My Utah Rail Encounters

A Utah Railway coal train behind former SP SD-45's along the Spanish Fork River, Fall 1989

Utah has always been a part of my life, although I don’t consider that something to brag about.  With both family and religious ties to the Beehive State, I visited there many times as a child.  As my interest in railroads coincided with my growing awareness of place and time, later trips to Utah also became opportunities to see and learn about railroads other than those I encountered at home.



Two early rail photos from North Salt Lake yard, August, 1981

So on one trip, circa 1978, the high point for me was riding the Heber Creeper, then operated by the Wasatch Mountain Railroad.  Back then, the trains turned at Bridal Veil Falls, where the roadbed today is a hiking trail.  On another visit in 1981, Dad took me down to Union Pacific’s North Salt Lake yard for an hour or so, where I shot photos of an idling Union Pacific GP-30 and an arriving Western Pacific train.  That 1981 trip may have been the last one until my August 1984 arrival in Provo to attend Brigham Young University.

Here’s what I knew about Utah railroads prior to my actual residence in that state: first, Union Pacific in Utah looked a lot like Union Pacific in Spokane.  This was one railroad to which I was not a stranger, so I certainly found it the least interesting.  Of course, UP’s history is inextricably linked with Utah’s history, thanks to the 1869 driving of the Golden Spike in possibly the most god-forsaken corner of the state (more on Promontory later, and no, it’s really not that bad out there).

I found other railroads in Utah much more intriguing than UP.  Southern Pacific met up with its Overland Route partner, Union Pacific, in Ogden.  The Denver & Rio Grande Western connected Denver with Salt Lake City (and Ogden) “Through the Mountains, Not Around Them”, and no truer words were ever contained in a railroad motto.  Finally, there was Western Pacific, or at least there had been until two years earlier when that proud road fell victim to UP’s voracious merger appetite.

Provo's "brick and mortar" depot, the location for many hours of "homework" my freshman year.  That's my 10-speed propped against the light pole.

Of the three remaining, SP stayed outside my reach, as it did not serve Provo directly.  There was the catch, my only transportation as a college freshman was my dad’s old 10-speed.  But that was enough to make the Provo depot accessible to me, and it became the backdrop for many hours of train watching that school year.  This was when the actual brick-and-mortar depot still stood at the foot of 3^rd West.  As an active Amtrak stop, the waiting room was open most hours.  Even though it was not staffed all the time, it did offer restroom facilities that made long visits there bearable.

When I had time available, most often on Saturdays, I would load a couple textbooks in my backpack, hop on the 10-speed, and pedal down to the depot for some “homework” while sitting out on the platform with my back resting against the sun-warmed bricks.  Yes, a few assignments got completed, but most often I was craning my neck up and down the tracks, or straining my ear, to detect the next oncoming train.  And frankly, the DRGW did not slouch in that department.

Two of perhaps hundreds of D&RGW trains I witnessed in Provo.  Fall 1984 (top) and Spring 1985 (above)

There’s no way I could count all the Rio Grande trains that passed on my visits – I don’t think I made any trips there where I didn’t see a train.

I took this shot just because I was bored. I was not a fan of UP's "SW-10's" - EMD switchers modified with the radiator section from a retired GP-7 or -9. But now, everything has changed in this location except the mountains, and I'm really glad I took this photo when I did.

Union Pacific also made periodic visits, and provided some local switching activity as well when one of their “SW-10” locomotives worked the scrap yard where the FrontRunner station is today.

Before I continue relating my experiences, I should list all the things I did not see because of limited transportation, and really crappy timing.  I did not see the Utah Railway Alcos – they were all gone by then.  Even if they were still operating in Fall of ’84, I’m not sure I would have known about them as they never ventured west of Provo Yard, and that yard was not easily accessible to me (plus, I didn’t have any good maps of Provo to show me how to get there).

By about 12 months I missed seeing the Rio Grande Zephyr.  Instead, I had to settle for Amtrak’s pale replacement, the California Zephyr, and it looked a whole lot like the Empire Builder back home.

