Western Railroad Discussion > The Road at Pueblo (pt #4): Bragdon ~ Colo Springs

Although my title has changed slightly, this is day #4 of another collection of images gathered while attending the SFe Convention in Pueblo. To kick off this chapter I’m starting at Bragdon, the bottom end of the famous “Joint Line” running up & down Colorado’s Front Range. I know just enough about the Joint Line’s trackage arrangement to get myself in trouble, so I’ll defer any questions to public replies from members who possess better knowledge than I do...

60. Good morning from greater metropolitan Bragdon, Colorado! It’s 6:42 AM and Mr Sol is thinking about coming out to play… maybe. We’re looking north from what Google Maps calls [the] “Gobatti Pl” crossing. I did some minimum color enhancing & lit the Bragdon signboard up a bit! Other than that, this is pretty much how an early summertime morning looks here.

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61. 62. & 63. It took less than 10 minutes for the first customer to show up. Here’s BNSF 6008 leading a northbound coal empty with solo BNSF 6167 as the faithful DP unit.

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64. & 65. Almost a ½ hour later here comes BNSF 5610 on another coal empty with BNSF 5730 as the DP unit.

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66. 67. & 68. Recent rain presented me with an always-fun reflection opportunity. While I was over looking at different angles Uncle Pete sent me a southbound manifest behind UP 8531.
(Photos 60-68 taken at Bragdon, CO)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/19 15:04 by santafe199.

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I was figuring on meeting a friend in the ‘Springs’ area, so it was time to mosey north at railfan speed. Where possible I kept to the backroads. (And I don’t believe I need to explain why… ;^)

69. Here’s BNSF 8053 with a southbound manifest taken from Mesa Rd in Fountain, CO. The sun is just about done fooling around with the clouds…

I made my rendezvous with TO member ‘3rdswitch’, after which he led me to the S Royer St crossing. Parking was an adventure, but the sun angle was almost perfect for the time of day. After we both shot the BNSF coal train in image #11 he had to head back to Palmer Lake…

70. BNSF 9011 lumbers south with a gazillion coal loads, followed by…

71. …UP 1363 on a local job.

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72. 73. & 74. The UP local dawdled enough to give me time get ahead and catch this sequence coming around a curve and underneath S Circle Drive. Considering the long string of cars the 1363 had to work with I decided to head back south.
(Photos 70-74 taken In Colorado Springs, CO)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/19 15:07 by santafe199.

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75. & 76. I caught up with the coal train we saw back at Royer St. Here it is passing over the southbound lane of I-25 just past Bragdon, CO.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/19 15:08 by santafe199.

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77. & 78. I beat it on down to the E Platteville Blvd crossing for a to & fro sequence in West Pueblo(?). BNSF 6381 is the DP unit.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/19 15:10 by santafe199.

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Just a couple more:

79. At Baxter, CO here’s the 9011 passing another parked load with BNSF 6115 on the point.

80. And today’s last shot comes at Avondale, CO where I had to break from the day’s chasing. I had other business to attend to back in Pueblo…
(All photos taken July 25, 2019)

Thanks for looking!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/19 15:11 by santafe199.

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Nice day. Really like the BRAGDON shot.
JB

Very nice Lance. Used to be an old DRGW engineer, Andy Payne, who would cut down all the weeds at Bragdon to maintain all the photo angles. Guess I need to get down south more, used to spend a lot of time down that way.

Zach Green
Parker, CO

Posted from Android

Looks like you had great day #4 with lots of action and great looking shots! Nicely done!

Larry

Nice work Lance.  Photo number two is stunning.
Tim Costello

santafe199 Wrote:
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> 61. 62. & 63. It took less than 10 minutes for the
> first customer to show up. Here’s BNSF 6008
> leading a northbound coal empty with solo BNSF
> 6167 as the faithful DP unit.

Love the inclusion of my favorite mountains, the Spanish Peaks.  We had a great view of them from our dingin room window before we left Colorado for school.

Rob

Bragdon kind of reminds me of Weso, Nevada just east of Winnemucca, where the west end of the old SP/WP paired track started.  Same kind of separation between both tracks and double crossovers.  A couple of years ago, the UP revamped it, now trains speed through the crossovers at a reasonable pace.  First noticed it heading east on #6 between the old SP (after station stop on Nevada Sub from Reno) main to the predominately eastbound old WP track. Both paired tracks are signaled for both directions now, so dispatchers have better flexibility.