Summer Days

DEP founder Josh Bernard and Jacob Morgan at work needle gun scaling old paint off the surface of Columbia Steel 300 at the Heber Valley Railroad.

For me the past few months of model railroading have been rather slow for me. Having recently finished the school semester; I am now back to working full time most weeks, keeping me behind a desk rather than out trackside admiring the trains. After the euphoric rush of excitement of chasing 844 through southern Idaho a few months back, it seems things are moving along slowly waiting for that next big railfan adventure. But to claim that nothing is happening in the railfan hobby the past few months would be remiss, and in this relatively short time I have had several memorable experiences! This is just a few of the interesting things that have kept myself and the other DEP editors busy the past few months as we ease into the summer season!

 The LUE 46 at work at Central Garfield on May 15, 2017

The First Full Gathering of the DEP Editors

May 15, 2017 was the first time Josh Bernard, Schon Norris, Matt Liverani, and I were all able to get together to railfan. We had lunch at the Red Iguana 2 in Salt Lake City; and spent the remainder of the day watching freight traffic through Salt Lake City's Control Point 784 and North Yard. We had a blast and got to witness a lot of busy mainline action through the city that day!

A westbound Union Pacific manifest pulls along North Yard on Main 1 with another cut of freight cars next to it in the yard tracks.

UP 1208 a unique former Kennecott Copper Company high cab mine GP engine leads a returning freight through CP 784 into North Yard.

A southbound Frontrunner slows down to approach the North Temple Bridge Station.

Josh admires the UP track inspection car resting for a moment before continuing east into the Grant Tower wye track.

 A Jaunt Down Over to Wendover

On May 18, only a few days after our DEP meet; my Dad invited me to join him on a trip out to Wendover he had to do for work. It was the first time I had been to Wendover in years and I was interested to see what I could find there in this desolate desert border community. Wendover was founded by the Western Pacific and hosted a crew change point and a small roundhouse during the steam era. A local branchline operation the Deep Creek Railroad interchanged with the WP in Wendover until that line was abandoned during the Great Depression. WWII brought the US Army Air Force to Wendover with the new base in the town. The base gained notoriety with its use for training by the 509th Composite Group the first nuclear bomber group in world history which would be later lead the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

Most Utah residents know the area now for its neighbor city West Wendover, Nevada and its casinos and concert halls. However rail activity remains an ever present part of the Wendover community, and it is one of the few places in Utah to embrace its connection to the Western Pacific Railroad. A potash operation and the Robinson Mine's copper ore loader keep the rails busy even though there is no longer an official crew change point in the city.

This unique ex-Canadian National GMD-1 now works for the Robinson Mine's switching cuts of copper ore cars. Spiritually this operation is the successor to the famed Nevada Northern Railway, as the copper ore from the Robinson operation originates at the Ruth pit which was once served by the Nevada Northern.

A scale test car at the copper loader operation. The frame suggests the car was built using recycled parts from retired freight cars; perhaps an old slag pot from a smelter or mill?

Broken Arrow's GE center cab at the Robinson Mine operations with a trackmobile and the scale test car.

Forgive this non-railroad related photo, but it seems inappropriate to mention Wendover without discussion about the area's history with the Air Force. This F86-D "Sabre Dog" is kept at the Wendover Airport. A massive restoration project on the same field is restoring the "Enola Gay Hangar" a large structure built for B-29 bombers used by the 509th Composite Group during its training regiment in Wendover.

A westbound coal train (possibly heading to the North Valmy Power Plant in Nevada, although an export train heading to a west coast port is probably more likely), rolls through Wendover on its trek west. These coal trains always seem to be a place for grungy battle worn GE units to battle out on. After a long stretch of flat lands across the Salt Flats to reach Wendover, this coal train will soon be at the remote Arnold Loop in Nevada, climbing over the mountains separating the desert valleys.

Two Union Pacific Automated Way boxcars in Wendover. One preserved and painted in Western Pacific tribute colors which is slowly fading off and revealing the UP yellow beneath. The other in a siding near the mainline, still in service to Union Pacific!

