This manifest was running right on the yellow blocks of the coal load ahead of it, so I didn't have enough time to get north of Palmer Lake and back into the light (note the house and hillside in the distance). Instead, I settled for this shot at the grade crossing at Palmer Lake. This is BNSF's daily Denver to Pueblo manifest. When I first saw it, I thought it was a baretable train as I only saw the empty well cars initially!
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A southbound coal load makes the final effort to get over the top of Palmer Divide, about 7,200 feet above sea level. Here, the double track ends and the single track CTC begins. The single track runs for 32 miles between Palmer Lake and Crews, and there are four sidings along the way to facilitate train meets.
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A view of Palmer Lake that you don't typically see when view train pictures from the area! For awhile, I've wanted to climb the mountain to the west of the lake and see how the view looks. Well, here it is! Not too bad...of course BNSF had to have the last unit on this loaded southbound facing the wrong way! Note the head end of the train way off in the distance on the upper left side of the picture.
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Three and a half hours after receiving its track warrant (while sitting in Rennicks Yard in Denver), this BNSF coal load is finally approaching the top of the hill at Palmer Lake. A classic Rio Grande signal (controlling southbound movement on Main Two) stands in the foreground.
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At Palmer Lake, ABS and Track Warrants end, as do two tracks. This coal load is wrapping around the sound end of Palmer Lake on the single track (CTC) main. It is now 32 miles of single track (with four sidings) until double track starts again at Crews.
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There is a lot of green to be found at the "top of the hill" at Palmer Lake along the Joint Line in Colorado. BNSF's Denver to Kansas City (HDENKCK) has an elephant-style lash-up (including a Warbonnet) as the train enter the single track CTC.
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A group of railfans gather near the grade crossing at Palmer Lake and watch as a northbound BNSF manifest moves from the single track to Main 2 on its journey north toward Denver.
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On this particular day, there was a railfan meet being held at Palmer Lake. There was a pretty good turnout of probably 20 people over the course of a few hours. Here, a few fans shoot a northbound BNSF manifest.
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Two New Image ES44ACs lead BNSFs Kansas City, MO to Denver, CO manifest (HKCKDEN). The train is about to leave the single track CTC behind and continue north to Denver on Main 2.
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BNSF's southbound HPASSAG heads south at Palmer Lake. This train came down the Front Range Sub the previous night. It arrived in Denver earlier this morning, had a crew change, and headed south on the Joint.
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7,225 feet above sea level, this northbound coal empty crosses over the top of the Palmer Divide at Palmer Lake. A single SD70MAC leads the northbound empty toward the start of the double track just ahead.
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Normally, UP 1989 would make the run from Pueblo to Denver in the pitch black. The manifest usually passes through the community of Palmer Lake sometime between 1:00am and 2:00am. High levels of traffic delayed the train enough the prior day that it passed through Palmer Lake in daylight on this particular Sunday.
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UP 1989 wraps around the snowy south end of Palmer Lake on its way north. The train departed Pueblo (about 65 miles south) the previous night at 7:30pm. High levels of train traffic on the Joint resulted in the train being tied down on the siding at Kelker until 1:30pm the next day (the day this picture was shot). At the time of the picture, it was about 4:00pm.
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This 64 car manifest is on the final approach to the top of the hill at Palmer Lake. The second generation power makes this picture appear as though it could have been taken twenty years ago - save for the paint schemes, of course.
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Just miles north of Palmer Lake, the southbound HDENKCK-07 powered by two green and white SD40-2's, a Heritage I SD40-2, and an MRL SD40 heads south in "the sag".
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