Santa Fe Train 424 ATSF 2770 6356 8058 3052 SB on the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe / Denver & Rio Grande Western Joint Line near Blakeland Colorado

            The thin overcast has cleared just enough to let some bright sunshine light up southbound Santa Fe Train 424 (mixed freight and TOFC operating between Denver and Kansas City, Kansas), passing near Milepost 16.0, just south of the Blakeland Spur and one mile north of Acequia, Colorado on February 24, 1989. Operating on a twenty-two mile stretch of Denver & Rio Grande Western track between South Denver Junction and Sedalia, Colorado. Today's train is passing the Chatfield Dam and Reservoir, a dam and artificial lake located on the South Platte River south of Littleton, Colorado, (built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a response to the disastrous flood of 1965).

Shown wearing the paint scheme of the proposed Santa Fe / Southern Pacific merger, sometimes referred to as the "Kodachrome" scheme, GP30u 2770 leads, (a GP30 built in May 1963 numbered 1270, later renumbered 3270 and rebuilt in June 1982 renumbered 2770) followed by B23-7 6356 (built in April 1978), C30-7 8058 (built in October 1978) and GP20u 3052 also in the "Kodachrome" scheme, (built in October 1961 numbered 1152, later renumbered 3152 and rebuilt in August 1981 emerging with new number 3052) clatters along with a nice group of fifty foot boxcars behind the head end with Milwaukee Road, Conrail and Santa Fe road names followed by a more random mixture of freight cars.

Three miles ahead lies a stop at Santa Fe's Big Lift Intermodal facility where a cut of TOFC will be added to the train destined for Kansas City followed by thirty-three more miles of uphill ascending grade to the crest of the Palmer Divide at Palmer Lake, CO (elevation 7,139 feet). The Rio Grande first built their Denver to Pueblo line through this area in 1871 while Santa Fe completed their closely paralleling route in 1888. In 1918 during World War I, the USRA dictated that the Rio Grande and Santa Fe lines be operated as a single double-track railroad with the eastern track carrying northbound trains and the western track carrying southbound traffic. This traffic arrangement continued after the war ended and continues up to the present day with BNSF owning one track and Union Pacific owning the other.

Taken on: February 24, 1989

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Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe

Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad

Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Train

Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Freight Train

Santa Fe

Santa Fe Railroad

Santa Fe Railway

Santa Fe Train

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ATSF

ATSF Freight Train

Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe GP30

Santa Fe GP30

ATSF GP30

EMD

EMD GP30

GP30

GP30 Locomotive

GP30 Kodachrome Scheme

GP30 SPSF Merger Paint Scheme

Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Joint Line

Santa Fe Joint Line

ATSF Joint Line

Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe / Denver & Rio Grande Western Joint Line

Santa Fe / Rio Grande Joint Line

Santa Fe Rio Grande Joint Line Blakeland Colorado

Santa Fe Rio Grande Joint Line Acequia Colorado

Denver & Rio Grande Western Joint Line

D&RGW Joint Line

Denver & Rio Grande Western Chatfield Reservoir

Chatfield Reservoir

Blakeland Colorado Joint Line

Blakeland Colorado

Blakeland

Acequia Colorado

Acequia « less

Sets appears in: • Santa Fe Action • Colorado Joint Line

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