Union Pacific Coal Train Enters the Moffat Tunnel
Ойын-сауық
Here is another shot I was able to get while I visited the Moffat Tunnel in Colorado. I had to wait a long time for it but it was definitely worth it in the end.
The Moffat Tunnel was constructed between the years 1923 and 1927 by David Moffat. This is a train and water tunnel that cuts directly through the continental divide in the Rocky Mountains. The tunnel is 6.2 miles long and sits at 9,239 feet above Sea Level. The Moffat Tunnel allowed the completion of a crucial shortcut between Denver and Glenwood Springs, CO. Trains could now make a faster passage through the Rocky Mountains as they traveled fro Denver to points west. The East Portal of the Moffat Tunnel (where this shot was taken) is a few miles west of the town of Rollinsville, CO. The vents used to air out the tunnel are located here at the East Portal. The vents are needed frequently as many trains will pass through here a day. The tunnel sees Amtrak's California Zephyr, a couple BNSF manifests, and a mixture of Union Pacific manifests and coal trains.
Unfortunately for me, the day I traveled to the Moffat Tunnel, dispatcher had given many MOW crews T&T (track and time), which meant there would be work on the tracks and therefore no trains would be running. I heard over that some of the MOW crews had T&T all the way till 14:00 (2pm). So I spent my entire morning hanging out and waiting for the trains to finally come. And luckily for me, they finally did. I saw two westbound Union Pacific trains enter the tunnel as well as a third westbound train just down the road at Tolland. What started out as a nightmare quickly turned into a great day.
In this shot, we see the Union Pacific CEGBR9 as it enters the east portal of the Moffat Tunnel. Coal trains like these are common along the Moffat Route as the Phippsburg Branch links many coal mines to the middle of the US. This train consisted of many empty hopper cars.
This train had to come to a stop just outside of the portal to wait for the tunnel to completely ventilate. Trains create so much exhaust as they travel through this massive tunnel, fresh air needs to be brought in between each train. The total process takes about 20 minutes. Once that was completed, the train was on it's way west. A nice locomotive charge up made for a nice scene as this train entered the incredible Moffat Tunnel. Hope you enjoy!
Here are some photos of this train and tunnel:
www.railpictures.net/viewphoto...
www.railpictures.net/viewphoto...
www.flickr.com/photos/amtrakda...
Пікірлер: 18
took half the AC4400CW Union Pacific village to pull this Coal train into the Maffat Tunnel sweet action!! Michael Scott
A very beautiful video, well done.
Very nice video! Interesting shade of green for the clear signal...
Nice coal train
Eight engines on this one!
@billnict1
6 жыл бұрын
But only the first three are online; the last five in front appear to be dead in tow...
That's a lot of smoke
nice video
The tunnel was named after David Moffat but not built by him. Dave passed away about 1911. It was his vision as the tunnel cuts 176 miles off original route
@brycehale4725
2 жыл бұрын
The tunnel cut 30 miles off of the original route, which was the original line over Rollins Pass. 30 miles of 4% grade, that's just nuts for railroading
and then the weeping angels took the whole train back in time and the train was covered in tally marks and all the people were nothing but skeletons because they had been eaten up by the Vashta Nerada.
Here I am lashed up 8 deep, running v-16 s. Fiat Alice tug boat engine with full inter axel wheel lock deployment and sand spreader deployment. About 660,000 pounds per rail car 180,000 tare 3000 brake wheel horse power each wheel. 850,000 pounds of tractive drive. Let's go with throttle up. Notch 7 please. LETS PULL.
I guess nobody has ever tried to walk into the Moffett tunnel, from the other side that doesn't have the door operation?
@DanMeyer80
3 жыл бұрын
saw an article where someone did get in the tunnel, apparently UP has an alarm thats controlled by sensors and cameras as well. They stop traffic until they find the trespasser. Probably not a good idea to go in there
I do believe your trespassing
@billnict1
6 жыл бұрын
Unless he has a telephoto lens...
@briankistner4331
5 жыл бұрын
Well this was shot in 2012??? Been quite awhile since I've been at East Portal. SP had just come on to the scene. that's how long. Anyway, unless UP has become anal towards the railfans, we were never run off from being parked close to the tunnel. In the days of the D&RGW, idiot people would even go into the tunnel right after a train only to come running out gasping for air as the curtain was closing. I don't know what it's like these days, I don't go rail fanning much now, but in the past, UP were always polite towards the railfans. Yeah, there were "NO TRESPASSING" signs, but MOW crews didn't seem concerned. Only time I was ever chased out was once at Sherman Hill when a military train went thru. Don't know why.... We headed on in to Laramie and saw the train in the yard. Nothing special that would have caused a stir to be honest.