Tequilla, Shi-Tzus, and TRAX: Random Day by Day Raifan Adventures

On May 20, the private car "The Patron Tequila Express" had a layover in Salt Lake City having arrived on the California Zephyr. This gorgeous vintage passenger car looked wonderful even when admiring it from afar.

A westbound BNSF Provo-Stockton trackage rights train at Stauffer on the former Western Pacific mainline in the late evening.

I decided to take my family dog Lucy out on a walk near Erda, Utah on May 27 which was a bright sunny morning. A passing SLC to Long Beach intermodal startled Lucy and she didn't seem to be happy to be there at all when a quartet of SD70M engines roared past.

Despite her initial apprehension, it seemed Lucy was watching the train roll by after a minute or two of being near it! 

The Siemens SD-100/SD-160 models were once a common sight on the University extension on the TRAX system, but the Redline completion to Daybreak has meant they have been mostly replaced by the newer S70. Due to TRAX M.O.W. work and the resulting system delays, for a few weekends this year UTA has been running a special "Black Line" from Salt Lake Central to the University Hospital which uses the classic SD models once again. The photo was taken at the hill connecting 400S and 500S, one of the steepest grades (if not the steepest) on the UTA rail system.

Museum Season and Restoration Work!

Summer is usually a busy season for both tourist railroads and railroad museums. Of note, many of the small town museums such as the Tooele Valley Railroad Museum operate on a scheduled summer season. I dropped by the Tooele Museum on its first day open on the Tuesday following memorial day.

Among the small town local museums now open for summer is the Tooele Valley Railroad Museum. This photo was taken inside the former Tooele Station at the museum shortly after their opening day for the season. The museum's operating season lasts until Labor Day when the museum.

One of the most interesting things happening this summer is a volunteer effort organized at the Heber Valley Railroad to cosmetically restore Columbia Steel #300, an 0-6-0 steam engine. The effort was organized by Parker Wilson, a longtime volunteer at Heber. Cosmetic restoration had began on the engine in 2013 by a local youth group, but they abandoned the project shortly after starting it. The abandoned effort had done enough work to allow the Heber shop crew to paint the tender of the locomotive, but the rest of the engine was left bare. The following years #300 sat mostly neglected on the Heber property, as the available workers were focused on their other engines.

Parker began bouncing around the idea of getting a group of volunteers together to provide the man power needed to get #300 cosmetically restored. In an ultimate example of "if you want something done do it yourself" mentality he reached out over social media to find other people to join him working on the engine. Both Josh and I decided to join his efforts on the first day of work on June 3, 2017. We were joined by two other railfans Jacob Morgan and Mason McAllister. Both Josh and Jacob M. have experience working on DRGW 223 up in Ogden while Parker and Mason have done work at Heber before. 

The five of us set off to paint stripping the running gear on the right side of the engine on our first day of work at the site. The Heber Valley Railroad had switched the #300 to the backside of their shop, where we could plug into their compressed air system and work in the shade the building offered. We got to tour around the shop a bit seeing the Heber's newest acquisition a heavyweight streamliner passenger car getting work done on it. We also got to take a look at Union Pacific 1011, a 1940 vintage NW2 switcher which should be returning to service at Heber in the coming months. 

Parker stripping paint off the running gear on Columbia Steel #300.

My face covered in paint chips stripped off the #300 during our work on it. It was pretty messy!

Another view of Parker paint stripping #300 during our first work session. Once paint is removed the metal surface is polished with a wire brush, and then it is ready for a new coat of paint.

In our few hours of work on the #300 we made swift progress, and Parker by the end of it had began testing the rotary wire brush on a few segments to see how easy they polished up. Decades of rust and grime came off under the force of the brush, and underneath the metal shined like new. We hope that paint will be able to start going on soon as teams strip off the old paint and the surfaces are polished. Parker even mentioned that part of the cab on the right side which was rotted out may be replaced by a newly fabricated piece of sheet metal by the shop crew. Hopefully before this summer season is finished Columbia Steel #300 will have returned to its former cosmetic glory!

