Western Railroad Discussion > when was the last Denver-SLC Z-train on the Moffat

Due to the other threads on the Green River derailment and the mention of the Denver-SLC Z-train, got me wondering when was the last DEN-SLC Z-train running consistantly on the moffat and when was last time it ran as an detour?  Just curious.  Thanks.

The last time I can specifically remember was over 10 years ago on November 18, 2005. The ZRODV was routed via the Moffat due to a derailment somewhere on the Overland on November 16, 2005. It stopped running on the Moffat regularly sometime in 2002.

Kevin Morgan
Arvada, CO
ColoradoRailfan.com



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/16 15:13 by ColoradoRailfan.

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Came off around 2000 or maybe a year before

Thanks Kevin, as usual always a wealth of knowledge on the Moffat.

WAF Wrote:
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> Came off around 2000 or maybe a year before

I thought it was later (in 2002). My notes from "back in the day" may have been wrong about that though.

Kevin Morgan
Arvada, CO
ColoradoRailfan.com

I'm thinking UP took those trains off the Moffat route around 1998 or so, but there have been reroutes of those trains from time to time over the years. Too bad those trains aren't still running that way, but that would mean single-stacking the containers, which I am sure UP is not too interested in doing these days.

It was definitely after 2000 as I regularly followed those Z-trains when they occassionaly had DRGW units between 1998 and 2001.

Paul Birkholz
Sheridan, WY

I am going to lean towards Kevin's date. I moved to Avon, CO in the summer of 1999. The Z-trains were running then, sometimes with DRGW power. Looking through Mountain West Rail's photos, some of us followed a Z on May 5, 2000.
http://www.mtnwestrail.com/roadtrip/may0500.htm

I do not have my notes handy, but it must of been sometime in 2000 that the UP 70Ms started to appear. I recall chasing an EB Z from Glenwood Springs to Bond. It was the first EB Z to have the new yellow engines. September 23, 2000 had 70Ms on the EB Z:  http://www.mtnwestrail.com/gallery/dina2000.htm

The last Z train photos I took were on November 16 and 17, 2005. I was working in Eagle and used an early lunch break to go to Dotsero and catch them as these were detour trains. Ahhhhhhh, the memories

Todd Busse

Here is a Z-train led by DRGW 5404 on Feb. 8, 2000 in Utah.  You will probably have to copy and paste the link

http://www.railpictures.net/photo/487873

Paul Birkholz
Sheridan, WY