Winds of Change

January 2017, this has been the last SP-patch unit I have photographed so far. Although I did see one patch up in Pocatello during the 844 trip I couldn't really get close to get a nice view. Since then I haven't seen any patch units. The last patch unit to enter the State of Utah a few days ago was as celebrated as the unpatched units were a few years back... Its a dying breed for sure.

It has been stated that there only certainty in life is "death and taxes." A world of constant change and flux definitely effects the world a railfan sees trackside, as favorite locomotives disappear, flags fall, and traffic patterns ebb and flow in the economic tide.

From a rather young railfan as myself, it seems rather strange to be complaining about changes. The only major American railroad mergers to happen in my lifetime were the UP-CNW-SP mergers, and the formation of BNSF; I was to young to notice any of them. I have never had the experience to go trackside and railfan a Class 1 railroad, only to come back and find that area completely changed due to mergers or abandonment. The only piece of railroad I have seen a train on to later have it go out of service was oddly enough the "Yrigoyen Branch" (officially known as Ramal C16) in the Ferrocarriles Argentinos rail system, a line I witnessed in action but never photographed a train on. The small branch which once extended to Oran before being scaled back to Yrigoyen, was dramatically cut in two by a flash flood on the Rio Colorado on March 6, 2015. However seeing that line is half a world away from where I am now, I have never had the chance to go back and assess the damages. For all I know that bridge has been rebuilt and trains still run the line to this day, yet considering the lack of railfans in rural north-western Argentina, I have found no sources on that line's fate. Furthermore considering that the branch had only one active customer, I find it likely the line was killed by the sudden flood.

Photos of the Ramal C16 bridge fall in Argentina courtesy of Conner Thompson (used with permission). The dramatic collapse suspended operations on the line. It is the only line I have ever seen in action which was later abandoned due to natural disaster. I don't know if it will ever be rebuilt due to the lack of customers on the route.

June 2016, I was pleasantly surprised to catch this ex-CNW unit in the consist of a westbound manifest passing through Tooele, Utah.

I know Schon, myself, and several other local railfans speak ad-nausea about our encounter with SP 343 in April of 2016; but I hope our readers forgive our indulgence on the subject. SP 343 is the ONLY non-patched Southern Pacific unit I have photographed in my life outside of a museum. My brief chase of it from one end of Erda, Utah to another was my last chance to catch a memory of my childhood; when SP painted locomotives dominated the local railfan scene.

UP 6379 (ex-SP 333) was on the outskirts of Pocatello in February 2016 on a waiting train.

Despite this I feel as if the SP, CNW, and DRGW were part of my life. There was a brief era in the early 1990's and 2000's where UP rostered a large fleet of post-merger locomotives that had not yet visited the paint booth. My parents have almost always lived in viewing range of the Lynndyl Subdivision, and I could see the trains in the distance climbing through the valley. UP's fleet was colorful and vibrant, new bright yellow engines decorated in the post 9-11 American Flag paint scheme; trailed by gray and black engines of SP/DRGW heritage. I was oblivious to the histories to the respective railroads, as a kid it seemed as if real life trains were as colorful as what I had seen in children's literature. If Thomas, Toby and Percy dominated my childhood thoughts, so too did their American diesel friends "Rio Grande","Southern Pacific" and his brother "Union Pacific." If it seems like a sweet and somewhat optimistic view, it is an appropriate description of how I felt as a child then.

While on the subject of vanishing locomotive paint schemes; BNSF has taken a far more slow approach to repainting its pre-merger paint schemes. I just have the poor luck that every time I catch one of BNSF's predecessor schemes in action I am either in a moving car or there is some form of obstruction in the way blocking my view. The photos above seem to demonstrate my bad luck! While not nearly as endangered though as the SP units on the UP, BNSF is slowly but surely deadlining and retiring many of these ATSF/BN units.

By the time I began going trackside to railfan and was studying the real histories of American railroads, the vibrant era of post-merger paint schemes was already on the wane. Union Pacific's bright American Flag units had grown weathered, tired and beaten. DRGW 5371 had already retired, and the only patched DRGW unit left had been banished to switching service in Texas. The Southern Pacific and its fleet of General Electric units brought only a few years prior to the merger were the last bastion of color on the Union Pacific trains, with the occasional CNW unit popping in as an additional splash of color. By 2015 though that era began to close too. The subject of the disappearance of the remaining SP patch units was discussed in greater detail by Schon Norris on this blog last year. Since his post was published I have only seen one or two patch units, a constant reminder of the fast work of Union Pacific's North Little Rock shops. Just like the DRGW, I fear my only chance to see a SP unit in the near future is to travel to a museum or a shortline such as the Kyle Railway which has delayed painting its units.