-Jacob Lyman

Chasing Union Pacific 844: Ogden to Green River

 This is now the Desert Empire Project facebook banner, and for good reason - on one end we have an FEF-2, UP 833, and on the other an FEF-3, UP 844, two classic Union Pacific Northerns in preservation.

In case you haven't followed our recent articles, Jacob covered April 2017's "Boise Turn" from Pocatello Idaho to Ogden Utah in the last post; I took up the baton and followed the 844 on its return journey all the way to Green River, Wyoming. The journey began on Wednesday, April 26th while the 844 was still on display at the Utah State Railroad Museum in Ogden. A Union Pacific Engineer's Special was passing through over the ex-D&RGW Soldier Summit route (today's Provo Subdivision) so I had to chase it from Provo to the Red Narrows before heading north to meet up with Jacob and Schon for a Desert Empire Project party (having our four editors spread between four cities and two states means that we usually only coordinate via internet chat).

 I met Schon and Jacob near Salt Lake City so we could drive to Ogden together; waiting for them gave an opportunity to photograph UTA's Trax system.

The reason for being in Ogden on Wednesday was that I, as a director for the Golden Spike Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society (the group behind the restoration of D&RGW 223), was invited to the Steam Crew Banquet hosted by the Union Station Foundation to thank Union Pacific for bringing the 844 to Ogden. This is a tradition that stretches back decades, and in fact we have heard from several past and present Steam Team members that Ogden is their favorite place to stop because of the hospitality and friendliness. The banquet was attended by representatives of both government and rail preservation groups, including the Promontory Chapter NRHS, Golden Spike National Historic Site and Dynamic Rail Preservation.

Then it was off to bed - after confirming that the crew would be up and preparing the locomotive at 5:00 am the next morning, I knew that if I wanted to beat the crowds and get some good early-morning shots I needed to be up by 4:00. Seeing the 844 alone, yet alive, in the post-rainstorm night really set the clock back. Replace the crew's reflective jackets with normal overalls and the scene could have been any day at the Junction City in 1955. Once the sun came up the people started pouring in so I hurried to stake out a spot at 26th Street where I hoped the bulk of the crowds would not be. There I met with Mitch Harvey, who is developing a digital simulation of the entire Salt Lake and Evanston Subdivisions of the Union Pacific System for Railworks. He was my copilot and official out-the-window photographer for the trip; this was a good opportunity for him to perform field research for his project. Unfortunately, and perhaps it was because of the lack of sleep, I made several mistakes throughout the day that eventually struck me out from my plan of filming the entire trip.

After watching the 844 leave the Union Station (after minor problems with the electrical system) we raced to Peterson on the other side of Weber Canyon to catch it on the curve just before the highway bridge. I somehow messed up the settings on the video camera and overexposed the image there. It was also there that we realized the sheer magnitude of the crowds that also were chasing as I-84 became a parking lot within minutes of the locomotive passing us. Traffic was stop-and-go all the way to Emory and it was impossible to catch up. Here is an important lesson for photographers - NEVER PACE THE TRAIN ON A FREEWAY. The train was going 15 mph under the speed limit, and both lanes were trying to stay alongside, completely blocking traffic. Those idiots really made a lot of people angry (myself included) and the traffic was held up almost ten miles back until the I-80 junction where most of them jumped ship. Common courtesy is one commodity that is almost always absent from railroad related events.

Two shots of the traffic near Morgan.

Basically, the first four stops that we had carefully planned two weeks in advance were out of the question. Once past Emory the traffic cleared enough for us to arrive at Castle Rock with time to set up and wait as a westbound freight inched its way by before the 844 arrived. The canyon isn't called Echo for nothing, and the sound of the steam locomotive pounding the iron on an upgrade was incredible. Luckily the extra time there gave me the chance to find and fix the exposure problem for the remainder of the day.

