Just before sunrise on October 8, 2004, Union Pacific’s LJP45 local heads for the Sunnyside Branch at West Mounds, Utah. Rio Grande SD40T-2 “Tunnel Motor” No. 5371 erupts with smoke as it sw... (more)

A rising sun brightly silhouettes Rio Grande EMD SD40T-2 No. 5371 as the local switches Mounds, Utah, on October 8, 2004. A stark nose profile of a variant of one of General Motors’ best selling... (more)

Somber gray clouds hang over the Wasatch Range on the morning of January 30, 2003, as Rio Grande SD40T-2 No. 5371 leads the Union Pacific “dirt train” past mile 607.4 east of Wash, Utah. Engin... (more)

Union Pacific’s LJP45 “dirt train” approaches Mounds, Utah, on the Sunnyside Branch on a sunny May 5, 2004. By this date, only five “unpatched” Rio Grande SD40T-2 Tunnel Motors survive o... (more)

An eastbound Union Pacific “dirt train” led by Rio Grande EMD SD40T-2 Tunnel Motor No. 5390 curves by the colorful rocks west of Narrows, Utah, on May 5, 2004.

On a beautiful spring day in the Utah mountains, Union Pacific’s LJP45 “dirt train” makes a special run over to Sutro on the western approach of the grade over Soldier Summit. In this view, ... (more)

In a view from a plateau overlooking Price River Valley where it flows into the intermountain desert, the eastbound Union Pacific “dirt train” curves through the cut at mile 607.35 on the Gree... (more)

Three Rio Grande Tunnel Motors head eastbound through Gilluly, Utah, with a “dirt train” picked up at Sutro on the west side of the Soldier Summit grade. With only five unpatched Rio Grande SD... (more)

With late season thunderstorms rumbling over the Bookcliffs in the background, Union Pacific’s LJP45 “dirt train” local approaches Mounds, Utah, late on the afternoon of November 21, 2003. R... (more)

Union Pacific’s LJP45 “dirt train” rumbles through Spring Glen, Utah, on the morning of April 4, 2000. Three Rio Grande EMD SD40T-2 Tunnel Motors power the eastbound local, with No. 5347 lea... (more)

The last Rio Grande tunnel motor to work the Helper, UT-based "Dirt Train" leads empties west out of Sunnyside for Mounds where the train will rejoin the main (Green River Sub). As of the date of... (more)

By mid-2002, there were still 47 former Rio Grande EMD SD40T-2 “Tunnel Motors” roaming the Union Pacific system, but only seven were not patched (renumbered) or painted yellow. At this time, f... (more)

Just after lunchtime, Rio Grande SD40T-2s leave East Carbon, Utah, passing one of Bo Huff's custom cars (looks to be a Ford product) on October 8, 2004. Until the very end, Rio Grande painted and ... (more)

After switching Mounds, Utah, at sunrise, the “dirt train” heads toward East Carbon past low morning light and “John Ford movie-like” desert buttes. Leading the train are three Rio Grande ... (more)

On May 24, 2002, in a vista just east of Wash, Utah, a quartet of Rio Grande Tunnel Motors cross a bridge over the Price River and enter Wellington Canyon. The eastbound “dirt train” (contamin... (more)