The sound of these 6 Western Pacific units getting underway at Cliffside was simply overwhelming. They had held the main while an eastbound passed by on the siding. Thirty six years ago and I'm st... (more)

Western Pacific GP20 switching in the Elko, Nevada yard. Scanned from a color print

Conforming to the gently meandering bends in the Humboldt River the 'westbound main' of Union Pacific's Elko Subdivision (ex-SP) has just crossed under the eastbound main (ex-WP) in the background... (more)

A pair of 'goat boat' C44s, bracketing a younger sibling, pilot BNSF's westbound trackage rights manifest as it enters the east end of a snow dusted Palisade Canyon.

A friend suggested this might be a good moment to share this photo of UP4141, painted in honor of George HW Bush, leading an eastbound manifest freight through Moapa, NV. This was the only time I ... (more)

Westbound grain loads swim 'down stream' along the northern bank of the Humboldt River at the east end of Palisade Canyon. The EMD powered train is running on Southern Pacific rails while those of... (more)

With a head-end manifest block, a result of Union Pacific's newly adopted precision scheduled railroading, the westbound ZNPOA follows the meandering Humboldt through rugged Palisade Canyon.

Threading the Humboldt River in remote Palisade Canyon eastbound grain empties ride former Western Pacific iron en route to a crew change in Elko, Nevada. Coming in second place to lay rail throug... (more)

Heading back to Sparks

UP 6937 is the first in a long line of stored DD40Xs in the Las Vegas yard. Photo taken with permission.

UP 7310 leads a manifest east through Las Vegas as seen from the hotel room at Circus Circus.

Steam and the Sierras

It's a long hard climb from the valley floor up to Gold Hill. One could watch a train for nearly an hour as it struggles with the grade. And who could im... (more)

Gondolas Through the Desert: Just south of Las Vegas, Nevada, two SD70ACe locomotives bring a train of empty gondola cars across the Mojave Desert.

During the construction of the glorious Reno Trench, the UP main was detoured to the East side of the depot down Commercial St. Until 1950, the east side of the depot had been the depot access for... (more)