Utah 5005 in October, 2016; in Provo Yard. This unit along with the other five MK50's are now on the Kyle Railway in Kansas and Colorado.

Speaking of the Kyle Railway is the remaining shock from the loss of Utah Railway's MK50-3's earlier this year. I had not intended to be caught unguarded with a lack of photos of the Utah Railway, like I had been years earlier with the loss of the DRGW units. So as previously recorded in this blog, Josh and I went down to Helper to watch Utah Railway run one of their final coal trains. The snowy mountain scenery was a memorable trip, and I can't think of a more fitting place to watch the MK50-3's in their prime. In spring when rumors came that the MK's would soon be gone I remember sitting trackside until after dusk, to watch a duo of MK's run a Provo-Ogden freight through Salt Lake City.

As the MK50-3's left the Utah Railway, I spoke of my belief the Utah Railway could survive in a post-coal traffic market. I based my thoughts off watching the nearby Salt Lake Garfield and Western shortline revitalize itself and grow its traffic base despite a limited reach and a lack of resources. Many railroads could survive as a local traffic handler, and it had seemed the Utah Railway was prepared to do the same. In a way my original blog post on the topic was also deflecting some of the strange rumors coming from railfans from far out of state, many of whom were taking random guesses to the fate of the Utah Railway despite having no firsthand experience observing it.

January 2017, a Utah Railway train works in the "Small Arms Industrial" park.

I wish I had the same optimistic attitude now. Rumors of great changes began to fly about the Utah Railway, but now they were in the closed circle of Utah railfans. Rumor has always been a part of the railfan community, and most rumors must be dismissed since plans for the future are always up in the air. But then in an embarrassing moment that seemed to validate the rumors, a Provo-Ogden train powered by two aging SD50S units died on the mainline shortly after the MK50's left the property. Since then the rails of Soldier Summit are now rarely graced by Utah Railway's presence. By summer Utah Railway retired two more units, this time a pair of the SD50S units; leaving only three of the aging units on property. Rumors suggest that Utah will receive ex-Norfolk Southern GP units to replace the two SD50S units; but the rumors have yet to materialize.Darker rumors put an ominous date, suggesting the Utah Railway might vanish on the eve of the Golden Spike celebration with BNSF taking over their remaining traffic. Only a year ago I felt assured Utah Railway would be a staple in the local railfan scene, only months ago I figured it could survive on what little luck it had left, and now I am not so sure. As I mentioned I have yet to see any railroad flag fall in my lifetime, so the potential that Utah Railway now rests on the brink has me unsettled. It is a strange prospect indeed, however it is another sign of my youth as surely many older railfans can tout their memories of the fall of the great railroads of their age too. Even if Utah Railway manages to limp along, it is clear the era of its "Cowboys on the Hill" hauling heavy coal over the summit in some of the world's most abused locomotives, is clearly at an end.

A few of the Arrowedges I have seen over the last few months, including the a first and second generation version of the container.

Yet in a brighter thought, the future of railroading has many opportunities which excite me. Where it once seemed SP patch units were common on select trains, now I have begun to discover the same sensation with Union Pacific's newest experiment; the Arrowedge. These intermodal containers, chopped and shaped into a wedge are the newest advance in fuel saving technology for railroads. In the last month and a half I have seen three trains fitted with various Arrowedge models, and photos on Facebook suggest dozens more have passed through the area without my notice. Often leading the trains are the new Tier 4 units. The GE T4 is so abundant I see it now on a regular basis. I have yet to spot EMD's T4 units, but from the photos I have seen of them their high roofs and chiseled cabs remind me a bit of those MK50-3's which have wandered away from the roost...

A new T4 locomotive leads an intermodal freight through the Tintic Junction last November. The large antenna behind it is for PTC, another change coming online which is affecting how railroads are operated across the nation.

