A Union Pacific military train climbs westbound through the heart of the Tunnel District at South Draw just east of Crescent, Colorado, on the afternoon of June 16, 2017. The long train of military equipment from Fort Carson, near Colorado Springs, Colorado, heading to Yermo, California, on Union Pacific’s Moffat Tunnel Subdivision. The lead locomotives are curving past the site of former Tunnel 17 that was abandoned after collapsing during construction. This collapsed tunnel was bypassed using a “shoofly” that can somewhat be seen just to the left of the locomotives, used until the remnants of old tunnel was daylighted in 1938. Lead locomotive EMD SD70M No. 4900 train will soon be entering “new” 1,752-foot Tunnel 17 just ahead. Across South Draw in the background between Tunnel Nos. 15 and 16 are DODX flats loaded with Stryker combat vehicles.
