Western Railroad Discussion > Circus train into Denver

I departed the house at 4:30 this morning to try and catch the Circus train somewhere on the stretch of line between Speer Jct. and Nunn on the Greeley Subdivision. I arrived at Speer right at Sunrise and soon realized that I had missed the train! I then had to back track South 50 miles to Greeley before I finally caught up with the special.

The Greeley Sub. is not the most scenic line into or out of Denver and with the code lines still in place on the East side of the tracks for most of the portion between La Salle and Denver, it is a challenge to find a spot to shoot a long train like the Circus train in the morning.

1)With another nice Sunrise beginning the day, I spotted this sign along the Frontage road North of the Buffalo Ranch just across the border into Wyoming. I snapped two pictures and just as I was going to take a third shot, the lights turned off on the sign so at least my timing was right to get this scene!

2)UP 7954 and 8034 are at the N. switch at La Salle with the SSCDV-29 (Special-Salt Lake City-Denver)

3)It was nice to witness an Engineer that was not afraid to run this train at track speed, which is 60 MPH as the train highballs into Platteville.

Three More Pictures Posted Below................

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4)At one of the few stretches of line where the code line and poles have been removed, The Circus train heads South of Brighton past a field of vegetables still Green at the end of September.

5)Approaching the diamond crossing with the BNSF at Sand Creek, the Circus train rolls into Denver.

6)A going away shot with the Denver skyline in the background.

Thanks for viewing my pictures of this most impressive train:}

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All awesome, really like that last one!

Davis

Really great photos.

Ronda Thomas

Nice shots, John! I like the flag shot.

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

Great shots John ! , You did good with the Morning light .

Tace Care Dave

I really dig the last three. Circus trains can be tricky to shoot because I want to see the cars as well as the scene they're in. These shots do that really well!

Nice shots! Must have gone through Ogden at night. I wanted to shoot it too.

Really nice shots, John. Thanks for posting.

Gary

GOOD stuff...!!! Thanks for sharing.

Very nice series Sir! thanks for sharing a train we don't see out here very often!

Posted from iPhone

Great shots John!

Awesome bunch, looks like it was an ideal day in the Mile High City.
JB

Excellent pics and driving:)

Posted from Android

Looks like you picked out some choice locations. The scenery helps make for great photos. You did mighty fine.

Excellent series. The Circus is an impressive train for sure and you sure nailed it! Really like that opening image as well.

~Ryan

Yay, you got it before the clouds came...

Bunch of really neat stuff John, especially the full length at Sand Creek. Thanks for sharing all these.
Brian Stevens

Great shots as usual! === === = === JLH

Love the photos, that American flag sign is pretty cool.

Nathan