I could see this coal load climbing out of Wendover for almost 40 minutes before arriving under my perch on the side of Silver Zone Pass. The rear DPU's are rounding Arnolds's Loop. One picture ca... (more)

Tennessee Pass. Mitchell, Colorado. June 1996. If memory serves correctly this eastbound coal load was one of the first Test DPU coal trains run over the Pass. This 2x2 configuration eliminated ... (more)

Union Pacific gives its tribute to Tennessee Pass. The 844 lead this passenger excursion up the Canyons of Arkansas River on the former Rio Grande's Tennessee Pass Line.

A quartet of GE's thunder up Logan Hill at Converse JCT. There is no DPU and AC power has yet to take over the coal fields...

Southern Pacific 290 leads a westbound coal train up the twisting 2% Winter Park Hill. This hill remains as Union Pacific's Moffat Mainline... Unlike Tennessee Pass, the fight with gravity still h... (more)

SP166 leads the charge at Stillwater. The grade here abruptly changes from a knuckle breaking 3% too a 'level' 1%. 39,600 H.P. are needed to lift 13,000+ tons over the Continental Divide at Tenne... (more)

GTW 6406 leads an empty Detroit Edison coal train westbound thru East Lansing, Michigan. GTW6406 is ex Detroit Toledo & Ironton built in 1972. The second locomotive is a Detroit Edison SD40 in its... (more)

The coal fields of Wyoming always attract the newest technology. The grades and adverse conditions in the Powder River Basin make it a proving ground for newest and the best locomotives. In 1996 t... (more)

SP186, and two other motors crawl towards the Continental Divide. The train is twisting thru severe curvature and the sound of steel on steel is deafening..... It is this rail-fans perspective tha... (more)

Last Light.... A trio of AC locomotives lifts a unit coal train into the setting sun at Skyline, MT. By the time the swing help passes the bridge, the sun will fall behind the shadow of the Con... (more)

A massive late spring storm covering several states temporarily gives a break to a few rays of sunshine as a westbound export coal train glides along the banks of Missouri River. This storm will b... (more)

A BNSF / MRL manifest cruises over one of the causeways near Noxon. This area is a sportsman paradise with water galore.....

Utah Railway 5002 leads a colorful consist thru Price River Canyon. The train uses 10 DC locomotives totaling 34500 horsepower to lift this monster over the Wasatch Plateau.

A westbound manifest crosses Austin Creek Viaduct / Skyline Trestle. The bridge lies within Helena National Forest and crosses the former military Road "Mullan Road". At the top of the p... (more)

A westbound unit ballast train climbs out of Helena into the setting sun. The engineer shades his face in order to see the track ahead. A brace of MRL helpers shove hard on the rear as the train ... (more)