Western Railroad Discussion > June Road Trip: Coal trains of Colorado.

I've been slacking on posting pictures from my June road trip, but I figured now is a good a time as any to share some more. This time the theme is coal trains in Colorado.

All pictures are from June 5, 2019. 

1. First up is a NB at a grade crossing between Pueblo and Colorado Springs. My notes say 'Wigwam, CO" but there wasn't much of note here except a strange 10 mph U-turn off ramp coming off of I-25 that almost caught me off guard.
2. Going away shots of the DPU. A guy mowing his yard next to the crossing asked what I was doing and when I told him, he started a small discussion with me about UP's Big Boy. That ended up happening several times during the course of this trip. 
3. After an unsuccessful wait at Palmer Lake (probably the most beautiful small town I've ever seen), I caught this SB coal at Larkspur while heading toward Denver and points north, 

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4. The DPUs on the SB at Larkspur 
5. A going away shot of the DPUs. Although it isn't visible in this shot, the guy on the lawn mower was smoking a pipe. That must be a Colorado/Nebraska tradition as I saw it several times. 
6. While heading north to Nebraska, I spotted this SB coal train outside of Atwood, CO along US-6. 

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arizonaBNSF Wrote:
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> I've been slacking on posting pictures from my
> June road trip, but I figured now is a good a time
> as any to share some more. This time the theme is
> coal trains in Colorado.
>
> All pictures are from June 5, 2019. 
>
> 1. First up is a NB at a grade crossing between
> Pueblo and Colorado Springs. My notes say 'Wigwam,
> CO" but there wasn't much of note here except a
> strange 10 mph U-turn off ramp coming off of I-25
> that almost caught me off guard.

Actually, Wigwam is several miles to the south.  You were at Buttes where there were two crossovers.  Trains to the Nixon Power Plant a couple miles to the north, D&RGW coal trains would enter the power plant and get turned as they negotiated the loop at the unloading pit.  They then dropped back down to the main line which the train was now in a northbound direction on the southbound track.  So, they would be allowed to enter the mainline, then back down to Buttes to cross over to the nrothbound track.  This was still in the days of cabooses so there were crewmen available on both ends.  

Got to watch those Colorado exits!

Rob