This westbound freight entertained us and the dozens of other photographers perched on the edge of the bluff at Castle Rock. Spencer Peterson of UCrail.com was alongside us although we didn't recognize it until after we began posting our individual photos on our respective sites.

The Boise Turn passes the freight at Castle Rock

Then the traffic held us up again, preventing a stop at Wahsatch and forcing us to arrive in Evanston at the same time as the 844. Union Pacific shut down both east and westbound mains for the duration of the 844's half-hour stay there, effectively holding back several freights.

The Evanston yard, with both mains shut down, was flooded with people, many of whom followed the train from Utah.

Mitch and I decided to continue on to find a good spot; after much thought, some confusion, and multiple last-minute decisions, we chose a spot called Leroy, the site of a now-demolished section house. Only the trees planted by the railroad and a small dugout mark the site as having once been inhabited. It was here as well that the wind really picked up, blowing over my tripod which luckily was caught by another photographer who Mitch had met a year ago in Salt Lake City.

From Leroy it was a mad dash down a muddy dirt road to reunite with the interstate and reach Granger before the train, which luckily we did. The gentleman at Leroy advised us to run straight through Granger to the bridge just west of town, which was some of the best advice I have ever received. We had the location all to ourselves as the 844 slowed from track speed to enter the town, where it stayed for another half hour. Unfortunately I set up the tripod on a stack of ties which turned out to be very unstable and with each gust of wind pushed the camera further and further to the side.

The bridge at Granger. Note I was not on the bridge or the track but took this photo from a distance with a zoom lens.

Then on to town to find a sudden and unexpected population explosion as the little town was invaded with people who were there to see it the 844 despite strong winds and alternating hail/snow/rain/sun that hit us every five minutes or so. Granger's existence depends on the junction between the Transcontinental mainline and the ex-Oregon Short Line Pocatello subdivision to Idaho so rail traffic is heavy through there. As temperatures dropped I realized I didn't bring a jacket, so the emergency raincoat was pulled from the back of my car to improvise. Two westbound freights passed through, one of them a Herzog ballast train, while we waited, and then it was on to Green River where the real party began.

 A westbound ballast train approaches Granger

UP 844 highball Granger!

Winds kept getting stronger the further we went until they exceeded 40 mph; when we reached Green River we thought the pedestrian overpass spanning the yard would be a great place to film the train coming in, but the wind was strong enough to sway the bridge enough to cause nausea and vertigo. In addition, a long line of freights and intermodal trains were backed up in the yard so the 844 was held for hours as one westbound after another pulled out.

The 844 was held here for several hours while westbound freights poured through Green River. Dozens of people were crowded on the pedestrian overpass waiting for it to move which it never did.

 A yard job passes under the overpass. Extremely strong winds caused the bridge to sway back and forth, yet this tenacious crowd stuck to it for hours despite the 844's lack of activity during that time.

One of many freights that passed through while waiting for the 844.

After waiting for more than two hours we decided to head back to Ogden, where we caught one more freight in Echo Canyon before parting ways for the day.

This was a great chase. Upon returning to Utah, several friends remarked that we were crazy for going all the way to Green River. In a way we are, I guess. You need to be crazy to devote so much time and effort into following a steam locomotive.

You can watch the video from this trip here:

And my video from the last time UP 844 passed through Utah here:

-Josh

The End? Utah Railway Coal in its Final Days

December 26, 2016: a cut of swing helpers highball through Spring Glen, Utah (south of Helper). These helpers had just left Martin Yard and are on their way to the Savage coal load out to be cut into the loaded coal train at the load out.

In 1912 the Utah Coal Railway began construction to provide better rail service to the coal fields of central Utah. Following the Denver & Rio Grande line over from Helper into Provo the line also consolidated several of the smaller coal railroads in central Utah to form part of the new road. The road worked with the D&RG in running trains until 1917, when the line began running their own trains with their own locomotives. During these early years the railroad's name would be shortened to the far simpler Utah Railway.