Monorails like the "hyperloop" are a form of innovative rail transportation. Seen here is the "Monorail Red" gliding above guests at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Despite the many promising aspects for rail commuting technology the monorail offered, it never gained much popularity in America beyond tourist heavy areas such as the Disney Parks, Las Vegas, and World Fairs such as the one in Seattle. This treatment of the concept as "an amusement park ride", the lack of a standardized gauge system across different Monorail manufactures (or lack of standardized parts), along with the heavy anti-commuter rail pushes made by automotive companies such as General Motors in the 1950's meant that the monorail never had much chance to catch on. The faster maglev monorail concept sees limited use due to the cost of construction (with no operating example in North America at all). The monorail though due to its brilliant elimination of grade crossing has caught on in congested cities in Asia. If the new "hyperloop" concept proves more successful has yet to be seen.

Then I read the news and hear things about Elon Musk's "hyperloop" concept. Although not rail transport in the traditional sense, I am taking notice all the same since it is reliant on a fixed guideway. Perhaps its impact will be nothing more than that of the Monorail; to be praised as innovative and unique to only be brushed aside by traditionalists and wary transportation planners... Sure Musk has a bit of a habit of promoting strange and innovative concepts which either stick or fade away, yet perhaps the loop will be the biggest advance in ground transportation since the automobile.

If Futurama like speed tubes between cities are a bit to far away from our blog's subject about railroads, I am also excited for future prospects in rail preservation for our historical equipment. In only a few years we will soon see a Big Boy rumbling down Union Pacific rails, taking back its rightful throne as king of Sherman Hill. Locally, it is only a matter of months (if not weeks) until UP 1011 a 1940's vintage EMD NW2 returns to service at Heber; joining the recently acquired GP on property as an accurate collection of the vintage early diesel age of the Union Pacific, and clearing up shop space for the neighboring UP 618 steam engine restoration in the same shop.

July 2015, UP 4012 at rest at the Steamtown Museum in Scranton, PA. Hopefully in a few years its sister engine UP 4014 will be roaring down the tracks of the American West, bringing back what is arguably the steam age's most famous icon.

With changes abounding it is hopeful to look at the positive things we will see in the coming years. With that it would be remiss to omit the exciting prospects the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike will bring in its 2019 celebration to Utah. Our local area will briefly enjoy the focus of the railfan community, as conventions and celebrations are held to celebrate the joining of the nation in the deserts of northern Utah so many years ago. As I look at all the changes that have occurred in the past few years I yearn to see the good that comes out it all too!

-Jacob Lyman

Snow and Water and Floods, oh my!

by Joshua Bernhard

I was told by the park rangers at Arches National Park that water is the most destructive natural force in existence; even if not absolute in that sense, it is still the bane of transportation and settlement in desert and mountain locales. The winter of 2016-2017 has been very strange, dumping snow at much higher levels than the average in the Rocky Mountains. Then, suddenly in late January, temperatures in the Great Basin soared from below freezing during the day to 65 degrees, weather more suited for March or April. Sudden spikes in temperature melt snow too quickly for it to settle, making snowpacks unstable in addition to simply increasing the amount of flowing water. Then, to make matters worse, rain hit the valleys, adding an extra layer of fresh snow at higher elevations; every variable was perfectly in line for catastrophic floods.

Everything collapsed at once it seemed. On February 7 there was a washout just east of Wells Nevada on the Shafter Sub; Amtrak's California Zephyr was reroute on the Lakeside Sub over the Lucin Cutoff through Ogden on that day. The following morning, though, conditions became worse and Amtrak suspended service, turning the eastbound CZ to return to California at Wells and the westbound CZ to return to Chicago at Salt Lake City. 21-Mile Dam near Montello, Nevada, burst under the sudden weight of floodwaters, and the stored water rushed out, wiping out roads, railroad, and inundating the town of Montello. This dam break shut down both the Lakeside and Shafter subs while UP began placing ballast trains in sidings in preparation for the repairs. Meanwhile, mudslides in the Sierra Nevadas (including at Doyle, California) shut down much of northern California and flooding in Central California caused a derailment of several cars. By Thursday November 9 the Lakeside, Shafter, Fresno and Roseville subdivisions were all closed; UP apparently gave up on trying to reroute trains out of Salt Lake City and let them pile up at Garfield.

(Photo and commentary courtesy Jacob Lyman) "When possible I try and chase every Amtrak train I get the opportunity to, especially since daylight Amtrak runs through Salt Lake City are such a rare occurrence. On February 9, 2017 I rushed from my classes at the university to get down trackside to watch as Amtrak Train #6, the eastbound California Zephyr departed Salt Lake. The delays were a result of the flood waters though out Nevada. I didn't stop to think though that it was going to get even worse over the next few days."

(Photo and commentary courtesy Jacob Lyman) "The full extent of the flood damage though became apparent the next day (February, 10) as I traveled with my sister driving home. I sat from the passenger seat of the car and declared to my sister I could see a traffic jam; however realizing that she thought I saw a jam up ahead on the road I had to quickly clarify I was seeing a traffic jam of trains. Here in the northern reaches of the Lynndyl Subdivision right before entering the Shaffter at Garfield Junction; where five trains lined up in a row, as a sixth train trundled past them. I had no doubt they were being held due to the flood waters, and I snapped a few pictures from the passenger seat with my cellphone. I was astonished, I had never before seen such a system delay concentrated all in one place. I learned later in the day the Shaffter was operating in limited capacity, as I saw a railfan post a video online of a stack train racing through the route (stack trains have been a rare sight on this route since the UP-SP merger). On Saturday (February, 11) when I passed through the area gone were the idle freight trains, but instead two ballast trains resting in the sidings. They were facing eastbound, and it made me wonder if they were called up from the ballast quarry near Milford. Either way the two ballast trains in the area made it clear, the railroad was preparing to go to war with nature itself."

By late that night the Shafter sub was reopened briefly although the condition of the route through the Sierras is still questionable. The Lakeside saw considerable damage on both the Nevada and Utah sides of the border; Box Elder News Journal posted pictures of minor washouts at Lucin that took out a grade crossing and signaling equipment on February 10. That same day BNSF made the decision to reroute their trackage rights trains south over the Sharp Subdivision rather than try to push them through Salt Lake City and the floods to the west; the Provo, Utah to Stockton, California Manifest (FHPVOS-10) left Provo on the morning of February 11 but rather than going to Stockton was forced to terminate at Barstow.

BNSF trains are never seen on UP's Sharp Subdivision, but it took catastrophic floods to make it happen. Here the FHPVOS-10 passes through Benjamin, Utah, rerouted to Barstow rather than its normal terminal of Stockton due to the closure of both the Lakeside and Shafter subdivisions out of Salt Lake City where it is normally routed. Even before making it all the way out of Provo it was met by floodwaters.

Another freak storm passed through on the night of the 10th however, dropping about an inch of snow in Utah Valley overnight but then warming up through the morning. Just before the FHPVOS pulled out of Provo Yard at 9:00 am it was met with a report that the Hobble Creek Bridge, less than a mile out, was blocked and flooding almost to the rails. The train was able to make it over the bridge on slow order, but water kept rising and after UP was able to push two more coal trains through right after the FHPVOS the water covered the railhead and the Sharp sub was closed for a few hours just before noon until Springville City could position heavy equipment to start fishing out the log jam that was causing the water backup. Even with water flowing under the bridge again by 12:30 the surrounding land was still 1-2 feet under water and nearby roads and industries were closed.

 This was the condition of the Hobble Creek Bridge at 9:30 am, just outside of Provo Utah on the Sharp Subdivision. The water had risen above the bottom of the bridge deck and was still rising; luckily Springville City, after the county sheriff, local police and a volunteer fire department had all responded to reports of the potential for damage. This location features four bridges in rapid succession: a street, the Sharp subdivision, Intermountain Power's car repair yard, and another street.

Once the water on the road reached two feet the street was closed.

Springville City was proactive and sent down equipment to start clearing out the log jam on the bridge by noon. They were able to bring water levels back down to below the bridge height, although only a few inches below the bottom of the deck.

Westbound freight trains continued to pile up, extending outward from Salt Lake City up the Salt Lake subdivision to Clearfield; however, while the damage caused across the UP system is significant and will take a long time to properly rectify, quick work has been able to prevent further closures and the fact that the Shafter Subdivision was reopened so quickly, even if under very limited operation, is a testament to the railroad employees who dove in to fix the problem. We still have a few weeks to see what else this winter will throw at us but hopefully nothing as extreme as this past week.

Short, fast freight - or long, stalled and late?

