March "Train" Madness

March 13, 2017; the LUE46 works the Garfield Yard track while a M.O.W. train rolls by. The Garfield Smelter stands in the distance.

This month has been rather busy for myself. School, work and doing stuff with my family has kept me occupied.. While I have been able to upload to the Desert Empire Project Facebook page, I really have been putting the blog on the backburner. Furthermore, the change of seasons means that many days are so sunny that I would rather be outside chasing trains instead of inside writing about them! The change in weather is such a relief after a long winter season.

It feels like our blog posts are piling up into a massive "to do list" right now too! We are working on a trip report to the Hostler's Train Show earlier this month, and the Echofest event we had at the end of Febuary where Josh, Schon, and I all went to Echo Canyon with several other railfans for a morning of railfanning. Josh is busy working on rendering and editing film segments to form the final footage for Trackside. On top of this, Union Pacific officially announced the steam schedule for 2017 which will include Union Pacific 844 steaming through Idaho and northern Utah at the end of April! I gotta say I am rather excited for this, and hope to grab plenty of photos for use on the blog here! 

So in a way, this post is meant to be a brief "hobby recap" of the month from me, excluding the forthcoming Hostler's write up. To put it simply, the following is what has kept me busy over the last few weeks!

March 13, 2017: Opportune Railfanning at Garfield, Utah

I had a swing shift scheduled at my work later in the afternoon this day, and had to make the drive from Tooele to Salt Lake to make it to work. I left a bit early though, and had the fortune of encountering LUE46 (Warner Local) working the interchange tracks in Garfield, Utah. Garfield is one of my favorite spots to railfan, with the saline Great Salt Lake to the north, the division between the former LA&SL and WP mainlines, and the massive copper smelter forming a backdrop in the distance. While watching LUE46, a PTI crew van delivered crew to a rail train in a distant siding. There has been a lot of M.O.W work on the Lynndyl Subdivision the past few weeks, and it seemed the rail train had been part of those efforts. I waited long enough to see the rail train depart, and enjoyed the sight of four EMD engines split between the two trains.

UP 1616 (SD40N) and UP 4421 (SD70M) were the power for the LUE46 as it was working the yard tracks at Garfield.

Head shots of UP 1616 and UP 4421 reveal how weathering affects the roofs of the locomotives. I was standing on the side of a lightly trafficked bridge to get this aerial perspective of the duo of engines.

I have grown so accustomed to seeing Kennecott's ubiquitous fleet of sulfuric acid cars that I was surprised to see that there were additional reporting marks on the roof of the car! An interesting detail indeed.

Sulfuric acid is created as part of the copper smelting process at Kennecott, and shipped to distant points where it is often processed into fertilizers.

The M.O.W. train had some pleasant surprises riding on it, a DRGW hopper, and an SP two bay hopper. Classic rolling stock from two fallen flags!

The LUE46 drills the yard as the rail train pulls out of the siding.

March 18, 2017: HO Scale Railroad Operations

One of the funnest parts of the railroad hobby is getting together to operate large model railroads to emulate how real railroads run trains. I have been fortunate enough to now join two operating sessions at Gary Peterson's Salt Lake Southern model railroad. The Salt Lake Southern is a freelanced bridge route between the Western Pacific and Chicago North Western, from Utah to Wyoming in a world where neither railroad had merged into Union Pacific. It is interesting to note the Salt Lake Southern was the name of a shortlived railroad operation in Salt Lake City, although Gary's layout predated the "real" Salt Lake Southern by several years! Gary's layout was last really featured in the hobby press in the 1980's, but some recent rebuilds and the installation of DCC means his current set up is a far more evolved version than the version magazine readers might have seen back in the day... As always, I am grateful when I get to join these model railroad sessions and I always have a blast! 

The small town of "Lander" is a favorite area to switch of fellow DEP editor Schon when he visits Gary's layout, and he was switching it while I was running other trains across the aisle.

A brewery rests at the entrance of an industrial lead in "Hudson" while the mainline snakes through in the foreground.

A CNW Operation Lifesaver Special waits at the "Hudson" station, while a neighbooring locomotive has somehow managed to get itself into a grade crossing incident while resting on a spur...

Salt Lake Southern and Western Pacific power mingle together as helper units in "Hudson."

