Burlington Northern Santa Fe westbound manifest MDENRRB (Denver to Riverbank, California, freight) climbs the horseshoe curve at the mouth of Coal Creek Canyon east of Plainview, Colorado, on January 29, 1998. Two Heritage I GE C44-9Ws are road power, while a manned helper set consisting of a pair of BN SD70MACs are cut in mid-train. The use of mid-train helpers and SD70MAC in helper service was uncommon on early BNSF trains on UP’s Moffat tunnel Subdivision.
