I wanted to back up a little further from the tracks for this shot but could not. The private road behind me was not plowed and high snow berms created by plowing out the public road crossing dire... (more)

I was driving east across the Bonneville Salt Flats on I80 in Utah on my way home from Silver Zone Pass when I overtook UP’s Wendover Local at Clive. I took the Clive exit, but just as I got to ... (more)

Empty crude oil tanks headed for the Union Pacific’s Helper Yard. 21 empties and one very odd coil steel car apparently serving as a buffer. In past times, Helper Yard was often full of coal hop... (more)

This scene is at the Canyon Coal Company’s Skyline Mine flood loader high up on the Wasatch Plateau in Utah. Elevation here is over 8000’. The mine is out of sight, on the left, up a canyon a... (more)

A sucker hole opened up at just the right time and place on this otherwise mostly cloudy day to illuminate my subject. This is a westbound Union Pacific grain train on the upper level of the climb... (more)

Eastbound freights are pretty scarce on Union Pacific’s Shafter Sub. in Utah and Nevada. Most eastbounds take the parallel and faster Lakeside Sub., a few miles to the north. The daily manifest ... (more)

Westbound, empty Southern Pacific coal train at (drum roll) Ludlow, Colorado, on the old Colorado and Southern main line. No, it’s not a detour. It is running on trackage rights granted to SP at... (more)

ALC-42 Charger #308 leads Amtrak #8, the eastbound Empire Builder, into La Crosse, Wisconsin. #308 and Charger #310 are the sole power for today’s #8. Most of the train is still on that large dr... (more)

BNSF 7427 leads the daily Provo to Denver trackage rights train down the east slope of Utah's Soldier Summit. The train is approaching the west switch at Kyune where the rails enter the Price Rive... (more)

After working its way through a glut of MOW activity on the east side of Soldier Summit, Utah, the KCS 4702 has finally reached the summit. It will be held here for nearly an hour before getting c... (more)

Crystal clear sky, Pilot Peak, and great light make for a good shot of this Union Pacific manifest freight climbing Silver Zone Pass in far eastern Nevada.

This trio of immaculate General Electric E60’s has the morning, loaded, train well in hand as they climb a short, steep grade that takes them out of eastern Utah’s Coyote Basin. Today’s trai... (more)

Amtrak #5, the westbound Zephyr rounds one of the many sharp curves in Byers Canyon, Colorado. I understand the curve the train has just passed is the sharpest curve on the old D&RGW mainline.

Seen here at Kyune on the Union Pacific Provo sub is the shortest Utah Ry. coal train I have ever seen; only 20 loaded cars! The train loaded on the Castle Valley spur at the Savage Loadout and is... (more)

I first encountered this westbound BNSF trackage rights train on UP’s Shafter sub while I was driving west on parallel Interstate 80 west of Salt Lake City. Maintenance of Way work near Aragonit... (more)