A trio of Rio Grande tunnel motors are on the Sunnyside branch with the dirt train. It's 7 years after the merge but the Rio Grande is being kept alive in Helper, Utah.

Heading up the Sunnyside Branch on October 25, 2007, Union Pacific’s LJP45 “dirt train” is led by Rio Grande SD40T-2 No. 5371, with wrinkled paint and weathered Rio Grande logo still emblazoning t... (more)

With snow still falling on a stormy-looking Bookcliffs in the background, westbound Union Pacific “dirt train” local LJP45 rolls into brilliant sunshine as it passes the east switch at Banning, Ut... (more)

Gone are the days of the dirt train with 3 or 4 Rio Grande tunnel motors. It is though still a haven for locomotives that past their prime fighting to stay on the Union Pacific roster. Today's tra... (more)

A loaded coal train with a quartet Rio Grande tunnel motors rolls past the siding of Banning on Rio Grande's Sunnyside Branch. Scanned from a Kodachrome slide.

For now, the "dirt train" consist still includes a Rio Grande tunnel motor. The sun appeared briefly to illuminate this scene on an otherwise cloudy and snowy day.