"Sego" is the Western Pacific's main yard in the fictional and miniaturized world that rests in Gary Peterson's basement.

March 14, 15, 16 and 17th; fun in Salt Lake City

While I was kept busy with work in the afternoons, I went on many early morning railfan adventures during these few days, checking out the sights in a city known as "The Crossroads of the West." From squashed chickens, to industrial parks, to gleaming streetcar lines, Salt Lake has a bit of everything!

March 14, A few rules I try to follow when shooting train photos; "Don't shoot into the sun casting shadow over the subject." "Avoid obstructions blocking the subject" "Get as close as possible to the subject." Sometimes though, those rules can't be followed, and such was the case when I was watching this duo of Utah Railway GP's switching in the Small Arms Industrial plant area alongside the Jordan River.

A closer look at this rail in the Small Arms Industrial plant near the Maverick gas station reveals an interesting detail; "ILLINOIS G IIIII 1917 USA." Yes, this piece of track has been in use for 100 years now!

March 15, After hearing from follow DEP editor Matt Liverani that he saw Salt Lake Garfield and Western DS. 10 at work the other day, I went out early in the morning to watch the engine switching the SLGW yard near the Gadsby power plant. This unit started life as a SW9 for the Union Pacific, before being rebuilt into a SW10 in 1982. It has been working at the SLGW since the turn of the century. It has recently received some touched up paint work, its red pin-striping being rather appealing. 

One of the most surprising finds as I railfanned the SLGW was seeing a few dead chickens resting inbetween the tracks. Is this a sign of "fowl play?" In truth, sacrificing chickens on railroad tracks is part of the Santaria practices originating from Latin America, and is common in places with a heavy Latin population such as Miami (so much so that modeler Lance Mindheim included a dead chicken in 1/87 scale on his Miami based layouts!) Seeing these chickens in a place such as Salt Lake, is a reminder of the increasing diverse cultural scene in the city. 

March 16th was a reminder of the ever present dominance Union Pacific has over railroading in the state of Utah. I watched a duo of older GE units pull a grain train into North Yard early in the morning.

Union Pacific's downtown track to their station and former mainline is now gone, but their presence remains. The Union Pacific station is part of the Gateway Mall complex and is visible driving westbound on South Temple from several blocks away. It is a dominating structure (much in the same way the DRGW depot is for those driving on 300 S). A bikeshare station in downtown is sponsored by UP, their familiar red and blue shield resting among green bikes, instead of the normal Armour Yellow locomotives it normally associates with!

March 17, UTA's S-Line is a single track streetcar line which runs a set of small white LRV's along the former right of way of the DRGW's Park City branch. It is an interesting case as to how a former freight line can be revitalized and incorporated into a growing modern urban area, with a large portion of the line surrounded by gardens, art displays, and a bordering trail.

Josh mentioned he thinks these white LRV units look like "albino banana slugs." I don't think I can argue with him on that! ;)

My own Railroad? Ongoing from February into March.

The visit to the Hostler's train show and to Gary Peterson's layout, along with diving into local industrial parks is part of my efforts to prepare for building myself my first model railroad. My dad and I are working on the project. It is going to based on the West Deerfield Industrial Park layout plan which was featured in Model Railroader magazine, and it has been a driving force behind some of my recent railfan excursions. 

The shelving for the model railroad shortly after installation in late February.

Insulation foam was installed on 3-25, as a subroadbed base for the layout. I left a lot of tools and boxes on the layout to keep pressure on it as the glue dries to the foam. In a twist of irony, some of the boxes I put on the settling foam as weight contain my childhood toy trains!

I've also been building up a fleet of freight cars and weathering them. This Accurail kit was one of my first experiments using pastels to weather a car, and I felt it was rather successful; other than the realization that pastels capture every fingerprint I left on the car while weathering! 

March 24, 2017; A day of Classic Standard Cab power!

My latest railfanning adventures were around Salt Lake City and Garfield. In a strange way, all the trains I was catching in motion that day were powered by classic EMD locomotives! A fun way to end a week! 

UPY 613 working the southern end of North Yard on remote controlled yard switching duty.

UP 533 arrives with loads from the Chevron Local at North Yard, crossing over the mainline tracks in reverse to reach the yard lead.

