Late at night, SP GP60 No. 9794 sits in frigid snowfall at UP's Burnham Yard in Denver.

WP Alco S2 No. 561 brings cars from the Santa Fe interchange to WP's yard.

At dusk, SP Alco 4008 switches the small yard at Lathrop where the railroad interchanges with Sharpe Army Depot.

Brand-new BNSF Dash 9 No. 1092 idles at dusk in the engine facility with Santa Fe power.

Santa Fe 5533 West storms past SP's yard late in the morning as it approaches the point where the Tehachapi grade starts in earnest.

Deep in the heart of the Arizona Divide, Santa Fe 914 West glides downhill at Challender. In the distance, a bald eagle searches the landscape for its next meal.

A westbound UP stack train rolls off the Dragoon Mountains into Benson, AZ. In a few minutes, the train will be climbing the stiff grade toward the summit at Mescal.

A Santa Fe 189 train roars up the 1.0 percent grade in Franklin Canyon. The westbound has just pierced tunnel 1 and 2, and is now headed for tunnel 3, the longest bore on the entire system.

Near sunset, BNSF workers at the north fuel racks get out of their vehicle to perform maintenance on the power of a couple of northbounds.

A maintenance worker rides BNSF's inspection car "Rio Grande" as the train's brakeman walks back up to the head end after throwing a switch into a siding.

Santa Fe C44-9W No. 613 leads a short westbound BNSF pig train upgrade at Klondike

Santa Fe 636 West moves up the siding at Sando after the dispatcher ran an Amtrak San Joaquin around it.

A Santa Fe 199 train has new EMDs and GEs for power as it negotiates reverse curves at Hercules, CA.

At dusk, Santa Fe 237 East idles in the siding and meets a westbound at Knightsen. If you look closely, you can see one of the illuminated dials in 237's cab.

In bone-chilling fog, Santa Fe trains meet at Cable Crossover near the top of Tehachapi Pass. Both of these trains are moving relatively fast, adding to the penetrating wind that blows through the... (more)