Railfan trip to Nevada and Utah, 2/10 - 5

Hi, This is the last installment for the trip. Dale wanted to photograph the Salt Lake Garfield & Western. We learned from a phone call the day before that they would go to work at 8:00 AM so we headed over to their yard and engine house first thing. They told us they would be working at an industrial park just west of the airport, about 3 miles away. We drove over there and waited about 1/2 hour. When the train did not show up we headed back to their yard to see if they were working along the way. No luck so we drove back to our original location. After about another 20 minutes or so the train came out of the industrial park and under I-80, returning to their yard.


We chased the train to a grade crossing just outside their yard where we photographed a westbound UP train,

followed by the Salt Lake Garfield & Western train.

Our final stop was the Front Runner Station at Woods Cross, UT, just north of Salt Lake City.

Front Runner has its own track between Salt Lake City and Ogden, running along the east side of the UP.



The Front Runner seems to be a single track with passing sidings line. The passing sidings appear to be at the stations.


Having accomplished what we wanted to at Woods Cross, and not having enough time to move to another location, we had a late lunch, turned in the car, and went to the airport. Delta Airlines provided a smooth ride home to Dulles. Truly a memorable trip.

Railfan trip to Nevada and Utah, 2/10 - 4

Hi, Having spent the night in Evanston, WY we headed out to photograph in Echo Canyon. Our first stop was Castle Rock, UT. After a short wait an eastbound showed up,

followed shortly by a westbound. Note that the tracks here are grade separated with the eastbound track being the north track, shown above, and the westbound the south track, shown below. Between here and Wahsatch, UT, to the east, the tracks will cross one another in tunnels so that by the time they get back to the road again at Wahsatch the trains will be running right handed.
We followed the westbound down to Emory, UT where we encountered an eastbound stack train which we chased back up to Castle Rock.

We then headed west through the Echo Canyon looking for another eastbound which we found at Echo, UT. Echo is the location where the former Park City Branch left the main. All that is left is a short stub which crosses I-80 and ends; used as a siding. The rest of the branch is a trail. This is the same coal train we photographed at Soldier Summit on 2/9.

We photographed the train a number of times, including this shot off the side road in Echo Canyon.

At Emory, UT the side road crosses the tracks and ends at an entrance to I-80. The entrance is eastbound only and there is an westbound only exit here from I-80 onto the side road. The bridge is an excellent place to shoot in either direction. Below is a westbound merchandise train taken from the bridge. This the point where the grade separation mentioned earlier begins.

Looking west now, the DPUs on the train shown above are about to pass an eastbound.


We then headed east and beat the Soldier Summit coal train to Evanston, WY. The building at the far left is the former UP depot while the building in the upper right I think was an engine house and is now a tank car servicing and repair business.

We shot the helpers from the abutment of the bridge I stood on for the photo above.

On our way west we stopped at Castle Rock to shoot another westbound,

and then chased it through Echo Canyon on I-80.


This photograph is just west of Echo, UT, again off I-80.

There are 2 exits marked Henefer, UT. This is the train above at the easternmost exit.

After spending the night in Evanston we headed back to Echo Canyon. We quickly found 2 eastbounds, this being the second one at Wahsatch. A cut for the westbound track can be seen directly above the pole to the right and rear of the lead locomotive.

Here are the DPUs on the train shown above from a slightly different location.

Then it was back into Echo Canyon. We spent most of the rest of the day working off the side road between Echo and Emory.




Finally, as the time had come to head west, we followed the train shown above and photographed a second time at the westernmost Henefer exit,

and in Uintah at the western end of Weber Canyon. We ran out of time and were unable to do any photography in Weber Canyon.

On our way to Salt Lake City for the evening we passed through Ogden, UT where we encountered a set of Utah Rwy 4-axle power.

We then headed to the transportation center for some additional Front Runner photos. The former SP/UP station, now a Museum, is shown in the background.


After getting a couple of Front Runner trains in Ogden we left for Salt Lake City and dinner with friends Jim and Sue Allen. I had not seen them in a few years and it was good to be able to get together. I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Railfan trip to Nevada and Utah, 2/10 - 3

Hi, We left Ely early on Monday, 2/8 and headed for Soldier Summit in Utah. On the way we encountered a UP coal train en route to the Intermountain Power Plant in Lynndyl, UT on UP's Sharp Subdivision. Part of the original Los Angeles and Salt Lake, this line is now used mainly for coal trains operating from Utah mines east of Soldier Summit to the power plant.


The first movement on the Provo Subdivision, between Helper, Utah and Salt Lake City, was an EB light power move just east of Castilla, UT. This is the new route constructed as a result of the Thistle slide in 1983. The old route was on the valley floor against the snow covered hill in the background.

Next, we encountered a WB BNSF trackage rights train at Thistle, again on the new line.

We then covered the entire route all the way to Helper, UT before we found this WB Utah Railway coal train which we chased. Photos were obtained at Martin Junction,

Castle Gate,

in the Price River Canyon,


at Kyune,


at Colton,

and at Sky View. Other locations, which looked similar have been omitted.

We stayed overnight in Price, UT and headed west the next day looking for an eastbound train. We met this EB UP coal empty west of Gilluly and photographed it off the US 6 bridge at Gilluly.

We got it again at Soldier Summit before moving on to Kyune (below).

After a few more shots we got the train at Castle Gate.

Next up was a WB BNSF trackage rights train led by an SD70-Ace. The DPU is shown here at Castle Gate.

We then photographed the train in the canyon and west of Kyune (below).


The BNSF train was held up by UP coal loads coming off the Pleasant Valley Branch at Colton, shown here topping the east slope at Soldier Summit.

Here are its DPUs.

After shooting the BNSF train at Soldier Summit we returned to Helper looking for another westbound train. Such was not to be so we headed for Evanston, WY by way of Salt Lake City. We found the intermodal center which provided opportunities to shoot LRVs, and

The Front Runner Commuter train.


Hope you enjoyed the photos.