At noon on September 2 2016, the Provo, Utah to North Yard, Colorado MRONY, consisting of five locomotives and 115 cars, stalled on the grade at Castilla in Spanish Fork Canyon in Utah. Since the ex-D&RGW main line from Provo to Denver is paramount to the transport of coal to electrical power plants in Utah and California, this was a serious block to traffic. SD70ACe number 8838 was sent out as a helper unit, but one locomotive did nothing to restart the train on its way east, so three more units had to be called from Helper, Utah, to be added mid-train; they didn’t arrive until 7:00 pm, causing a more than seven-hour delay in traffic as the 8838 switched out the train on the main to splice in the three helpers.

This event is not uncommon in the mountain regions of the Union Pacific system. While some may claim that the American economy is on the rise since the 2008 housing market collapse, the condition of the transportation industry says otherwise, and Union Pacific seems to be in some dire straits considering their recent policy of running longer trains with less power in a desperate attempt to cut down on crews and locomotives. In Utah, the problem has manifested itself most on the old Rio Grande routes, which reflecting the Grande’s motto of “Through the Rockies, not around them!” are reasonably steep in order to ascend Soldier Summit in the heart of the Wasatch Range. The Rio Grande had no problem with this landscape, operating under the policy of short, fast freight, running more trains with less cars at a quicker speed over the summit. BNSF, which operates trackage rights on this route, also has no problem (although some BNSF employees may say otherwise). Union Pacific, on the other hand, is struggling.

As another extreme example of the impracticality of this policy elsewhere on the system, on August 3 a grain train from Salt Lake stalled on the grade just west of the Nevada border. A single helper locomotive (ES44AC number 8247) was dispatched from Salt Lake to shove it uphill. Since Distributed Power Units are rarely manned, the extra helper unit cost the UP a crew which could have been saved by simply tacking on the DPU before heading out. And if that wasn’t enough, another westbound train had to wait for the light engine to clear the Shaffter subdivision before proceeding, causing further delay and expense as commodities sat idle both on the stalled train and the manifest in the hole.

August 3, 2016; on the Shaffter Subdivision near Aragonite. A lone helper is on the move to help out a grain train stalled on the grades west from here. I found it near Lake Point, Utah; and chased it out here. Discussions over Facebook confirmed that this was an emergency helper move.(Jacob Lyman photo and description)

A former engineer on the Union Pacific remarked that he observes that the same problem is happening in the Blue Mountains of Oregon and explained that “train delay is directly attributable to train length.” From his perspective as a locomotive operator he added that extra-long trains pose several serious problems: few sidings have the capacity to hold these trains, meaning that meets are impossible and traffic must be restricted to one direction for extended periods of time until they clear the main line; in addition, if a train were to fall into Undesired Emergency (UDE), the crew is obligated to walk the entire length to identify the problem. In his words, “it’s a damned long way for one employee to walk.”

This train didn't stall, but it almost did - by the time it neared Wahsatch Summit it was moving at barely faster than the photographer could walk. While this made it easy to chase the train, it also meant waiting at this location for over an hour as it traveled less than 25 miles in that time. The problem? Three locomotives with over 100 cars aren't enough to maintain a steady speed even on the Echo Canyon's 1.14 percent grade.

 

Operating crews will use this as an example of the disconnect that exists between the men on the ground and the men in the office, particularly dispatchers. A revealing anecdote from one engineer illustrates this: at one point, an engineman complained that his train had more tonnage than his locomotives could handle. The dispatcher replied “The book says they are rated for (x) amount of tons,” to which the engineer shot back, “Yes, but these engines haven’t learned to read yet!”

The issue, and perhaps one of the contributing factors to UP’s policy, is that every locomotive is rated to pull a certain number of tons, but only at 100% capacity. That may be relevant on level track during the testing phase, but on the road is impossible. In real life, locomotives operate at far below their full capacity due to age, abuse, and environmental factors (wet rail, steep grades, sharp curves, etc.). So while dispatchers go by the manufacturer’s ratings, an operating crew knows to cut an estimated 25-50% from the written statistics in order to play it safe on a run. This concept, however, is impossible for an economist to understand as they try to cut expenses and maximize revenues on paper.

