Hello- I was able to get out this morning and find the E-Units (led by UP 951) making their way east down the Moffat. Train got held somewhere between Granby and East Portal (Tabernash?) as they were out of Granby at 6:50am but didn't reach East Portal until right around 9am. Caught up with the train at Rollins as it was on its way east. The train was in the siding to meet with a westbound hi railer! From there, it was down to Crescent where the train got held for the MNYPV (6,700 feet!), the Ski Train, and a coal empty. I was hoping to get a shot of a meet between two passenger trains, neither of which was Amtrak, on the Moffat. Alas, my idea of how things would go down didn't quite match that of D82! After meeting the three trains, the special had a clear shot to Bypass 2 in Denver. Outbound crew on duty at noon and the train headed north on the Greeley Sub toward Cheyenne around 13:30. 1. The OLS special slowly makes its way through the siding at Rollins. The mountains showing a hint of snow in the distance are the tops of the Continental Divide. 2. Before the special made it down to the Front Range, the westbound Ski Train does its thing coming out of Tunnel 1 on a clear signal. 3. After meeting all three trains at Crescent, UP 951 finally makes it way east on the approach to Tunnel 1. A few more shots at this link. Enjoy!!
Beautiful! What's witht he ratty GE UP stashed behind the E's? I cannot imagine they needed the extra power for 5 smoothsides...
UP 949 had problems when the train was on the Craig Branch. A patched Espee AC was thrown into the consist to Grand Junction and the E-Units were sent to the shops. I think the grungy UP AC here was added as a "just-in-case" precaution in case something failed on one or more of the E's. I wasn't happy to see it, but I was glad it was fourth and that it was (at least) yellow! :teeth:
