21st Century Military Hardware over World War 1 era Bridge
Union Pacific SD70 ACe 8779 on home turf passes over the Kiowa Creek Bridge a structure with numerous alterations since it was constructed for the original Kansas & Pacific Extension the first transcontinental railroad more than 150 years originally contracted for the Chicago, Rock Island, & Pacific. A double intersection Warren Lattice steel truss built in the 1860s kept in service after a recent upgrade to the structure since 2019. In this frame SBTFC-01 with a full complement of military hardware is dashing on the K&P for Denver on the High Plains of Colorado after going on duty at Sharon Springs, KS at 0700 the 5th of February, 2023. A relief crew is called at Denver for 1345 for the trip south down the Colorado Joint Line to Fort Carson, CO. Interesting facts from Bill Marvel, 45 years ago, “in May, 1878, a flash flood swept a Kansas Pacific freight off the rails here burying the engine in quicksand. For years afterwards folks searched for the “lost” engine until 1989, when a Union Pacific archivist uncovered documents showing that the railroad had secretly recovered its engine, but filed an insurance claim -- and collecting“.