BNSF seems to have copied the Rio Grande's strategy of short, fast freight, such as this one speeding upgrade to the Thistle Tunnels in August 2016. This train has three lead units and one DPU for 22 cars, which allows it to maintain a steady speed going uphill; a typical Union Pacific freight train on this route will have the same number of locomotives for over 50 cars and struggles on this same 2% grade.

 

In some cases, crews have become creative to get around the demand for long trains with less power. Steve Creer, a now-retired engineer and conductor who started with the D&RGW and worked through the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific mergers, was called to Elko to run a train measuring at 8,950 feet. Trains running east of Elko cannot exceed 9,000 feet due to the length of passing sidings on that stretch. However, the Manager of Yard Operations approached and informed him that he was required to pick up ten cars, which surpassed the limit by almost 450 feet. Mr. Creer protested, knowing that he was scheduled to meet two 12,000 foot westbound trains; the manager shrugged him off. Even after the dispatcher in Omaha confirmed that the train could not exceed 9,000 feet under any circumstances the Elko managers insisted that the ten cars be added.

“A conductor is an overpaid liar because he has the educated pencil,” Creer remarked. He opened up the computer system and marked that he had picked up the cars without actually doing so, then forced the MYO to enter the train as having departed Elko, again without actually doing so. Steve then returned to his own computer and set the ten cars out at a short maintenance siding a mile from town, told the MYO to put the cars on the next short train (for real that time), loaded up his own train, and headed for Ogden. Management was happy, the operating crew was happy, and nobody noticed that the cars had been recorded as added, moved, and set out in the impossibly short time of less than five minutes. Without this sort of trickery, incomprehensible delay would have been the result.

September 10, 2016; Schon Norris, James Belmont, and I were with each other railfanning the area south of North Yard in Salt Lake City, when two "Monster Trains" arrived in opposite directions simultaneously, the MWCNP, and the MNPWC (shown in the picture). The eastbound MWCNP barely fit the yard, while the westbound MNPWC was so large the lead locomotives and freight cars where outside the southern yard portal, where they blocked several grade crossings for an extended period of time. To complicate matters worse, these two trains switch and drop off loads in the yard, meaning the crews had to work a tricky balancing act  between the two monsters to get their jobs done.

However the greatest issue of these monster trains soon became apparent as the minutes passed. The MNPWC blocked off the grade crossings in the area, causing frustration for the commuters and pedestrians in the area. To the shock of Schon, James, and I; many pedestrians began to blatantly trespass, crossing over the couplings on many of the cars on the MNPWC. We witnessed a man with a bike crossing over the coupler, and shortly there after we also saw a family with several children crossing over. At this time the MNPWC was making switching moves to try and drop off cars in the yard, and in some-cases these trespassers avoided being caught between cars on a moving train by a few seconds. Another danger was the active tracks surrounding this train, with two active Frontrunner commuter rail tracks on one side, and an open mainline to the other (with an approaching hot ZDVSC coming down on it). It was a very stressful thing for Schon, James, and I to watch; and it illustrated how the absurd length of these trains can frustrate pedestrians and inspire some awful stupidity. (Jacob Lyman photo and description)

It has been suggested that this is simply a remnant of Union Pacific’s bitter and emotional rivalry with the Denver & Rio Grande Western. One railroader remarked that “The Rio Grande was a chief competitor to the UP and they did what the UP couldn't do - ran a fast freight line on single track through the Rockies. Even though the heyday of this was 30+ years ago, I'm certain that sting still hurt some senior folk in Omaha many years later.” Assuming this idea is true, a jealous Union Pacific is trying to prove that they can do better than the Rio Grande. So far it seems that they aren’t.

Some hope that these stalled trains will be a learning experience for the Union Pacific. As mentioned, BNSF already has already figured out the ideal operating system, running 25-50 cars with the same number of locomotives that UP puts on a 50-150 car train. BNSF trains often arrive in Provo from Denver four to five hours earlier than initially scheduled, whereas UP trains on the same route will often be late by an equal amount. The idea is that UP managers will recognize the fallacy of their current paradigm and pull some of the hundreds of locomotives stored dead in Ogden and elsewhere to push their freight through more effectively. Only time will tell if they wise up.

DISCLAIMER: I do not represent Union Pacific, BNSF, or any other railroad company. This article is based on observation of true events and the judgement of people knowledgeable on the subject; I welcome any further insights into this phenomenon.

