Rio Grande EMD SD40T-2 No. 5371 flies over Bridge 607.28 east of Wash, Utah, as it leads the “dirt train” out through the desert to the junction with the Sunnyside Branch at Mounds on October ... (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)

Union Pacific's LJP45 "dirt train" local passes through Spring Glen, UT with a string of empties in tow. In a few moments the train will arrive back in the yard at Helper. Powering the... (more)

Three Rio Grande EMD SD40T-2 Tunnel Motors head eastbound through Castilla with a short “dirt train” picked up at Sutro on the west side of the Soldier Summit grade. With only five unpatched/u... (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)

On the beautiful autumn morning of October 6, 2004, Union Pacific’s LJP45 “dirt train” local out of Helper cruises through Spring Glen, Utah. Hardly looks like the UP though, with three Rio ... (more)

The effects of water on desert landscapes is evident in this vista of the eastbound Union Pacific LJP45 “dirt train” local at West Mounds, Utah, on April 6, 2005. A pair of Rio Grande EMD SD40... (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)

The “dirt train” out of Helper approaches the west switch at Mounds, Utah, on November 22, 2003. A light dusting of snow has frosted the remarkable textures of the high desert as Rio Grande Tu... (more)

On a bright, late autumn day, Union Pacific’s LJP45 “dirt train,” hauling contaminated dirt and municipal waste, passes mile 607.4 east of Wash, Utah, on November 21, 2003. Three Rio Grande ... (more)

With the emerald colors of spring sprouting in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, three Rio Grande Tunnel Motors head eastbound through Castilla with a “dirt train” picked up at Sutro on the west ... (more)

With the Green River Subdivision main line in the foreground, Union Pacific’s LJP45 “dirt train” curves through Mounds, Utah, on the Sunnyside Branch on November 21, 2003. Three Rio Grande E... (more)

Eastbound Union Pacific “dirt train” LJP45 local pours it on approaching Mounds, Utah, on May 4, 2004. Many times as the train approached our location, regular engineer Mel Baughman would spot... (more)