It's 2003 but you would never know it. The employees in Helper, Utah keep the Rio Grande alive as long as they could. D&RGW 5349, 5354, and 5390. near the end of the Sunnyside Branch with a loaded... (more)

In the snow-covered desert of Utah, Union Pacific’s LJP45 dirt train approaches the ECDC landfill at East Carbon on February 5, 2004. Three Rio Grande EMD SD40T-2 Tunnel Motors, Nos. 5349, 5371 ... (more)

Union Pacific’s LJP45 dirt train local rolls westward from the rotor at East carbon Development Corporation (ECDC) landfill at East Carbon, Utah, on April 7, 2005. The local is led by Rio Grande... (more)

Union Pacific's "Dirt Train" is led by a typical (for the era) three-pack of Rio Grande tunnel motors as the train approaches the disposal site in East Carbon. The snow-covered Wasatch ... (more)

A tired turbocharger is beginning to plague Rio Grande SD40T-2 No. 5371 late in life as seen while switching the East Carbon Development Corporation (ECDC) landfill at East carbon, Utah, on April ... (more)

Traveling light engines on June 25, 2004, Union Pacific’s LJP45 “dirt train” local trundles into East Carbon under a spectacular thunderhead building over Utah’s Book Cliffs. Three Rio Gra... (more)

Engineer Mel Baughman mugs for the camera from the cab of Rio Grande EMD SD40T-2 No. 5349 at East Carbon, Utah, on February 5, 2004. Around Helper, these sullied, weary, black locomotives parked o... (more)

Goodbye, Mel
Railroading and I lost a friend last week. Mel Baughman was born in Rifle, Colorado, on November 2, 1948, and began working for the Rio Grande in 1967, subsequently becoming... (more)

Engineer Mel Baughman watches ahead at his brakeman on the ground directing his next move at East Carbon, Utah, on February 1, 2006. He is switching cars at the large landfill facility ECDC from t... (more)

Thunderstorms gather over the Book Cliffs to the north as three Rio Grande Tunnel Motors put their train together at the ECDC landfill at East Carbon, Utah, on October 5, 2004. This local train (L... (more)

Rio Grande SD40T-2 Tunnel Motors are parked at mile 14.4 on the Sunnyside Branch as the crew of Union Pacific’s LJP45 “dirt train” local has lunch on October 6, 2004. Parked next the locomot... (more)

In really nice springtime weather, the crew of Union Pacific’s LJP45 “dirt train” has lunch at the Valdez Drive-In at East Carbon, Utah, on May 4, 2004. As food is prepared, a couple of loca... (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)

On the afternoon of May 23, 2002, Rio Grande Tunnel Motor No. 5377 rolls through Columbia Junction, Utah, as part of the “dirt train” power on the Sunnyside Branch. Years of aging and change h... (more)