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.

Where Did the Western Pacific Go?

National Train Day 2013, Ogden. This photo shows locomotives representing the various Class One railroads of Utah, but one historical Class One railroad is missing from this collection...

3/25/16, Marshall, Utah; the abandoned Warner Branch was part of WP's system in Utah's West Desert. The WP mainline and several other branchlines are still in use as part of the Union Pacific system, although most of the Warner Branch pictured here has been abandoned.

During the heyday of rail transport, Utah was crossed by four famed Class One railroads; the Union Pacific, the Southern Pacific, the Denver & Rio Grande Western, and the Western Pacific. At the Utah State Railroad Museum there is a display meant to represent this era. The Union Pacific is well covered with an FEF class steamer, a 0-6-0 switcher, a DDA40X, and a Gas Turbine. The Southern Pacific has two locomotives on site, a older GP model, and a SD45. The Denver and Rio Grande is represented by a SD40T-2 which was the last unpatched DRGW diesel to run on home rails; and a narrow gauge 2-8-0 (DRGW 223) currently under restoration.

8/1/2011, Portola, California; the WP 805-A is a FP7A. The P in the designation denotes it is equipped with the heating units necessary for passenger service. The WP used different variations of paint schemes to help easily identify if a unit was an FP7A or the similar F7A. Locomotives such as this pulled the California Zephyr between Oakland and Salt Lake City.

8/1/2011, Portola, California; WP 917-D a F7A unit was used for freight service on the Western Pacific. This locomotive has probably made many countless trips between Oakland, California and Salt Lake City during its lifetime. It is now preserved at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum, where this photograph was taken.

There is a noted absence in this collection, the Western Pacific. Not a single one of the units in the Ogden Museum display came from that railroad. Not a single boxcar or other piece of rolling stock is present (compare that to the several DRGW and SP cabooses on property). Inside the museum display there are a few WP timetables and other souvenirs, but not enough to really memorialize the railroad.

8/1/2011, Portola, California; part of the extensive preserved collection of WP equipment in California includes these classic freight units which are maintained with meticulously clean paint. WP 2001 on the far end of this photo is a GP20 and the first EMD unit to be turbocharged during production. Many of these GP units worked freights over the WP mainline and branchlines throughout California, Nevada, and Utah.

A trip to Utah's other railroad preservation sites doesn't yield any better results. The Heber Valley Railroad has a large amount of UP equipment, and their ex-military units are painted in honor of the DRGW. Yet there is not a single piece of WP equipment at Heber, with perhaps only a few old timetables on display inside the station lobby. The Tooele Valley Railroad Museum fares only slightly better, with a few WP photos on the walls. Between the photos of the Tooele Valley Railway and the Union Pacific, those few Western Pacific photos are sort of a "blink and you might miss it" type of phenomenon.

8/1/2011, Portola, California; a preserved WP rail speeder.

The most glaring lack of the Western Pacific is at one of Utah's preserved railway stations, the Rio Grande depot in downtown Salt Lake. The neighborhood is known as the "Rio Grande District," people refer to the station as the "Rio Grande Depot," and people go inside to eat at the "Rio Grande Cafe." It is often ignored that the Rio Grande shared their depot with the Western Pacific, in fact it was at this depot that the most famous train to travel either the DRGW or the WP was interchanged, the original California Zephyr. When Amtrak took over WP passenger operations while the DRGW ran their swansong passenger train, the Rio Grande Zephyr; it seems the Grande had the neon Western Pacific signage removed from the building. There remains little evidence in the present day to show that the depot was once used by the Western Pacific.

8/1/2011, Portola, California; the extensive collection of WP artifacts seen in California makes the lack of WP units in Utah pale in comparison.

What makes this lack of Western Pacific history preserved in Utah strange is that the Western Pacific is a rather well preserved railroad, although the majority of the preservation work is almost exclusive to California. The Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola has a large collection of WP units. The California State Railroad Museum also has a WP unit, and so does the Niles Canyon Railroad. Several Sacramento Northern units (a subsidiary of the WP) and a WP 4-6-0 are preserved at the Western Railway Museum (which also interestingly enough houses other Utah railroad related relics from the Bamberger, the Salt Lake Garfield and Western, and the Kennecott mine). There was even a brief time at the Disneyland Resort where a replica of the Western Pacific hauling California Zephyr was on static display. Even one Western Pacific GP unit made it to preservation outside of California at Elko, Nevada along with an ex-Sacramento Northern NW2 engine in Boulder Nevada (more on that engine later...).