Don't let the paint fool you! This engine never worked in revenue service as Nickel Plate 324 nor is it the original Nickel Plate 324. In fact this engine worked in revenue service as Utah Railway 306. After retirement, Utah Railway 306 was bought by famed steam restoration leader Doyle McCormack. The original Nickel Plate 324 was one of the engines which inspired Doyle's interest in railroads as a child and he chose to use Utah 306 to recreate that. This engine enjoys a posh retirement in Portland, Oregon; working from the same engine house as the famed SP 4449. Doyle keeps it in operating condition.

(First photo credit to Josh Bernhard, second and third photo credit to Matt Liverani) Utah's preserved Utah Railway ALCO unit is the Utah Railway 401. This RSD-15 unit started its life on the ATSF railroad, and when it arrived on the Utah Railway it had only a few small changes to its Blue Bonnet paint scheme before entering service on the Utah. After its retirement, the engine was donated to the NRHS where it got a second life working for Broken Arrow in Tooele County. In 1998 this engine joined the Utah State Railroad Museum collection.

The Utah Railway would serve as a vital part of the coal hauling system in central Utah for nearly a century from that point forward. Their steam locomotives shared track with the Denver and Rio Grande Western's trains. When the diesel era came, the Utah Railway adopted ALCO as their primary engine supplier, contrasting with the EMD ruled lines elsewhere in Utah. As the days of the ALCO's on Soldier Summit came to an end, the Utah Railway became known for its eclectic diesel roster of unique locomotives. In the late 20th century the line adopted a distinct red and gray paint scheme which had been designed by a local model railroad enthusiast. A collection of secondhand EMD power replaced the ALCO's. Their neighbor on Soldier Summit the fabled DRGW, was merged into the Southern Pacific, and later the Union Pacific.

Over this century of change the Utah Railway was still doing what it had been doing for 100+ years; hauling coal. Coal was the lifeblood of the line; and Utah Railway coal trains were a frequent sight on Soldier Summit. However time slowly began to erode the apparent lack of changes on the Utah Railway. The UP-SP merger forced the railroad to join BNSF in a joint business venture to run local freights through the Wasatch Front. Coal was no longer the sole commodity on the Utah Railway, as beginning in the late 1990's the Utah Railway was hauling everything from lumber, copper, rocket parts, sulfuric acid, crude oil, and more.  The 2002 purchase of the Utah Railway by the larger Genesee & Wyoming brand was another major change on the line. Slowly the unique red and gray Utah Railway locomotives began to disappear for months on end, and then return to Utah painted in the corporate G&W orange and black paint scheme.

Then the unthinkable began to happen: Utah Railway's coal market began to dry up. Changing fortunes in the mining industry, environmental legislation shutting down coal power plants, and economic pressures began shuttering the remaining coal mines in Utah Railway's coal country. The end of coal shipments from the Wildcat load out in Spring of 2015, the last coal loadout accessed exclusively by the Utah Railway, reduced the railroad to only serving the Savage loadout on the UP line (Wildcat remains in use for occasional oil trains). Utah Railway was reduced to running one train out of Savage once a week to then transfer it over to the Union Pacific in Provo for the final leg of its journey to the IPP power plant near Delta, Utah. Then at the end of 2016 rumors began to circulate that the Utah Railway was going to lose their coal hauling contract with Savage. Those rumors were confirmed as the year came to a close and it was announced that the last Utah Railway coal trains would be running in December 2016 and January 2017. This news came as a shock to the railfan community, and railfans world wide mourned the loss of the venerable Utah Railway coal trains.

With this news the members of the Utah Rail Enthusiasts Facebook group and of the Desert Empire Project began to make plans to chase the last Utah Railway coal train of 2016 on December 26, 2016. I had never photographed a Utah Railway coal train before, so I eagerly joined the trip to get the opportunity while I still could. Josh Bernard took the opportunity to film more footage for the documentary Trackside and the two of us traveled together to chase the train.

With the temperatures well below freezing most of the day, we started of by passing through Provo Yard at dusk. A flotilla of BNSF engines sat at the ready in the yard while UP power hummed away in the distance. A few Utah Railway engines sat in the yard, including one of the MK50-3 units (as it would turn out the other five MK50-3 units were out at Martin, four of them preparing for the coal train we were going to chase). Around 7:00 am, at the far end of the yard, the coal train we were waiting to see pulled up into Ironton to officially switch out the Union Pacific crew with a fresh Utah Railway crew. It was still rather dark, so we decided to start heading up Spanish Fork Canyon to find some trains in the morning light.

Sunrise at Martin Yard. Track once full of coal hoppers is now loaded with oil tankers and covered hoppers full of sand for fracking.

With the coal train coming up in the day's schedule; a group of Utah Railway employees were out in the yard working on clearing the switches coming in and out of the engine house. Between clearing the switches and getting the engines ready to depart; the Utah Railway employees at Martin had a full day of work ahead of them.

Our first stop out of the canyon was Martin Yard. Martin is Utah Railway's yard located on the north west end of Helper. The centerpiece of the yard is an old engine house dating back to the 1920's. The air roared with the sound of the EMD 645 motors which were inside the MK50-3's and SD50S units which were preparing for a days work. Despite the modern locomotives and railcars in the yard, Martin feels uniquely trapped in time; and it is almost easy to imagine a steam engine easily trotting around the yard lead. Yet Martin also showed evidence of how the falling coal market had impacted the Utah Railway. Gone were the coal hoppers, and in there place were covered hoppers and crude oil tankers. Carbon County is beginning to see oil fracking replace the coal industry, and one of the new trackside structures on the former DRGW route south of Price is a large yard to load crude oil into the tank cars stored in Martin. Hopefully this new industry can sustain Utah Railway operations into Carbon County with the coal traffic disappearing.

At Kyune we finally found the Utah Railway coal train moving downgrade on its approach into Helper. The locomotives on point and as the train's DPU units are Union Pacific power. There are a variety of rumors as to why Utah Railway was using UP power instead of their own locomotives. Some suggest that UP had power restrictions on the Utah Railway due to maintenance problems with Utah's aging fleet of six axle locomotives. Other rumors suggest it is simply due to the fact Utah Railway doesn't own enough six axle units to man an entire coal train. Either way, Utah Railway has still been using their own power to man the mid train helpers on these coal trains as well as to run the new oil trains leaving the region.

With the coal train back on approach we went up to Kyune, where we met up with a large part of the other railfans who joined us in the chase. We didn't have to wait long to see the coal train we were chasing. With a load of empty hoppers, the Utah Railway was manning a set of Union Pacific units to take the train down the grade.

With its load of empty hoppers; the coal train passed one of the most venerable landmarks in central Utah: Castle Gate, a rock formation with two stone walls forming a natural gateway. This location has been a landmark along the rail line for years. Sadly, a large chunk of Castle Gate was destroyed many years ago by UDOT as part of a highway expansion project. The  remaining parts of Castle Gate though are still a highly photogenic location to catch passing trains.

Just south of the Castle Gate rock formation was the Castle Gate Power Plant. This former Utah Power and Light plant was one of the oldest coal fired power plants in Utah. With stricter environmental rules enacted over the last few years, the plant's current operator PacificCorp/Rocky Mountain Power; decided to mothball the old plant. As of right now work crews are demolishing the plant. The crumbling steel walls of the power plant with demolition crews working around it is another sign of changing fortunes in Utah's coal country.

When the coal train arrived in at the Savage load out, our railfan group broke up a bit as we searched for any action in the surrounding area. At Wellington, Utah, we found a Union Pacific coal train which had originated at West Elk in Colorado and had been left idle in a siding over the Christmas holiday. Many UP trains had stopped for the holiday, and rumors circulated that a large portion of UP employees had called "sick leave" for December 25... Either way, the West Elk train was left in the siding for the day; and we never saw it move during our time there. 

UP 6699 was left on point on the West Elk coal train tied down near Wellington, Utah. 

UP 6333 had a bit of a banged up side near the cab; suggesting it was victim of a sideswipe accident of some kind.

The Utah Railway coal train was bound to take a few hours to load, so we set about trying to find ways to entertain ourselves while waiting for our coal train to leave. The Provo Subdivision has become increasingly quiet since the UP-SP merger over 20 years ago, and railfanning there sometimes means waiting hours between trains. The slow start up again from the holiday surely wasn't helping our luck on this trip either!

This Vanderbuilt tender located on private property south of Helper was once used on one of Utah Railway's steam trains. To my knowledge, no other parts of Utah Railway's steam trains were preserved.

After returning from Wellington Josh and I found that the helper set for today's train had been moved out of the engine house at Martin and linked together. The engines on all the helpers were roaring as Utah Railway crew checked them for their upcoming departure.

In rural parts of the former DRGW, there are still No Trespassing signs marking the land as owned by the DRGW. 

Waiting for the coal train to depart gave us a few hours of downtime. One of the things we did to keep ourselves entertained was to visit the outdoor displays of the Western Mining and Railroad Museum. Josh has been to this museum before, but this is the first time I have visited there. The indoor displays were closed but we walked around the outdoor displays. The DRGW spreader was particularly impressive; and with the snow covering the ground, it was easy to imagine that spreader was ready for the call of action at any moment. Many of the devices on display were equipment from old mines through out Utah.

This narrow gauge electric locomotive represents the common machines used in underground mining operations. These locomotives could have spent years of work underground hauling mine cars.

This mucker on narrow gauge track was used to clear mud out of a Lead/Silver mine near Park City, Utah.

This DRGW spreader is arguably the highlight of the museum collection in Helper. The wood bodied car indicates the spreader is an older machine but the EMD MU cable mounts suggest that this spreader survived in work well into the diesel era.

Hours passed between the coal train reaching the coal load out and when the swing helpers were finally called for the train. The cut of Utah Railway locomotives left the yard in Martin, then highballed straight down the main. Josh and I nearly missed the helpers departing; but we found them near Spring Glen and followed them down to the load out.

At Spring Glen, Utah; MK50-3 Utah Railway 5004, is at point on the light power move. These locomotives will be added to the coal train being loaded at Wellington to help the train make it over the pass.

Utah Railway 2001 was dead in consist with the helpers to be transported back up to Utah Railway's yards in Provo and Midvale. 2001 was built as DRGW 3032 and it was very exciting to see a former Grande locomotive rolling about on this route. It also seemed fitting that one of the locomotives to participate on Utah Railway's final coal train scheduled for the year would have come from the DRGW.

The helpers arrive at the wye north of Wellington to turn out towards the Savage Coal Load Out.

With the helpers now at Savage; our crew of railfans reassembled to watch the train be built on the wye. It was a race against the clock for us, as we hoped to see the train depart early enough to reach the canyon before sun down. The helpers pulled of onto the wye while the rest of the train opened up a cut in the loaded coal cars to allow the helpers to slide into the middle. It was as if the Utah Railway workers were performing a coordinated dance with thousands of tons of steel and coal. The helpers slid into place and air hoses were connected. We were ready to watch the train depart when the air test results began to come over the scanner. There was a failure in the system, the train hadn't built up enough pressure in the air tanks due to the cold air. We sat and waited hopping the second test would produce better results. Even from our position on the opposite end of the wye we could hear the hiss of air as the second test started. Over the scanner we heard the announcement that the second test had the PSI needed; and the train was soon off! Our group of railfans rushed into our respective cars, and the chase was on!

Our next stop to catch the Utah Railway coal train was halfway between Price and Helper. Again, the UP engines were still on point of the coal train.

However the fact this train was a Utah Railway train was well on display with the set of seven locomotives in the middle. Although the 2001 was dead in transit the other six engines were hard at work to help the train make its uphill climb. Five of the engines still wore the classic Utah Railway paint scheme, a welcome sight for our group of railfans.

