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WIMMER SPECIAL OVER THE MOFFAT
Posted Thursday, March 25 2004 at 0743 h MST
The Wimmer Special should pass westward from Denver over the Moffat today in its trek westward from Salina, KS, to Glenwood Springs, CO, for the night. Estimated time through Denver is 1400-1500h. Tomorrow it will work west from Glenwood Springs to Pocatello, ID. Thanks to Paul B. and the DRGW list for this bit. Update (25-Mar 1034h): I'm told that at 0936h, it was westbound by Oz, KS (near Grinnell, KS). There will be another update before I leave to help anybody trying to catch it. Update (25-Mar 1125h): Departed Jim, CO at 1113h. Update (25-Mar 1244h): Departed Kit Carson, CO at 1200h. Update (25-Mar 1332h): Departed Limon, CO at 1313h. Update (25-Mar 1423h): Departed Byers, CO 1412h. Update (25-Mar 1457h): Departed Mesa, CO 1451h. Update (25-Mar 1457h): Not sure about this one from the trace - Departed Stoyarspu (?), CO at 1558h. Update (25-Mar 1624h): Arrived North Yard, CO at 1610h. - NDHolmes
HEADS UP - UP 6936 (CENTENNIAL) IN DENVER
Posted Wednesday, March 24 2004 at 2059 h MST
There's a UP Wimmer Engineering Special headed westbound from Salina, KS, tomorrow morning. On the point is the famed UP 6936, the DD40AX Centennial unit. Rumor has it that it's supposed to leave Salina, KS, tomorrow morning at 0530h and proceed west. Nobody will tell me which way it's going once it hits Denver, though, so your guess is as good as mine. Last fall, it returned eastward via the Moffat and headed south on the Joint Line. You can see photos of that run here. If anybody knows anything about tomorrow's movement, I have a lot of people asking that would really appreciate a heads up, myself included. - NDHolmes
CDOT FRONT RANGE RAILWAY STUDY
Posted Monday, March 22 2004 at 2220 h MST
While the proposal to reroute the Joint Line / Front Range Sub / Greeley Sub out away from the main population centers of the Front Range is no great news, I found a new little tidbit while surfing around the Colorado Dept. of Transportation's (CDOT) website this evening. Here's a link to the Proposed BNSF/UP Front Range Railroad Infrastructure Rationalization Project. If this does come to pass, much of the railfanning on the Front Range will be lost, along with probably one of the two Joint Line mains, if not both in places. - NDHolmes
MOFFAT MAINTENANCE UPDATE
Posted Thursday, March 18 2004 at 1425 h MST
As most of you are aware, UP is planning a massive maintenance blitz on the Moffat Tunnel Sub this summer. The basic facts have been known for months, but details of this gigantic project are starting to emerge. The Moffat will be closed during daylight hours (and thus Amtrak 5 and 6 detoured through Wyoming) June 8-15, June 23-30, July 8-15, and July 23-30. During these closures, UP will be bringing in an army of 325 MoW employees, and will be replacing 81,750 ties and rebuilding 7.5 miles of track on curves. As a note, all ties will be wooden, contrary to earlier reports of concrete ties. Apparently the P-811 won't fit through some of the tunnels and curves (specifically apparently the Big 10s), so for now the Moffat will remain with wood. Thanks to Lee R. for the information. - NDHolmes
PROBLEMS AT GEORGETOWN LOOP
Posted Thursday, March 18 2004 at 0949 h MST
Contract negotiations between the Colorado Historical Society, which owns the property, and the operator / leasor of the property have broken down. The state is asking for five times the liability insurance, and only offering a 5 year contract rather than the 20 year one preferred by Mark Greska and the Georgetown Loop Railroad, the operator. The GLR has issued a press release here indicating that 2004 will be the last season. The Denver Post has also published a story on the issue.
I still hope this can be resolved, as the GLRR is a class act operation and a model in historical preservation and profitable operating that other tourist railroads would do well to learn from. If you've never ridden, it sounds like now might be the time to do it. I last visited in September of 2002, and the photos from that trip can be found here.
- NDHolmes
THE JOINT LINE CAMERA LIVES AGAIN
Posted Wednesday, March 17 2004 at 0817 h MST
Thanks to the efforts of Mike Keithly and Lee Ryan on the Denver end, and a bunch of new software on this end, the Joint Line camera is once again back up and running - this time hopefully for many months to come. You can see what it's seeing here. It really came back on Monday, but I'm still in the process of tuning both the motion detection routines and the light rail / blank frame elimination algorithms, so that all you see is actual trains. As a side note, the first Rio Grandes to pass the camera (the south local job on Monday, 15-Mar-2004) can be seen here. Enjoy, and let me know if you have any problems. - NDHolmes
SD70ACe ON THE LOOSE AT PUEBLO
Posted Tuesday, March 2 2004 at 1320 h MST
Just reported on Trainorders - EMD ET-820 (the test car) and GM 70 were moved from the TTC back to Pueblo by BNSF. Looks like the ACe is going out for testing somewhere. My guess (offhand) would be high altitude tests on the Moffat, as that's fairly typical for EMD, but really I have no idea where it's headed. I'll post any additional information as I get it. Update (2-Mar 1745h): Update from Trainorders - apparently the pair are headed on a little spin out to Chicago, IL, and back. Update 2 (2-Mar 1745h): ET-820 and GM 70 went north and east from Denver to North Platte, NE, on the MNYNP-03 today. UP 8515 was in the lead, follwed by a UP GE, and ex-MPI leaser, then the test car, and finally GM 70 (aka GMDX 1000, for anybody wanting a trace). Thanks to both the Colorado Zephyr and HighGreenGraphics for these tidbits, both via email and on Trainorders. - NDHolmes
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