Led by Rio Grande’s first Tunnel Motor, SD40T-2 No. 5341, an eastbound Rio Grande freight climbs the steep 3-percent grade of Tennessee Pass at Mitchell on a July 1984 morning. A total of 20,850 horsepower of EMD locomotives is powering the head end of this train; behind No. 5341 is a SD45, two GP40s, a GP40-2, a GP30 and lastly, another SD40T-2. Combined with the 18,600 h.p. worth of manned helpers cut in mid-train, this freight required almost 40,000 h.p. to climb the pass!
An exclamation attributed to TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson, it is this eponymous expression of which certain images convey man and machine versus nature . . .
