the sun came up, we headed out, grabbing some divine Lamar's donuts, and Starbucks coffee for the road. From there we headed west to Pinecliffe (or more accurately, the turnout atop the hill near Tunnel 29). We parked, and hiked down the hill trackside. We hiked to T27, and climbed atop the tunnel awaiting an EB train. Here's the shadowed west portal: I climbed nearly directly over the tracks, while Mike exploited a crevice in the rock face a locomotive length further away. After not too long, we heard a horn, and anxiously awaited some action. It seemed like forever that we waited, and then we heard another, closer, set of horns. We have an EB coming; I took my gloves off, and set up for the shot. While my fingers seemingly froze to the shutter button, the EB finally eased around the 12-degree curve near Old T28. Double Warbonnets! A BNSF train! Score! After it cleared the block (and no DPUs), we hiked into T27. The deeply shadowed east portal: After hiking east some more, we came upon a rock cut, and I grabbed a few shots from the top. Looking west:
Looking east: (razzenfrazzen tree in front of T26) T26's west portal, and a kink in the tracks: T26 east portal, and a neat signal box: The "Spire" is next--see you soon! Stay tuned!
Close, it was a day and a morning. But a whirlwind trip it was! It flew by! Airfarewatchdog.com hooked us up by letting me know about the cheap fare, and I went to United.com to purchase the ticket. Let's get back to the mountain! Such a shame all the photos were so washed out--the canyon is such deep shadow! The "Spire" is next. We'll view it as one does when westbound from Tunnel 25. As you roll west out of Tunnel 25, you're greeted with a sharp curve to the left. As you follow the curve, the hillside becomes more and more vertical, with rockslide fenced lining the craggy rock face. Soon, you see some rocks piled up on the right: This rock would be a neat place to set up a tripod: This weathered rock spire is standing seemingly in the middle of a sheer cliff: Almost literally like it was planted there! Here's a view further down the steep embankment:
Another wider view: A view on the west side of the spire shows the rugged face the rocks emerged from (BTW, it's a loooonnnnng way down to South Boulder Creek!) : And a wider view, further west:
Needing to find some light, we hiked out, and back to the truck. Not long after getting into the truck, and heading into Pinecliffe, we heard a roaring prime mover. The chase was on, but short-lived, thanks to the crossing! Here's a pacing shot on Amtrak #5, the only Amtrak train seen in 2 days! We headed west, noting nothing in Cliff Siding, and went to a little place called Pactolus. Along the way, I bagged more shots of the D&SL era signals still in use at West Cliff:
DNW&P, D&SL, and later D&RGW used Lake Pactolus for ice harvesting, and winter lake sports/activities. There once was a large ice house, and ice skating facility here, but all is long gone. Here's the only thing left from the ice house days, a disintegrating ice handling aparatus: I climbed up the hill behind the ice gantry, to await anything moving. I was on the wrong side of the light, but it was the only elevation available. After not too long, a headlight very slowly peeked around the trees from Tunnel 30: With the frozen lake as a backdrop, this Roper-Denver manifest, the "Macaroni", slowly eases by the lake:
