Posted By Connor Friedrichsen On Monday, September 22, 2014 At 8:45:54 PM (PT)
This was quite an occasion for the fans of northern Thornton. Having returned from a visit to Iowa for Thanksgiving, I was pleasantly surprised to find several boxcars in storage just north of Highway Seven. The second storage movement was a shove north with three four axle locomotives: UPY 625, UP 312, and UP 1517. From what I recall, rather than having a crew member "ride the shove", several MoW vehicles preceded the movement, ensuring that crossing gates functioned properly along the way. Following this occasion were two or three more movements that brought more boxcars. By this point, the surplus of boxcars had stretched from 168th Avenue south to 144th Avenue and beyond. However, it wasn't long before the residents of the city began to complain about the "eyesore". With pressure from the City of Thornton, the Union Pacific Railroad removed the asphalt covering the 168th Avenue crossing allowing for the boxcars to be shoved to County Road Six. It wasn't too long afterwards that the boxcars were slowly removed. One of the removal efforts used HLCX 3835 and UPY 625. The last movement of the boxcars occurred in late March or April of 2009 from what I recall. It was a cloudy day and I distinctly remember that UP 2395 led GMTX 2679 and another UP locomotive on the movement. With all the boxcars removed, I was under the impression that I had seen the last of trains north beyond Eastlake. Less than a month later, however, the Union Pacific Railroad began to store covered hopper cars. That too eventually came to an end, with the last movement being guided by HLCX 3835 and UP 2528 a few months later. From what I understand, a local still occasionally travels north up the branch to serve a customer (Atlas Roofing) located in an industrial park off of 112th Avenue and Irma Drive in Northglenn. Sometimes that will require travelling up to Eastlake to run around the train. Last I knew, it was scheduled to run on Wednesdays and would arrive at Eastlake between 1345 and 1415. All in all, thanks for bringing back the memories.
Posted By Clint On Wednesday, March 25, 2009 At 12:04:59 AM (PT)
I wish I could have been driving down 120th or 104th avenue minding my own business never suspecting a train to come those old UP tracks! Wow that would have been great. Wondering to myself... did some poor switchman have to ride that shove all the way north, I wonder how the protected the move?