The Utah Railway helpers sure attracted a lot of attention from our crew. Besides Josh and I, other railfans who were out there on this chase at various points in the day were Matt Paulson, Spencer Peterson, Chaice Moyes, Sean Paul Anderberg, Aaron Pederson, and Jeff Hardenbrook.

The DPU's were our last catch at Book Cliffs as they pushed the train towards its coming assault with the canyon.

Sadly, it seems the small delay in the train was enough to push its arrival into the canyon during sunset. The mountains surrounding the Nolan Tunnels cast the train in deep blue shadow. From our vantage point near a highway turnoff high up in the mountain, we watched the train crawl like a giant snake along the grade.

Although the blue shadow of the setting sun was detrimental to our attempts to take pictures at Nolan; all of us enjoyed the view from high above the track. The sharp curves and steep grades of the route were easily visible from our vantage point, and it felt like we were not observing a real railroad in action; but instead observing the fantasy setting of a model railroad in somebody's basement. This is part of the magic allure which has kept the Rio Grande's routes in the conscious mind of so many railfans world wide. 

Our Utah Railway helpers before hitting the tunnel portal.

Fortunately by the time we pulled further up the mountain into Colton, we found a little bit more light for us to work with for our final shots of the train. A van owned by the crew transport company PTI sat at the crossing to relieve the Utah Railway crew which had been with the train since the morning when Josh and I found it first at Ironton. A fresh crew would take it back to Provo, to then exchange it with the Union Pacific. The train showed up after a short wait, and the last rays of light caught it kicking up snow in the vast field surround the train. 

We seemed to be watching the crew change in reverence and awe. For many of us this would be our last opportunity to chase a Utah Railway coal train. While rumors suggested that a few more coal trains would run into January; many of us had work or school conflicts which would prevent us from being on the summit for that final train. In my case, this was my first time being up on this world famous route to railfan. While I have passed through several times in my car on trips to Moab or Durango this was my first experience chasing a train up here. I wish that the experience had not come at such a somber moment in railroading history as the Utah Railway prepared to wrap up their long history of hauling coal. 

Of course if one thing remains constant in the world of railroads, it is rumors and changes. We left thinking this train on December 26th would be the final coal train; yet it didn't take us long to hear that there were a few more trains scheduled in January to meet Utah Railway's contract. Although the contract expired at the end of 2016, it seems a requirement to haul a certain tonnage amount of coal might have the Utah run a few coal trains in 2017. The coal train we chased on the 24th might not have been "the last coal train on the Utah Railway" if those rumors prove to be true; yet it was officially the last train to run under the dates set in the contract. Of course we had other rumors to contemplate while we chased the train. Some say that BNSF is preparing a new plan to route coal from the Powder River basin out onto the old DRGW route and into Provo. According to this rumor, the BNSF coal loads will be picked up in Provo to be transferred to Ogden by none other than the Utah Railway. Many of us hope this rumor has a grain of truth to it, as the thought of the Utah Railway forever losing coal traffic is a hard idea to swallow. Until that rumor becomes fact though; it seems as if the end of Utah Railway coal trains came during the cold winter days at the end of 2016; and on the start of a new year in 2017.

-Jacob

Note; as of publishing this article it is still uncertain how many coal trains Utah Railway might need to run to fulfill the tonnage requirement in their contract. Rumors pointed that a train would run on January 9th, but recent reports suggest that train has been struck from the schedule. If our train on the 25th was the third to last or second to last coal train for the Utah Railway; has yet to be seen. We here at the D.E.P will be keeping track of any news as this situation unfolds.

UPDATE January 12, 2017: Recent reports report one more train to run under the contract to meet the tonnage requirements on January 16, 2017.

Information on the history of the Utah Railway can be found on UtahRails.Net

Footage of the Utah Railway coal train chase and some footage from our train chase in Milford a few months ago can be seen in the trailer for the documentary project; Trackside: The Story of Railroad Photographers, which has been filmed by Josh during these railfan trips we have been taking.