Sources:

Spencer Peterson, who witnessed the stalled MRONY and photographed the process of the three helper locomotives being switched in to the train at Castilla.

Jacob Lyman, who photographed the light move to Wendover on August 3, and provided further insights into the event from discussions he had with railroad employees.

Steve Creer, a former D&RGW engineer from Provo, Utah, who worked a short time for the UP after the merger. He shared many of the laughable interactions between operating crews and dispatchers.

Matt Paulson, James Belmont, and others who provided commentary through the Rails Through the Wasatch, Utah Rail Enthusiasts and Fans of the Union Pacific Railroad Facebook groups. Some names, particularly those of current railroad employees, have been withheld due to privacy concerns.

BNSF, the Utah Railway, and the Railfan Joys from Anti-Trust laws.

August 9, 2016; five BNSF locomotives stand at the ready facing south in Provo Yard.

Today has been a bit busy on this blog, and depending on when I finally finish this post it might be one of several posts from the different contributors today. As nice as it would be to wait a bit to write another post later this week, my schedule means today is the only day I have time to write anything on here until Saturday. 

Also thinking of different subjects I could perhaps provide insight into, I was met with a myriad of ideas. My longterm goal is to get a nice post (or series) talking about my hometown Tooele Valley Railway, but I want time to polish my ideas before I publish info on a subject I find so endearing. I have also considered a few other ideas, but I just need time to find the info and take photos for those subjects.

Fortunately I decided the subject of the unique relation between the Utah Railway and BNSF is something I have learned and witnessed  a lot of over the past few months. My move from Logan to Salt Lake has meant I am finally within the territory that BNSF and Utah Railway serve. I actually wasn't able to get great photos of the BNSF until recently with this move. While both Schon and Josh are probably a bit more familiar with these trains than I am due to their locations, I hope that my bit of insight will help those curious as to how BNSF operates in Utah; and could perhaps be used as a spring board for future posts from either myself or them.

One of my first photographs of the BNSF was taken on July 30, 2011 in Nevada somewhere paralleling Interstate 80 while on a family vacation. I was riding in the backseat of a car, and for the next few years the only time I would see BNSF trains was either when I was in the backseat of a moving car with my family, or worse; without my camera. It wasn't until the vital help of social media allowing me to contact local railfans that I finally was able to figure out how to track down the BNSF.

Before 1982, Utah was the crossroad point for four vital interstate railroads; the Union Pacific, the Denver and Rio Grande Western, the Southern Pacific, and the Western Pacific. Among them ran regional railroads such as Utah Railway, or Kennecott Copper's massive private electric railroad line. The railroad scene in downtown Salt Lake and Ogden was vibrant, as these different railroads intersected and changed cars with each other. Many Utah towns had access to one or two of these different railroads.

 A sample look at a few of the locomotives representing the railroads of Utah before the mergers that consolidated them all under the Union Pacific name. The first photo was taken on August 1, 2011; and showcases the preserved Western Pacific 805 in Portola California.

The second photo shows the last Southern Pacific locomotive that ran on Union Pacific rails with it's original paint and number; SP 343. This photo was taken in Erda, Utah on April 4, 2016. This day would be both the first and last time I (among with a few other railfans) would see this unit. A few months later, it would be painted into the Armour Yellow and Harbor Mist paint of the Union Pacific.

The third photo showcases two of the preserved locomotives at Ogden Union Station on November 29, 2015. DRGW 5371 to the left, and SP 7457 to the right. Both show evidence of cosmetic restoration on their noses, work which was provided by Kerry and Derrick Klarr, and Chris Fussell.

1982 and 1983 marked the beginning of an era of mergers that would last until 1996. The Western Pacific was consolidated (along with the Missouri Pacific) into the Union Pacific brand. 1989 brought about the merger of the Rio Grande with the Southern Pacific. 1996 brought about the final round of consolidations, as the Southern Pacific was absorbed into the Union Pacific.