I did not see Geneva Steel’s fleet of Baldwin switchers in action. They still ran out there at the mill, but it was outside my travel radius.  And besides, most of them had been re-engined with EMDs, so the thrill would not have been as great.

Another thing I did not see were cabooses on every passing train.  I knew from reading Trains magazine that caboose-less trains would save the industry time and money, but this first year in Utah happened to be when that trend first became apparent.  Sure enough, when I returned home the following summer, only about half of BN's trains ran with cabooses, and that number dropped off quickly from there.

Fourth unit back is one of UP's Centennials hauling freight.  Oct, 1984.

One thing I did manage to witness in Utah, if only barely, was the last gasp of Union Pacific’s “Centennial” fleet.  At this time, UP was experiencing a modest traffic boom, so they had brought a few of their 8-axled, 6600 hp, 6900-series locomotive out of storage.  On a quick weekend jaunt home to Spokane with a friend, I had seen a few of these in the power sets of UP trains up in Oregon.  On our return trip, when curiosity got the better of us, we drove down to Nevada from Twin Falls then east along the salt flats.

On that straight stretch of Interstate 80, I saw an oncoming train on the parallel ex-WP mainline.  My friend pulled over, and I took an into-the-sun shot of the passing train.  Owing to the distance, the short focal length of my Canon “Sure-Shot”, and the backlit train, I have in tiny silhouette my own image of a DDA-40X locomotive in freight service.  And, it wasn’t even leading the train.

Fittingly, my freshman year complete, I left Utah on a train: Amtrak’s Pioneer, which story has been recounted elsewhere in my blog.

After a three-year absence from the state, two years of it on my mission in Denmark, I returned.  My first trip back was with my mom to retrieve my sister from her sophomore year at BYU.  Rail-wise, this trip was significant only because of a chance encounter with a rare and long-ago-scrapped piece of railroad history.

My interest in Baldwin diesel locomotives had grown significantly in the past few years, so I couldn’t help noticing the squared off hood of a Baldwin road switcher spotted on a rail spur out by the airport, along with some other old rail equipment.  Mom and Julie were shopping somewhere, and I didn’t have to meet them for an hour or so.  I pulled onto the shoulder of the freeway onramp and took a short walk over to the siding.


Former Baldwin Locomotive Works demonstrator DRS-6-4-1500 1501 languishes in the weeds near the Salt Lake Airport, April 1988.  Despite its historic status, the local NRHS chapter let her go from their collection to a scrapper.  Idiots.



I purchased this slide on eBay (photographer unknown), showing the same locomotive in better days.  Note that even after receiving the chopped short hood, she retained a simplified version of her BLW demonstrator paint scheme.

Sure enough, it was a Baldwin, but one with a “chopped” short hood, which was odd - normal for an EMD “geep”, but odd for a Baldwin.  It had no markings beyond its number painted in bold numerals, and it clearly wasn’t going anywhere soon under its own power – there was a crankshaft laying on one of the walkways.  Probably not a good sign.  I snapped a couple photos and got back to my car.  Good thing I took those – this was actually a former BLW demonstrator locomotive that Kennecott Copper had purchased, given a nose job after a collision, and then donated to the local NRHS chapter upon its retirement.

Unfortunately, NRHS chapters apparently have no love or respect for Baldwin diesels.  This is one of two I can name where the NRHS guys were too lazy, broke or stupid to preserve an historic Baldwin and let it go to the scrappers!  I probably will never join the NRHS on account of these failings.

In August, 1988, I returned to continue my schooling at BYU.  My circumstances hadn’t changed much as far as transportation, but I did manage to get out and see a little more than my freshman year.  The most significant experience I had that semester was seeing Soldier Summit for the first time.  Two former mission companions were getting married the same day in September.  While trying to figure out how to be in two places at once, my new boss offered me the use of his delivery van.

Originally a Great Northern unit, Utah Ry. F-45 6613 still wears Burlington Northern's Cascade Green in this September 1988 encounter at Soldier Summit.  Notice how the BN logo was altered to a "Flying U".  Another F-45 can be seen as third unit in the consist.