UP 1708 and 1831 lead a late running Wendover Local train through Garfield, Utah; approaching the I-80 overpass.

What seems to be an abandoned signal stands guard next to abandoned track grade in Garfield, Utah; with a Loram rail grinder resting in the distance.

Well I hope you enjoyed my little adventures around Utah the past few weeks! From model railroading, street cars, historic structures, to strange sights; it has been a blast!

-Jacob Lyman

March 19th, a westbound stacker departs from Erda, Utah; its rear DPU facing back as the train rolls into the distance.

Snowfall: Railfanning in Downtown Salt Lake City

The snow got thicker than I expected and set the mood for the day pretty quick... Dramatic, cold, and hard to get good pictures in. But dang the atmosphere was awesome! The train pictured here was the second grain shuttle I had seen that day passing through CP 784.

Sometime nearly a year ago I made a joke in a Facebook discussion, that the decision to railfan in the snow is comparable to the scene in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back when Luke Skywalker is crawling in the snow; only for the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi to appear to him ordering him to seek out Yoda. I joked that in a way railfans have their "Obi-Wan" calling them into the snow despite their better judgement. On November, 28th; I had an "Obi-Wan" calling me to go snow railfanning when I got the news that Union Pacific's Denver & Rio Grande Western Heritage Unit (number 1989) was coming through Salt Lake City that day on the KOASCX-17. I couldn't resist, and had to get out trackside to catch the unit.


I have seen UP 1989 multiple times before; the first time being nearly five years ago on a train being held on the track behind the bowling alley in my hometown in Tooele, Utah. However, knowing many people online who miss the old Rio Grande; I had a newfound desire to see the locomotive again.

The yard switchers working the southern end of North Yard today were a SD40N and a GP15.

I decided to hunt for UP 1989 around CP 784, a control point at the southern end of Salt Lake City's North Yard. My first catches of the day was the familiar sight of the remote controlled yard switchers at work on the yard lead. UP 1956 was on point of the yard switcher, with its roof mounted strobe lights blinking to indicate remote controlled service. Behind it was the smaller UPY 582, a venerable GP15 which had once served the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The ex-MP GP's are still used as road switchers in the prairie country UP serves back east, but their small size and lack of dynamic brake units makes them ill suited to road work in Utah. As such in Utah they are confined to switching duties in the yards in Ogden, Provo, and Salt Lake. The growl of the EMD engines from the yard switchers made the area around CP 784 resonate with sound.

I also encountered a four legged friend at CP 784. The dog was a bit goofy, chasing my car and running into the railroad tracks. Fortunately he wasn't hurt, although he ran behind my car a few times while I was backing it up! He perhaps had better sense than I, and was gone when the snowflakes began to fall again.

One of the great things about railfanning Downtown Salt Lake City is the constant parade of Frontrunner trains. North Temple Station sees two Frontrunner trains meet each other every hour. Getting to see these trains plow through the snow reminded me of a Trains Magazine article from earlier this year which stated, "UTA has created a modern, comfortable, six-day-a-week operation in an area of the country that experiences snowy, below-zero winters and hot, dry 100-plus-degree summers. (David Lusting, Trains Magazine, July, 2016.) It wasn't yet "below-zero" today, but the air was hovering at freezing and the snow flurries made it clear that winter's onslaught was upon us. 

My first through-freight train catch of the day was a stack train being lead by four SD70M units (I suspect it was the KG3LB). The SD70M's are one of the most common units on the UP, but catching an entire train being powered by just  SD70M units is an increasingly rare sight. From conversations I have had with railroad employees, it seems the older DC traction units used on SD70M's don't make them quite as popular among train crews as the AC traction models which were released later. With that said, the SD70M is growing to become a railfan favorite engine, an opinion which is furthered thanks to the engine's unique production features. For example the train in the photo includes different production series of the SD70M from an earlier flat radiator model, to three flared radiators, and one cab with slights indents in the nose which was a harbinger of the future cab on the SD70ACe model.

UTAH 2006 and UTAH 2003 were on point on the Utah Railway train. Both engines are ex-SP units.

A few Frontrunner trains passed through after the stack train; and the snow began to fall at a furious rate. It was in this mini-blizzard like storm that a Utah Railway train began to peak through the fog and pull up alongside CP 784. The train pulled to a stop on Main 2, preparing to back up along Grant Tower so it could interchange freight cars (box cars, hoppers, and low-level radioactive waste) with the Salt Lake Garfield & Western shortline railroad. 

