It really does snow in the desert, as this scene on Union Pacific’s Green River Subdivision in Utah illustrates. A short UP LJP45 local, also known as the “dirt train,” is about to pass over the small trestle at mile 607.46 west of Wash, on the morning of February 5, 2004. Powering the train is three Rio Grande EMD SD40T-2s, led by venerable No. 5349. Even though the train this day is exclusively containers of trash from the Salt Lake City area, the train frequently carried contaminated dirt, for which it received its nickname.
