May 9, 1999 - Moffat East Portal

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The Moffat Tunnel at 72 years old is starting to show its age.

Looking east from the tunnel, my back is to the portal. When we arrived at the East Portal the tunnel fans were on and the curtain inside the portal was down. We hadn't been here but about five minutes when the fans quit, an alarm sounded and the curtain went up. Then we heard this switch throw to route for the main. Click Here for a close-up of the switch heater.

Just a few minutes after the switch was thrown a coal train silently rolled out of the tunnel. UP AC4400CW #6775 on the point. Note the homus railgeekus (no, its not us).

I was kind of surprised to see a Conrail / NYC Coal train come out of the Moffat tunnel.

Mid-Train helpers of the Conrail / NYC coal train, SP AC4400CW #373 and a UP AC4400.

Tail end of the Conrail / NYC coal train being pushed by UP SD90/43MAC #8168 and an SP.

Sitting near the Portal was this piece of MOW equipment. The bucket is narrow enough to fit between the rails to remove snow..