Western Railroad Discussion > Portfolio Shares May 3, 2026

Picture 1:
Recently coal has made a huge increase on the Moffat Subdivision and an unloaded oil is coming from what the crews call the gunbarrel, a straight section of track east of Tolland where the statement, "controlled slide" is used in describing the sudden drop in elevation from East Portal. Weather along this stretch can be very dramatic and during snow storms with enough clearing the entire valley can be seen. 

picture 2: 
BNSF HPVODEN, a regular train generally if all goes well turns up at East Portal before sunrise in the winter months. On March 15, 2024 more than 5 feet of snow covered the valley below the foot of Rollins Pass. Digging through the trench with a full beard of snow the trains were all on slow orders over a total shutdown on all the slide fences between MP23 and MP40. 

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/26 17:43 by ErikCLindgren.

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I see a loaded eastbound coal train.  Getting rare these days.  Wonderful snowy images.

ErikCLindgren Wrote:
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> Picture 1:
> Recently oil has made a huge increase on the
> Moffat Subdivision and an unloaded oil is coming
> from what the crews call the gunbarrel, a straight
> section of track east of Tolland where the
> statement, "controlled slide" is used in
> describing the sudden drop in elevation from East
> Portal

Nice stuff Erik! Thanks for sharing....

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

cozephyr Wrote:

Ghee chip, i need to wear glasses! Haha 😁
-------------------------------------------------------
> I see a loaded eastbound coal train.  Getting
> rare these days.  Wonderful snowy images.
>
> ErikCLindgren Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Picture 1:
> > Recently oil has made a huge increase on the
> > Moffat Subdivision and an unloaded oil is
> coming
> > from what the crews call the gunbarrel, a
> straight
> > section of track east of Tolland where the
> > statement, "controlled slide" is used in
> > describing the sudden drop in elevation from
> East
> > Portal

mojaveflyer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nice stuff Erik! Thanks for sharing....

thank you sir! 

That second photo is remarkable!

Steve Zahn
Broomfield, CO

Spectacular pair!

run8diesel Wrote:
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> That second photo is remarkable!
>
> Steve Zahn
> Broomfield, CO

Thanks fellas, have a great week 

How much has the coal traffic changed (increased)?

Those are fantastic photos, 2nd one is my favorite

Great pics!!