Western Railroad Discussion > A couple of days on the Moffat

I haven't had much free time to go out and enjoy the Fall colors here in Colorado so with a couple of days off from work, my wife and I headed over to Hot Sulphur Springs to spend the night at the small resort located there on Sunday night. As a funny side note, when I called to make reservations the first thing the receptionist said to me was a warning that the train tracks run right next to the resort and that the train horns blow all night long!
Also as a review of the resort, it is a little outdated and definitely no frills but the beds were comfortable, the Hot Spring pools very relaxing and the fact that it was away from the I-70 hustle and bustle-Priceless as they say!
On the downside, three trains ran during the night but it wasn't the horns that were the bummer, it was the fact that the trains were running at night:{ I had some free time on both Sunday and Monday to take pictures but there was only one freight train running on both days, plus Amtrak. Oh well, it was better than no trains!

After watching the Bronco's win (3 and 0, Oh yea!) and driving around for a bit looking at the Fall colors, right when we were checking into the Hotel, the Eastbound California Zephyr rolled through Sulphur. My wife stated that she wanted to relax and gave me the "green light" to go out and photograph so I reluctantly said OK:}  With Amtrak the only train out running on the West side of the Moffat, I wasn't on planning on much. 

1) I got ahead of #6 when it was stopped at the station at Granby and hiked over to a rock cut between the switches on the main line at Tabernash to photograph engine number 4 leading.

There was a Westbound BNSF Denver to Provo train out of Denver but I figured that it would be dark by the time it exited the West side of the Moffat Tunnel but checking on the trains status after shooting Amtrak revealed that it had hustled up the grade and was already at E. Portal.
I scouted out some locations around Winter Park and Fraser but due to long shadows from the tree's, I couldn't find anything so I went back to the same rock cut where I had shot Amtrak. The Sun angle was good but there was a lack of Fall colors:{

2) BNSF 3851 leads a short Denver to Provo manifest with the rear DP seen back on the rear of the train. The track curving off is the West leg of the wye at Tabernash.

3) I hustled over to Sulphur but the location where I wanted to shoot the train was covered in shade so I quickly backtracked to Windy Gap, located West of Granby.

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4) Barely beating the train to Sulphur, I crossed the tracks and saw a pocket of sunlight so a quick jump out of the car and a tele-shot.

The next morning Monday 9/26, after hearing the three trains at night I didn't think anything was going to be running but a quick check revealed that there was a Roper to Denver manifest heading East at Radium so I quickly got out of the Hotel and headed West.

5) Both the UP 6570 East and I arrived almost simultaneously at the East switch at Troublesome right after Sunrise.

6) With Byers Canyon still in shade, I had to head to just East of Sulphur to find Sun but the angle was unfortunately right down the tracks.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/16 08:39 by SP8595.

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7) A grab shot at Granby.

8) When the train stopped momentarily at Granby, I had a chance to drive into Fraser Canyon but when I hiked down to a spot, the Sun angle was once again right down the tracks:{ I could hear the train working up the grade so no time to relocate. The beetle kill is evident in this picture with all of the dead Pine trees:{

9) A side view of the UP 6570, 4870, Canadian Pacific 8559 UP standard cab SD60 2197 and SD40-2 1883.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/16 08:44 by SP8595.

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After heading back to Sulphur and having some breakfast, my wife had a massage scheduled at the Hotel at 11 AM (She mentioned that it was one of the best massages that she has ever had, another plug for the resort:})  so that gave me another hour of free time to shoot trains! The Westbound California Zephyr is scheduled to pass through Sulphur right around 11 AM so just enough time to shoot Amtrak!
I waited until about 11:30 and started to check with some TO members on the status of Amtrak and I not only learned that it was running almost an hour late but that it also had engine number 822 leading, one of the specially painted Amtrak engines!

10) At 11:48 with 12 minutes to spare until I had to pick my wife up, Amtrak 822 leads #5 just West of Sulphur and enters Byers Canyon.

11) Another view of Amtrak 822.

Thanks for looking and traveling along, it was a very enjoyable and relaxing 2 days with a couple of trains thrown in for good measure:}



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/16 08:54 by SP8595.

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Great series of photos, the colors are great.

Nathan

Dang. Prettiest few days of the year and you nailed them.

T

Great series! Really excellent views of Amtrak 5 with the phase III 822 on the point. 

Thanks for sharing,
Ryan

That's some fantastic special lighting throught all the photos this time of year--#6 is cool.
Brian Stevens

Outstanding series of photos.

Ronda Thomas

Well done, sir! Fall colors can be fleeting, but you captured them very well. They're all great, but I'm especially loving the light & shadow work in #4...

Lance/199

Great series of photos! Hopefully there's an IOTD in there somewhere.
-Dalton

GREAT stuff....!!  Thanks for posting these.

Great photos! Thanks for sharing. The last two locomotives in that UP lashup are the best looking in the bunch.

Todd Skaggs
Dodge City, KS

Sounds and of coarse LOOKS like you had a great getaway! Really nice variety in those shots.

Stunning series of pics!

Great series of photos, John! It looks as though you used the light available to your best advantage. Thanks for sharing!

James Nelson
Thornton, CO
www.flickr.com/mojaveflyer

Glad you waited at Fraser Canyon. Looks like a great photo to me. Great series.
John

Might have been only a few trains, but you caught them in some great light and fall color.

Todd Busse

Great series John glada you found some time to get out on the line during the peak od fall colors thanks for sharing.  

John, Good series. upkpfan