The Southern Pacific and Union Pacific merger left a problem that had to be resolved, what to do to prevent a railroad monopoly by the Union Pacific in areas dominated previously by the two railroads? Utah was particularly at risk , as every single interstate railroad that crossed into it, had fallen under the Union Pacific banner. The only other rail competitor in the western USA, the newly formed BNSF railroad didn't have a single piece of track which crossed into Utah (or Nevada for that matter to). A concession granted by the federal government during the SP-UP merger made the Union Pacific grant the BNSF trackage rights into Utah and Nevada over the former Southern Pacific, Western Pacific, and Rio Grande routes from California to Colorado; with Utah as the middle ground. With this Utah Railway got the new role of running local freights, allowing BNSF freight dropped off in Provo to make it to industries through out the Wasatch Front and to local shortlines such as the Salt Lake Garfield and Western, and the Utah Central. This critical decision allowed competition to remain in the railroad transportation market in Utah.

On Patriot Day (September 11) 2016; Utah Railway 2008 a GP38-3 locomotive is switching cars for the soon to depart RUT 611 local. The RUT 611 takes cars delivered by the BNSF, and moves them from Provo to Ogden were they can be delivered to industries and transferred to the UCRY industrial shortline railroad. 

Of course most of the time in Provo Yard, rather than use their own GP locomotives; Utah Railway crews tend to switch trains using power brought to them by the BNSF. Few railyards see GEVO's and SD70ACe units working switching jobs, let alone do they often see heritage units taking that job. But such was the case on August 9, 2016 when BNSF 6805 and Norfolk Southern 1073 the Penn Central Heritage unit, alongside NS 8401 were manned by the Utah Railway to switch cars that had just arrived on BNSF's Denver Colorado to Provo Utah train.

The BNSF bases most of their Utah activity in Provo Yard, sharing tracks with the Utah Railway. Their symbiotic relation is evident as Utah Railway crews often man BNSF locomotives to handle Utah Railway switching; and BNSF crews arrive to work in vans marked with the G&W (the parent company of the Utah Railway). While UP let's their aged GP units work yards, the Utah Railway and BNSF often let modern GEVO's and SD70ACe's do their yard switching. BNSF trains are stacked with lots of locomotives, ready to blast through the Union Pacific owned tracks, without causing delays for other trains on the line. 

Look closely at these two photos. Both are the same train (a Provo to Lincoln Nebraska run) as seen on 9/11/16. The first photo was at Provo Yard, the second as seen north of Thistle on the former DRGW line. Taken only an hour and a half or so apart, there is evidence of BNSF's method of using lots of locomotives to a train and running it as fast as possible. The second photo shows on closer inspection that a fourth engine has been added to the consist, and that the addition was apparently fast enough it didn't cause significant delay to the train.

BNSF's process of fast freights running on the former DRGW and WP routes has lead many a railfan to comment that BNSF understand's how to run a railroad better than the often slow and under-powered trains of the Union Pacific. Other than the practical reasons of running fast trains, BNSF has also created a railfanning spectacle, as railfans bored of the monopoly of yellow engines, seek out the fast orange trains of the BNSF. It can be a bit of a race to follow these trains; as Josh can attest to ;)

 Utah Railway 3000 passes Control Point 784 in downtown Salt Lake City, as it makes one of the many local jobs that Utah Railway operates in the area.

Other than their coal and oil trains down the old Rio Grande, Utah Railway's RUT 611 might perhaps be one of their flagship trains. The majority of the large six-axle road power of the Utah Railway continues to display their pre-G&W paint scheme, a unique combination of red and gray. Here the RUT 611 is taking it's train on Union Pacific's Main 3,  formerly part of the Rio Grande mainline to Ogden.

Meanwhile the BNSF partnership has benefited the Utah Railway in a myriad of ways. With coal traffic reaching low levels, the Utah Railway still continues to find work transferring freight from the BNSF to local industries and other local shortline railroads. Many Salt Lake industries have the ability to chose to move their freight over the UP or the Utah Railway. This service provides competition in the railroad market for industries, and for railfans it helps to provide even more variety to the Utah railroading scene. Furthermore the Utah Railway (along with UTA and Savage) helps to operate nocturnal runs over tracks the Union Pacific abandoned after the mergers (but that is a story for another day.)

In conclusion, the BNSF and the Utah Railroad continue to provide competitive shipping to the Wasatch Front area. For railfans who missed out on the grand era of the DRGW, WP, SP and UP all calling Utah home; the Utah Railway and BNSF help to diversify the railroading scene. As these two railroads continue to work, they are defining what will someday be a notable part of railroad history in the early 21st century. 

Nos Vemos

-Jacob