Arvada/Big 10 Curve, CO, USA | Virtual Railfan LIVE !

Actual start date: May 12, 2023
You are watching a live stream of Arvada Co, USA, for people who enjoy watching trains.
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Special thanks to our host, Conductor Brad.
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ABOUT THIS FEED:
This is the Union Pacific Moffat Tunnel Subdivision overlooking the Big 10 Curve near Milepost 21. The Big 10 Curve was built by the Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway in 1902. The DN&P later became the Denver & Salt Lake Railroad The D&SL was acquired by the Denver & Rio Grande Western RR in 1931 (the merger was completed in March 1947). The Big 10 curve is an S-shaped curve that traverses the transition from the Great Plains to the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The ‘Big Ten’ consists of “Big Ten Loop” and “Little Ten Loop”, both of which are so-named due to having curves of 10º radius. Big Ten was constructed to allow for a grade not exceeding 2%, as the line needed to gain 600 feet in elevation in 2.85 miles at a grade of 4%, which, with Big Ten, became 7 miles at 2% instead.
The area here is single tracked but there are a number of passing sidings including 3 within view of our camera. The lower, normally visible siding is known as Rocky and the upper is Eisele (formerly known as Clay). The third siding is known as Leyden and is about 4 miles east of Rocky. It is only visible when the camera is zoomed in on the tracks further to the east towards Denver.
Plainly visible in the curve is a line of old hopper cars which have been placed next to a portion of the curve. This was done in the early 1970's to provide a wind break against Rocky Mountain winds that can easily reach 70mph. These hoppers were filled with dirt and cement, placed on temporary track that had been constructed off of the main and then welded into place.
Many thanks to Colorado Railfan for the excellent references which can be found here:
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When’s the next train? Yeah, we get this a lot. You can figure out the next Amtrak passenger train with this handy link: www.amtrak.com...
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