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Quick Afternoon Moffat Trip
On May 2, the BNSF’s Lincoln to Provo train had the Central of Georgia heritage unit 3rd unit, and the crew was called at 13:00. After checking the ATCS around 14:00, it appeared there was a westbound ready to leave one of the yard tracks at North Yard.
I headed down to Blue Mountain Road, where I could hear the radio all the way to North Yard, and I had internet access to keep checking the ATCS. Unfortunately, what I saw was just maintenance. So, there was nothing on the ATCS, and the scanner was as quiet as a mouse, so I headed for Crescent, as Amtrak was just leaving Frasier/Winter Park. After waiting there for awhile, I finally heard the horn, meaning it was here.
Stack Train With Nice Power
On April 26, BNSF ran an Omaha to Tacoma stack train up the Front Range Sub with a nice consist: BNSF 8300 and BNSF 1038. Of course, the weather wasn’t the best, but it was a nice consist to see anyways.
When we heard it coming, we decided to try a spot we’d never done before, so we chose near downtown Loveland where the tracks are in kind of a trench, surrounded by houses. Here, they would hopefully be accelerating out of a 5-mph slow order over a mile to the south. The train was longer than we thought, so we didn’t get the heart of their accelerating, but they still had to work hard.
Sulfur Empty Heads North
Mid-spring, BNSF started routing the Bonneville to Galveston and return sulfur trains via the Brush Subdivision. On April 24, a sulfur empty was routed via the Front Range Sub with BNSF 965 leading 2 H2 dash-9s. Unfortunately, the sun disappeared shortly before the train popped into sight and re-appeared shortly after the train went by. At least it wasn’t something spectacular!
Here the train is approaching Milepost 63 in north Loveland.
A Matched Set of Screaming SD40s
On April 23, I got a call from my cousin in Fort Collins, CO, about the Longmont switch returning to Longmont with 2 HI SD40-2s as power. It’s roughly 20 minutes from when it goes by him, so to plan where I wanted to get it, I asked him how long the train was, and his response was 56 cars.
Not expecting them to pick up from the Great Western in Loveland, I headed for the south part of town, where they’d be climbing the 3-mile long, 1.7% Derby Hill. Shortly after I got there, I heard them talking on the radio. Turns out they were indeed picking up from the GW! I headed back into town, and made it to the BNSF-GWR transfer track with about 5 minutes to spare before they pulled out with 21 cars.
Some Interesting Findings in and around Denver
On May 16, I had to go to Denver for a work-related thing. That same day, Amtrak was going to run its Exhibit Train from Denver to Cheyenne. I had to be to the south part of Denver by 11:30, and the train was originally scheduled to depart at 9:00 AM. I decided I would go east then follow the tracks down to Denver, and get the Exhibit Train wherever I’d run into it.
I woke up at 7:45, checked online and a friend had posted that it was now scheduled to depart at 8:00. I didn’t get out until a little after 8:30, but I was able to highball to LaSalle anyway. While on the way, I made one pit stop, and that was to get a couple shots of the Great Western switching in Johnstown with GWR 2232, OMLX 2230, and HBR 3600.
Big Boy Returns to Sherman Hill
The biggest story in the railroad world for the last several months has been Union Pacific’s announcement that they will restore a Big Boy, UP 4014. On April 28, 2014, it departed West Colton yard in California en route to Cheyenne. May 8 was the last day of the trip, when the locomotive made the trek from Laramie to Cheyenne.
We arrived in Laramie around 8:00 AM, 1/2-hour ahead of the scheduled re-position to the depot. Shortly after our arrival, they asked permission to back out of the track they were on, and the dispatcher told them on the radio that he had to get 3 trains by them before they could make their move. So, I headed for the pedestrian overpass north (RR west) of the depot anticipating that move.
The first train was less than a mile away, and I didn’t beat it up there by much. It was an eastbound manifest led by AC4400 #6452.
More Variety on the Front Range Sub
On April 14, the ever-so-power short BNSF ran a couple trains along the Front Range Subdivision with some excellent power. First up on the list was an oil empty. I had heard them blowing for downtown Loveland, so I headed for MP 64 just east of my house. I made it with enough time to get everything set up, and the oil empty had a BNSF gevo leading a CN SD70M-2, #8834, and a CN C44-9WL, #2521.
Return of the Sulfur Train and Some Leasers
On April 7, BNSF ran a Denver, CO, to Great Falls, MT, manifest up the Front Range Sub with a nice consist: CREX 1346, BNSF 928, and CEFX 3184. The train had to wait for two others in Broomfield, so I didn’t bother doing anything with them until they got closer.
While I was waiting, I heard the dispatcher talking to BNSF 5613 south. Southbound in the afternoon this time of year? I’ll take that. So I waited until they got close and headed out.
I went to Trilby Road between Loveland and Fort Collins where the defect detector is as well as the start of Loveland Hill. I only waited about 3 minutes before I saw the headlight to see it was the Bonneville, WY, to Galveston, TX, sulfur train, which had been running on the Brush Subdivision to save crews on the FRS.
Power for this train was 5613 and BNSF 7849 up front and BNSF 4485 on the rear.
Three-Train Day on the FRS
On Saturday, April 5, two different trains went by northbound before I woke up. The sun was shining and it was a nice day, so the way things usually work, those would be the only two trains that would go through all day.
Things didn’t go that way, though, as BNSF 6727 north was heard getting warrants to move northward. Around 12:00 noon, it went through Longmont, meaning it would be a little less than an hour before reaching me in north Loveland.
The time passed, and I decided to go to 57th street in north Loveland to get a long-lens shot since the light was as rotten as it was.
Orange GEs dominate the day
On Thursday April 3, Denver received a little bit of snow, but up in Loveland we only got some light rain overnight. That morning, I got a call from my cousin in Fort Collins saying a southbound oil train was going by with a BNSF ES44C4 and a H2 Dash-9 up front.
Knowing that isn’t the most exciting power, I went for an exciting location. I decided to get the loaded train climbing the short, 1.7% Derby Hill in south Loveland, CO, as I knew they’d be working pretty good. After a little bit of a wait, the train showed up.
KO Trains 