Western Railroad Discussion > Notes from the Front Range #1: Rocky!

I was at the end of a 3 day visit with ‘Bob3985’ in the Cheyenne area and still had several days of allotted vacation time left. On the morning of August 19 I made my way south from Cheyenne. I stopped off and had a very enjoyable late lunch with Boulder resident & TO member ‘valmont’ before finding a motel in Arvada.

I spent the morning of the 20th puttering around downtown Denver, getting to see the new (to me) RTD transit system in action. I would be meeting with Denver area resident & TO member ‘SP8595’ later in the afternoon. He was able to get some free time from work & family duties to give me a grand tour of the Rocky/Plainview area. After a couple of years of cyber-railfanning I was pleased to get the chance to meet the man in person.

Right off the bat he took me up to see the famous “shoot-from-the-clouds” vantage point up on Eastridge Rd. And the RRs were kind enough to send us three trains during the time there, 2 from Uncle Pete & 1 from the Orange team. I know this is old hat stuff for most of you Front Range guys, but it was pretty cool to see for the first time! Later on we descended from ‘the clouds’ and went on a miscellaneous tour of a few other spots. I hadn’t done any thorough shooting in the Denver area since 1979 so it was really nice to have a guide. For suppertime we sat down and indulged in some culinary delight at the ‘Indulge Bistro & Wine Bar’ in Golden.

I bid my very capable tour guide adieu and headed south. I had an as-yet unknown rendezvous with a motel in Castle Rock. On the morning of the 21st I would be meeting TO member “3rdswitch” once again. JB had visited with us Kansas Gang types a couple of years back, so it was my turn to see his ‘turf’.

Here are a few images during the tour. You know: from when my head was up in the clouds… ;^)

1. 2. & 3. UP 7215 begins the assent to Moffat passing Leyden, and tangling with Big Ten Curve.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/15 09:16 by santafe199.

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4. & 5. Here’s the 7215 with its coal empty as seen from Blue Mountain Drive.

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6. & 7. The 7215’s nose is now crossing the same, then bends around to be seen further up the hill above its own train.

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8. & 9. We made the short run up to Plainview where the 7215 stopped for a meet we didn't shoot.

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10. & 11. Back at Blue Mountain Drive BNSF 4553 made an appearance with a westbound manifest after which we dropped back down to explore a few other places.
(11 high-elevation photos taken on August 20, 2015 with the expert tour guidance of Mr “SP8595”)

Thanks for the tour!
Lance Garrels
santafe199

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santafe199 Wrote:
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> with the expert tour guidance of Mr “SP8595”)

Boy, now that's a stretch! I fell far short of being an expert guide. Anyway, it was nice to finally meet in person and I promise to be more prepared next time:}

SP8595 Wrote: >...I fell far short of being an expert guide...

You don't give yourself near enough credit, sir! I thoroughly enjoyed your tour and besides, I couldn't have found those spots with GPS & 2 flashlights...

Lance/199

(ps: you did forget the donuts, now that I think about it... ;^)

 

Nice Shots! Thanks for sharing!

Jeffrey Rossi
Mesa, AZ
HD Videos - AZ RailFan Site(No Ads)

Nice shots, Lance!

Randy Lundgren

The Moffat Route never fails to impress. Even when I lived in Colorado I was awe-struck with the scenry. Nice shots!

Posted from Android

Awesome photos Lance.

Ronda Thomas

Nice bunch.
JB

Wonderful views.  These are some vabulous locations on the "other" side of Denver indeed.
Brian Stevens

I like the look of the first three pics!!

Nice shots from the nose bleed section ;-)  Looks like it would make a good shot/angle if traffic was going in the opposite direction in 6 and 7?

Russell Honey
Springfield, MO
My Flickr page

ATSF2921 Wrote: > ...a good shot/angle if traffic was going in the opposite direction in 6 and 7...

Not really. #6 & #7 are pretty much broadside, and as you can tell we were dodging clouds most of the afternoon. We did shoot one coming down from Rocky siding, but by time it got here to Blue Mtn Rd it was totally back lit. We didn't wait up at Rocky to shoot that train eastbound. The light was good, but the shot seemed a bit cluttered...

Lance/199