Western Railroad Discussion > UP 1983 Leading the MRONY

Just ten days ago, UP 1982 make a rare and surprise appearance on the Moffat Tunnel Sub, leading a westbound rock train along with a NS unit. Then, yesterday, UP 1983 made an appearance on the Moffat Tunnel Sub, leading the MRONY (Manifest, Roper to North Yard) with a good looking Kansas City Southern Retro Belle second out. The timing was perfect as I had the day off (after moving in to our new house), so I headed west to see if I could catch up with it.

The train got in to Bond, CO (a crew change point) around midnight. Fortunately for me, the new crew wasn't even prompted until early morning and it was close to 9am before the train started rolling. The train was supposed to do some work at Crescent, so that was the first place I headed. Upon arrival, I heard DS-82 call UP 1983 and let them know they'd be going in the siding at Cliff to meet a westbound. I headed up to Cliff and found the train sitting in the siding, awaiting the arrival of said westbound.

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1. UP 1983, KCS 4059, and a pair of armour yellow units sit on the siding at Cliff.

2. Hard to believe it is getting close to a decade since the heritage units were first unveiled. The paint seems to be holding up pretty well!

3. The westbound the MRONY was waiting for was a coal empty. Among the power on the head end was a former Espee GP40-2 (UP 1456), catching a ride DIC to Grand Junction after an inspection at Burnham in Denver.

Kevin Morgan
Arvada, CO
ColoradoRailfan.com

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There was sufficient time after grabbing a few shots at Cliff to head for the rocks above Tunnel 29 and set up for a shot of the train departing east out of Cliff.

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4. This is the shot I was hoping to get ever since hearing the train would be going in to the siding at Cliff.

5. Looking down on UP 1983 from high above. The train is about to cross South Boulder Creek and enter Tunnel 29, the shortest tunnel (79 feet) on the Moffat.

6. The eastbound ahead of the MRONY was another UP manifest (anybody happen to know a symbol?). Here, that train is creeping along at 10 MPH through one of the multiple slow orders at the base of Coal Creek Canyon.

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DS-82 ultimately instructed the train to highball the work at Crescent in order to get it in to Denver quickly. However, multiple slow orders would keep me from seeing the train again. It went in to the hole at Crescent to wait for a westbound that was not yet to Plain and moving slowly. I had to head for home. Here's hoping that UP 1988 will be next to make a Moffat appearance!

If you are interested, there are a few more shots available on my website:
http://www.coloradorailfan.com/gallery/gallery.asp?on=20140722

Kevin Morgan
Arvada, CO
ColoradoRailfan.com

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Very nice series, Kevin, however shot #4 is absolutely outstanding.

Thanks for sharing,

~Ryan

ColoradoRailfan
>
> 2. Hard to believe it is getting close to a decade
> since the heritage units were first unveiled. The
> paint seems to be holding up pretty well!
>
I remember being told back in 2005 when the first two were delivered in Council Bluffs that the paint should be good for ten years. We had no idea what would happen after that.

Glad that you were able to head out and catch it Kevin! I think our best bet for the next Heritage engine will be the 1989 as it has been shuttling back and forth between Denver and Pueblo but currently it is placed as the second engine. Now if only some certain hostler in Denver can fix that:}

UP 5554 was the MRONY-20. UP 1983 was leading the MRONY-21



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/14 08:10 by SP8595.

I am gonna vote for number 4 Kevin. That is my favorite.

Great job, mon! Sweet shots. I thought about camping out up there, but I am laying low for awhile, recuping from month-long trip, austerity, and honey do's before shoulder replacement upcoming. Yup, when I have trouble holding the camera level, time to get it done. Glad you got up there, I am surprised they didn't go out of their way to run it at night like the usual! === === = === JLH



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/14 10:13 by highgreengraphics.

I REALLY like Pics 1 and 4!!!

Pic 4 is good, but 5 is interesting too. Not a view of the top of a locomotive normally seen, at least from my perspective. Thanks for sharing these!

Train crews enjoyed all the attention coming into town July 22, 2014. UP 5554 was on the Roper Yard, Salt Lake City, Utah, to North Yard, Denver, Colorado.

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