Western Railroad Discussion > 'Bonnet, UP's, TACOMA FRS and Cheyenne

Thanksgiving morning began very early, another predawn notification on the ex-C&S Front Range Sub of something notable northbound on its way to Fort Collins, CO, a Denver-Great Falls led by the last 700 Warbonnet number, 799. Time to follow to some of the usual spots, and before I knew it, I was in Cheyenne, WY again. My dear wife was cooking up a storm, and said she didn't need me around until 2:00 pm, so I had some time before the great calorie intake was to occur.

Photo 1 - It was too dark for a still photo on Mason St. in Fort Collins, so I did a video there and leaped ahead to give the sun more time to rise. A little higher ISO than I like made this photo work, here is this Thanksgiving morning's DENGRF crossing the bridge just south of Owl Canyon, CO, north of Wellington.

Photo 2 - As the yuccas look on still green and wondering where the snow is, the DENGRF rolls across the spindly-looking wood trestle just south of the Wyoming/Colorado State Line.

Photo 3 - The DENGRF rolls into Speer, WY, past UP's Tracks 3 and 4 water tank in the distance, at the Swan Ranch Industrial Park switch.

There's mooore...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/12 07:11 by highgreengraphics.

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Photo 4 - A little time to kill in Cheyenne, WY produced this eastbound UP stacker/auto rack climbing Archer Hill out of Cheyenne, WY.

Photo 5 - And right behind the stacker/auto rack was this eastbound manifest.

Photo 6 - Meanwhile, at the ex-C&S BNSF yard, the Tacoma-Omaha TACOMA waited while the DENGRF added some tonnage to their train, after DENGRF left northbound, it was time for this TACOMA southbound stacker to leave, and I had something to follow back home, given that the lead motor is a convertible-axle 6600 ES44C4. In the background is the modern brick depot the C&S erected in the early 1960's, now used for non-railroad office space.

Cupola mooore...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/12 07:08 by highgreengraphics.

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Photo 7 - A hike back to the spindly trestle just south of the state line again for this view of the TACOMA clattering across it. The wind had kicked up so strong, I had to lay down to get this shot as I could not remain standing! There is a pile driver and its tender conspicuously resting in Cheyenne waiting for spring, hope they don't need to touch this old anomaly of a bridge for awhile!

Photo 8 - Unfortunately, the mid-day sun was directly over the tracks on this north-south railroad, so anything good in the way of photos just was not possible. So I had to skip everything until Mason St., when the sun had time to swing to the west. Here is the TACOMA whistling down the remodeled Mason St. in Fort Collins, CO., without any traffic or cars parked on the side of the street on this holiday day.

Then back home for the family and the Thanksgiving feast - Momma did not disappoint!

Happy Thanksgiving morning railfanning! === === = === JLH



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/12 19:37 by highgreengraphics.

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Nice set of shots Jim!

highgreengraphics Wrote:
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> Photo 6 - The Tacoma-Omaha TACOMA waited

That's an interesting symbol that I don't recall reading about before. Can anyone speak to where those boxes are ultimately bound - or has there been a sudden surge of traffic from the PNW to Nebraska? Seems an odd destination to me, especially given the routing via Cheyenne and Denver.

(Like the pics, too.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/12 19:37 by yorknl.

As I reall Swan Ranch is an oil loading facility.Do both BNSF & UP have access and is it operational yet? Good photos.

Swan Ranch is an industrial park with an oil loading facility in it. Other businesses are also there, with some unfinished and some a-building right now. As of now the largest rail user is the oil facility. Quite a bit of track is already in the facility, but so far only BNSF is serving it with only the north leg of the wye in service, though it is already graded for a future south leg. I have seen zero activity on the part of UP to access this industrial park, I have looked in vain for any signs of measuring, study, exploration or stakes in the ground; I have seen nothing yet. UP's access has to happen eventually, but as of two weeks ago, no sign. When UP's side does go in, to me that could easily spell the end of the Transfer Track between UP and BNSF in Cheyenne, as all interchange could be done at Swan Ranch instead. === === = === JLH



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/12 20:41 by highgreengraphics.

Really nice shots!