So how did Utah get so shorthanded?

Part of it can be that in railfan culture, the Western Pacific is seen as a "California Railroad." Although the Southern Pacific has a similar reputation, and the Denver and Rio Grande is similarly viewed as a "Colorado Railroad," it seems the WP was been affected by this type of view far more-so than the other mentioned railroads. The reasons for this narrow view are two-fold, the scenery along the WP route in California is world famous. The area surrounding the WP route in the Feather River Canyon in Plumas County is dense forest, with sharp ravines and long bridges built to span obstacles. The Keddie Wye, a large two pronged bridge on this route, is world famous as an unique engineering achievement.

The other factor which contributed to the WP being viewed as a "California Railroad" can be attributed to the population centers near the route. The WP routes in California passed through large cities such as Sacramento, Oakland, and San Francisco. Railfans who wanted to chase the WP in its canyon routes could easily drive up from Sacramento and railfan the area (they could also visit the nearby SP Donner Summit route, making the area a magnet for railfans looking for some good mountain scenery).

8/1/2011, Portola, California;WP 725 a GP9 unit; was repainted into UP colors after the merger, but its working life as a UP locomotive was short. It ended up on the Iowa Interstate railroad before it was brought to Portola for preservation.

Utah didn't fare well in those two aspects. The Utah portions of the WP passed only through Tooele and Salt Lake counties. The area surrounding the track is desolate desert, in some cases far away from civilization. Beyond the Garfield and Tooele areas, the rest of the WP was viewed towards the Nevada border as "inaccessible." Once in Salt Lake City, the WP hardly fared better. The moment the WP track hit Grant Tower it was no longer considered WP property, but was instead track that legally belonged to the Rio Grande. The WP ran through borrowed space in Rio Grande's Roper Yard. Local railfans often ignored the WP, focusing instead on the far more enticing UP route through Echo Canyon, or the spectacular DRGW route over Soldier Summit.

When the WP was merged into the Union Pacific in 1982 and 1983, there weren't many historical societies which might have been interested in preserving the railroad. The Utah State Railroad Museum wouldn't be founded for another few years. The Tooele Valley Railroad Museum was just barely starting and was focused on the immediate task of preserving the remaining Tooele Valley Railway rolling stock.

The only group in the area that could have taken in Western Pacific equipment was the Heber Creeper (The name was shared by several successive organizations including the Wasatch Mountain Railroad, Heber Creeper Inc, and the Timpanogos Preservation Society). In fact an ex-WP unit did make it to Heber for a time, Sacramento Northern 607 in 1983 (the Sacramento Northern was a regional railroad in California wholly owned by the WP). But the Heber Creeper of this era was financially unstable, and only a few years later the Heber Creeper name fell and the railroad was reorganized as the Heber Valley Railroad in 1990 (which began operation in 1992, with excursions running by 1993). In 1993, the SN 607 was sold to the Nevada State Railroad Museum (Boulder Nevada), where it continues to operate as Nevada Southern Railway 1000 (SN 607 wasn't the only ex-Heber Creeper locomotive to end up in Boulder, Pacific Lumber 35 and UP 6246 are also ex-Heber Creeper equipment that are now on display in Boulder).

So Utah was left without any preserved pieces of WP history in the state.

 8/1/2011, Portola, California; The author posing for a photo inside the cab of an old WP GP unit. No I didn't get to drive it, although this museum famously offers a rent a locomotive program. Maybe someday on a future trip. ;)

We are fortunate though for the work of the California preservation groups that took so much of the old WP under their wings. Without them we might have lost much of the WP to the scrapper's torch. However it is upsetting that so much of the preserved WP is such a long trip for a Utah based railfan.

Could something cause the lack of WP units preserved in Utah to change in the future? It seems at present unlikely. The rail display at Union Station is near capacity, and probably could not accept anymore pieces of equipment. The Tooele Valley Railroad Museum doesn't have any additional capacity. Perhaps the Heber Valley Railway could try and get a piece of WP history in their collection, but between their two 2-8-0 engines under restoration, a 0-6-0 in dire need of a cosmetic restoration, an ex-UP NW2 being rebuilt, and the ex-UP GP now in restoration there too, it seems Heber won't be able to take on many more acquisitions anytime in the near future. Of course, if interest for a piece of WP history ever came to these groups, they could possibly make a trade deal to acquire one of the many WP units currently in California.

Some plans have been considered which might turn this forlorn ALCO S-1 ex-military unit on display at Ogden's Union Station into a representative of the Western Pacific.

Another option to bring some representation of the WP into Utah involves using a locomotive currently owned by the Utah State Railroad Museum. USAF 7277 is an ALCO S-1, a model which was operated by the Western Pacific too. Dan Kuhn a local rail historian (who was highly involved in the acquisition of DRGW 5371) suggested that this unit could be painted in WP colors, to recreate the units once used as switchers at Wendover. While this wouldn't be the most authentic preservation of a unit, it would be the fastest route to getting WP history recognized in Utah.

Utah Railway 3002 might look like another G&W owned locomotive on the Utah Railway; but it started out its life as a Western Pacific locomotive, and is the only ex-WP unit currently working in Utah.

If interest for an authentic WP unit to be preserved in Utah ever surfaced, maybe the search wouldn't have to extend beyond the state borders. The Utah Railway currently rosters an ex-WP GP40 (Utah Railway 3002, ex WP 3525), which is currently working freight service. Perhaps a museum in Utah could petition for the acquisition of this ex-WP unit once it is retired in the far off future. Under this scenario once Utah Railway decides to stop using the unit, this locomotive could be restored to its original WP appearance, and become Utah's first WP unit in preservation. Until then, the Utah Railway 3002 could be perhaps viewed as the WP's sole ambassador in Utah, even if it is dressed in Utah Railway/G&W paint! ;)

Until the current status quo involving WP history in Utah changes, we will have to just wait patiently for the WP name to resurface in Utah; and let our imaginations suffice in the interim.

Until Next Time,
-Jacob Lyman

The 'Other' Wendover Local

While many Salt Lake area railfans might be familiar with Union Pacific's Wendover Locals, the LUE-50 and LUE-51, only a couple are familiar with the 'other' Wendover local, license plate NV2840.  Every two weeks, my wife and I trek from Ely to Wendover to go grocery shopping at the Smith's Food and Drug store in West Wendover, NV.  Then we head over to the Subway restaurant just inside the Utah border to eat.  If we have time before we go back home, I'll head trackside to see what, if anything, might be moving or parked at the west end of the Wendover yard by the yard office.  Most days are a dud, but others can usually catch a one off locomotive or a stray piece of maintenance of way equipment.  Sometimes I get really lucky and see an actual train.  Below are some examples of what has been spotted when the 'other' Wendover local arrives in town...

The 'Other' Wendover Local, license plate NV2840

A classic paint scheme that has really seen better days.  01Aug16



A rare sight south of the border, eh?  This GMD-1 currently works the
KGHM Bulk Transfer facility in Wendover.  01Aug16

Westbound grain train that was stopped.  No crew, no signal to
proceed.  01Aug16

DPU of the westbound grain train.  01Aug16

OLS Deadhead move through Wendover, UT.  SD70ACe 9054 leading
SD70ACe 9051, dome coach 'Columbine', coach 'City of Salina', and
observation 'Cheyenne'.  10Aug16

Dome coach 'Columbine on OLS deadhead.  Wendover, UT 10Aug16

SD70ACe 8561 parked in Wendover Yard.  15Aug16

Tamper and aligner also parked in Wendover Yard on 15Aug16.

Herzog work train parked on house spur at Wendover Yard on 12Oct16.

Tail end of Herzog work train.  12Oct16

I have never seen a speeder trailer with six wheels on it before.  It is marked
with a two ton capacity, though I hardly think that is accurate given its
current condition.

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