Western Railroad Discussion > UP coal train @ Kelker, CO.

Since not much has changed near Colorado Springs I will
post this here in the Western Railroad Forum from 2005.

January of 2005 was my last trip to Ft Carson to Visit my son after
his second deployment to Iraq. He said it was just like
going out to Barstow and Daggett when we lived in So Cal.

One day on the visit we set out to chase some trains. We
heard this guy on the scanner north of CS and set up for
some pictures at Kelker siding.

Head end
Mid Train DPU  ( I think)
Pushers

​Thanks for looking

​Jay

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lamta_jay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Since not much has changed near Colorado Springs I
> will
> post this here in the Western Railroad Forum from
> 2005.
>
> January of 2005 was my last trip to Ft Carson to
> Visit my son after
> his second deployment to Iraq. He said it was just
> like
> going out to Barstow and Daggett when we lived in
> So Cal.
>
> One day on the visit we set out to chase some
> trains. We
> heard this guy on the scanner north of CS and set
> up for
> some pictures at Kelker siding.
>
> Head end
> Mid Train DPU  ( I think)
> Pushers
>
> ​Thanks for looking
>
> ​Jay

Yes, UP coal trains often came across the Rockies and down to Pueblo in a 2 by 2 by 2 distributed power set up.  Train would be reconfigured in Pueblo to 2 by 1, 1 by 1, or 3 by 1 depending on size, and routing.  Once the MP route was gone, they were mostly in the 3 by 1 arrangement to go down toward Amarillo on the Boise City Cut-off.

Rob



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/16 15:54 by OregonOldGuy.

OregonOldGuy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> lamta_jay Wrote:
.  Once the MP route was gone,
> they were mostly in the 3 by 1 arrangement to go
> down to Amarillo on the Boise City Cut-off.
>
> Rob

Did they actually go all the way to Amarillo? I always thought they went as far as Startford Tx and onto the ex Rock here for WB movements to Dalhart and then south from there. I only can recall one Coal Load that went this way. If I recall corectly, it went west to El Paso then back east on the old SP via Sierra Blanca and then the Southern Rte thru Paizanno Pass and Alpine over to San Antonio Tx.  They uually had SP/DRGW/UP Company Cars on this one.   Ben

The train pictured is the CEYEG that used to run from the Energy Mine up on Craig Branch to Eagle Pass, TX. It turned West on the Golden State Route at Stratford, TX then continued to El Paso with a final destination being a power plant in Mexico.
The train you are thinking of Ben was the coal train to Longhorn, TX. These trains now use the KP line East of Denver.

The coal train that used to continue on down the ex-FW&D to Ft. Worth through Amarillo were the trains heading to Coletto Creek, TX.
Once the originating point was changed for these Coletto Creek trains from the Axial Mine in Colorado to the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, the routing was also changed and they no longer ran over this stretch of BNSF trackage rights.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/16 15:29 by SP8595.

SP8595 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The train pictured is the CEYEG that used to run
> from the Energy Mine up on Craig Branch to Eagle
> Pass, TX. It then continued on into Mexico.
> The train you are thinking of Ben was the coal
> train to Longhorn, TX.
> These trains now use the KP line East of Denver.

Thanks John.   Ben

ns2557 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SP8595 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The train pictured is the CEYEG that used to
> run
> > from the Energy Mine up on Craig Branch to
> Eagle
> > Pass, TX. It then continued on into Mexico.
> > The train you are thinking of Ben was the coal
> > train to Longhorn, TX.
> > These trains now use the KP line East of
> Denver.
>
> Thanks John.   Ben

Yes, I did correct my post to say "towards Amarillo".  I ws only thinking about the Colorado part.   I couldn't remember the train symbol either,  Knew it was Mexico bound from Energy loadout.

Robert

SP8595 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The train pictured is the CEYEG that used to run
> from the Energy Mine up on Craig Branch to Eagle
> Pass, TX. It turned West on the Golden State Route
> at Stratford, TX then continued to El Paso with a
> final destination being a power plant in Mexico.
> The train you are thinking of Ben was the coal
> train to Longhorn, TX. These trains now use the KP
> line East of Denver.
>
> The coal train that used to continue on down the
> ex-FW&D to Ft. Worth through Amarillo were the
> trains heading to Coletto Creek, TX.
> Once the originating point was changed for these
> Coletto Creek trains from the Axial Mine in
> Colorado to the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, the
> routing was also changed and they no longer ran
> over this stretch of BNSF trackage rights.

SP, Over the years I have been by this plant at Coletto Creek. Always wondered how they got here from Colo.  Thanks.  Ben