Went on a trip to Moffat tunnel Monday, returning tommorow (4/16). We were there for over three hours monday - 10:00 - 1:30 - not a single train. However - there was what appeared to be a ballast cleaning machine and a lot of hi-rail, and road driven activity. 4 different trucks came and went numerous times each. Also - the shutter on the tunnel never closed.
We returned several hours later - after a little gambling stop. 3 westbounds, one eastbound and a light engine movement westbound - TEN locos!
This leaves me wwith several questions:
What is the train frequency and when is the best time to view at Moffat tunnel?
Is there a maintenance project underway in this area?
The locos - are they helpers returning west? Do they let them “pile up” somewhere and run them back west? There is a short, sharp siding in Rollinsville - is this where helpers cut off?
I wish I had the download cable for our camera - I would post the pictures. If the thread is still alive Sunday I will do so then.
I’m not there or familiar enough to answer your very specific questions myself. However, you may find Kevin Morgan’s “Colorado Railfan” website to be helpful, at: http://www.coloradorailfan.com/
Most of the info is under the “Data / Data Warehouse” heading, at:
The Union Pacific may be doing the same thing in Colorado as they are here in Arizona – with a drastic dropoff in rail traffic they’re performing track maintanance in the daytime. Before the economic downturn it was possible to see as many as 15 trains in an 8 hour period on the Sunset Route. Now there are sometimes fewer than six and they seem to run hours apart.