When the Utah Railway train came to a halt I was surprised by the attire the conductor was wearing when he left the cab! While the safety vest was nothing out of the ordinary, his festive Christmas hat instantly caught my eye. With heavy snow blanketing the area, it was easy to imagine that it was Santa Claus himself, conducting a train loaded full of goodies (and radioactive waste too!). It seemed as if this conductor had decided to make the best of a snowy day at work, by dressing the part!

Even in the snow, the fresh paint on UP 7719 is instantly noticeable!

After the Utah Railway train had backed down Grant Tower I saw the headlights of an incoming UP train. Was it UP 1989 after all my time waiting for her? No, to my surprise it was a unit train of grain hoppers being lead by UP 7719, aa AC45CCTE sporting a fresh paint job. The grain train rumbled slowly through CP 784, and I began to get anxious waiting for the eventual arrival of UP 1989. The storm kept getting thicker, only taking brief rests before kicking up again with even more snow!

 The snow stopped for a brief moment just as the Utah Railway train returned to CP 784. Having dropped most of its cargo off at the SLG&W interchange, the train was now carrying a short string of tank cars bound for the oil refineries north of Salt Lake City.

I was getting cold, and decided I needed to take a break from the tracks for a moment. I had gotten word that UP 1989 was still waiting for a crew change up in Ogden, so I made the quick drive to North Temple to pick up a hamburger! Railfanning in cold weather is actually a bit of a tricky challenge, and requires taking shelter in car and buildings to keep warm. My shoes weren't up to the task, and snow was melting into my socks. 

Shortly after I began eating my burger the snow began to fall again in earnest. The fog seemed to creep further in and blocked visibility. Headlights of trains were visible long before the train itself, and when I saw another set of headlights approaching on Main 1, I was hoping that UP 1989 had finally arrived! Instead it turned out to be UP 8194 heading the second grain train I had seen that day. The numberboards were lit up making the train even more visible in the soupy fog. 

A few more Frontrunner train whizzed by before I finally saw the familiar gray nose of UP 1989 pull into North Yard. The train was covered by clumps of snow, and the gray paint seemed to blend with the fog. I can see why the actual Rio Grande painted the noses of their units in a black and orange "zebra stripe" scheme; which surely would have been easier seen in a snow storm than UP 1989's gray hood! The locomotive stopped its train just short of the leaving the yard, and I would later learn that it was delayed here to wait for a train up ahead at the Salt Lake Intermodal Yard to clear the offloading area. I sat for 30 minutes or so waiting for UP 1989 to began the last leg of its journey. Finally a little bit before 4:40 pm, I saw the headlights of the engine brighten to cut their way through the fog as the train began to lurch forward. 

I tried to frame UP 1989's train underneath the signal bridge at CP 784 in a sort of recreation of a similar shot I had taken of Heber Valley's 1813 earlier this year (both engines are painted in a faux-Rio Grande inspired paint so it seemed appropriate!) The train crawled along Main 2 gaining speed as it rolled down to the Salt Lake Intermodal Yard. The golden orange sides of the locomotive were far more easier to spot in the snow than its gray nose, and seeing the Rio Grande flying letters conjured up images of yester-year when SD40T-2's battled their way across snowcapped peaks in Colorado and Utah. Of course with UP 1989 rolling out of sight I quickly jumped back into my car. I wasn't going to stay in that cold any longer! :)

Railfanning in cold weather certainly has its challenges and issues, but it also offers an amazing glimpse of railroads at work during even the harshest conditions. Even if my toes get a little cold, and my hands and face turn a bit red in the chill air; I always have fun railfanning in the snow! The sight of snow falling on the ground is one of the most stunning visuals of the intermountain west, signalling with it a change in seasons. Railroads are affected by snowfall, and watching them work in it is one of the most amazing ways to railfan.

Hasta Luego

-Jacob Lyman

Dedicated in memory of my Grandfather Rodney Lyman (March 26, 1937-December 12, 2016) who was with me and my father nearly five years ago the first time I saw UP 1989 in Tooele, Utah; parked behind the local bowling alley.