Freshly painted UP 1996 sits on the ready tracks outside of NRE Locomotive shops at Mount Vernon, IL. UP 2001, UP 2002 & UP 1989 were also on the property during my visit.

A westbound freight train back in August 1996 is carrying power that really doesn't exist much anymore on the UP. A Pair of SD9043 and a pair of "ZZ-tops" roll a westbound at Chelsea. Ba... (more)

I am really glad I was turned onto this era that the UP went thru in early 2000's. Helper Utah seemed to be the holding ground for the last life of the Rio Grande tunnel motors. The main attracti... (more)

Man life was good back in early 2000's. Someone from UP thought it was cool to get most of the DRGW tunnel motors and placed them in Helper, Utah. It was a railfan's delight. Here a trio of helper... (more)

Snow is coming down pretty heavy in the higher elevations as this Denver to Salt Lake freight train fights the weather and the grade towards Moffat Tunnel. The train is seen here just down from Cl... (more)

For alittle while in early 2000's the UP went thru an era where they were using alot of small 4 axle units on the branchlines in Iowa. Eagle Grove was the hideout for UP B23-7's, SP B23-7's, and C... (more)

A southbound UP freight train passes the elevator at Garden City on the UP Spineline. Today's train is power by 2 nice looking WC motors. Garden City is in central Iowa and 15 miles north of Nevad... (more)

A southbound sits in the siding at Sheffield after bucking drifts out of Mason City. Sheffield is the 1st siding out of Mason City on the UP Spineline. This is the ex-Rock Island route from St. Pa... (more)

Down from Tunnel #1 on the Moffat Tunnel Sub is the crossing called Blue Mountain Road. This spot one could stack the mid-train power over top the head end power on most coal trains. This was a ne... (more)

The UP had a coal branch that ran south of Grand Junction, CO, out to Hawksnet, CO. The branch was 91 miles long and was built in 1902. The DRGW/SP/UP used it as a coal branch out to a few mines l... (more)

Along the banks of the Des Moines River, this westbound UP train crosses the 190 feet high and 2,700 feet long Kate Shelly High Bridge after sunset. The train is just out of Boone for the trip to ... (more)

Eastbound coal train just left the Boone Yard. I don't think alot of the CNW SD60's got repainted into this "traditional CNW yellow" paint from the "zito yellow" they were deli... (more)

This era didn't last long enough. Once the UP got the SP and CNW, things got mixed up. Here a northbound Spineline train passes thru Bradford. The train is working between Nevada, IA, and Mason Ci... (more)

A trackage rights UP train races along the BNSF Transcon Main outside of Ethel in northern Missouri. The train is about to pass thru West Ethel, and is about 100 miles from the next crew change at... (more)

The UP had a coal branch that ran south of Grand Junction, CO, out to Hawksnet, CO. The branch was 91 miles long and was built in 1902. The DRGW/SP/UP used it as a coal branch out to a few mines l... (more)