After attending my one friend’s ceremony in the Salt Lake Temple, I hustled south to Price for my other friend’s reception.  Julie joined me for this leg of the trip, and she had to put up with a lot of wows uttered under my breath as I realized what a fantastic place that series of canyons was to watch trains.  And (bonus!), at the summit I found two Utah Railway trains with former SP and BN SD-45s and a couple ex-BN (originally Great Northern) F-45s!!

After Christmas at home in Spokane, I returned to Utah armed with a proper 35mm SLR camera, a Nikon N4004.  Another difference was that one of my apartment mates had recently purchased a used Ford Bronco II, and he was willing to drive me places in exchange for gas money.  I began experiencing some frustration with my new Nikon, however.  It was too automated.  For instance, if the computer did not agree that my chosen settings would result in an acceptable image, it would not open the shutter when I pressed the release.

And, you would think that a technological marvel like that would be smart enough to let me know when film in the camera was not properly loaded!  This bit me in the butt at a very inopportune time.  My friend James had driven up from Phoenix for a long weekend of train chasing, and we saw quite a bit of action during his visit.

A westbound UP coal train, led by C30-7 2437 at Springville.  One of several shots taken during James' 1989 visit that actually made it onto film.

While on the far side of Soldier Summit, we encountered a westbound Utah Ry. train with a mix of 20-cylinder EMD power, 3 up front, 4 mid train and 3 shoving.  In the confines of the Price River Canyon, the racket this train made was simply amazing.  We followed it up grade and shot a bunch of photos, except I found out too late my camera was not loaded and none of my intended images ever made it onto film!!  The rest of the weekend was OK; we shot a bunch of other trains up on Soldier Summit, we visited the Kennecott yard and saw the odd high-cab GP-39-2s at work, and we saw other items from the NRHS collection, including two Utah Ry. Alcos.

The next school year, I was able to bring a car down with me, a green 1972 Galaxie 500 I’d inherited from my grandfather when he passed away.  This made me somewhat more mobile, but not consistently due to a series of mechanical problems that sidelined it for weeks at a time while I saved up money for each repair.  When it was running, I still did not stray too far, but managed to visit Soldier Summit a few more times.

Clay Peterson and his friends let me tag along on a trip slightly outside the Utah border to see this, the last D&RGW SD-9 and one of the last GP-9s in hump service at Grand Junction, CO, Fall 1989.

This year, my understanding of Utah railroads grew exponentially when I started hanging out at a nearby hobby shop – Trainmaster Hobbies.  That shop’s proprietor, Clay Peterson, and a gang of his friends who also visited frequently, educated me considerably on the comings and goings of trains in Provo.  They spent a lot of time lamenting the increasing frequency of Southern Pacific locomotives on D&RGW trains.  Rio Grande Industries had recently purchased the SP, but in a reversal from typical railroad acquisitions, the new parent recognized that SP had greater name recognition and chose to have SP absorb the D&RGW.  My new friends were not happy about this!

At mid year, I was able to travel back to Denmark to spend Christmas and New Years with my fiancée, Nici King.  However, on the way home I managed to misplace my N4004 at JFK - not the best place to lose a camera - and I never saw it again.  I wasn't too sad to be rid of it, but I had hoped to sell it and buy something else!  When Nici heard about my dilemma, she chose to give me her camera as an early wedding present.  She sent it over to the States with friends of ours who had also been holiday-ing in Denmark, and they delivered it to me within a couple weeks!  This was a Nikon F-301 (the European model equivalent to the N2002), and was a much better camera for me.  Even in this digital age, I still use it to shoot B&W film alongside my digital Nikon.

Another school year came and went, and by the time the next one dawned, I was a married man.  I made a couple “last chance” railfan trips prior to the blessed occasion – including one down to Arizona that I described in a previous blog.  One limitation my married status placed on railfanning was my budget-minded wife insisting I not burn as much film.  This actually taught me patience and “pre-envisioning”, so that one or two exposures (rather than a half dozen shots) of a passing train would result in the best possible photos.  Nici did not mind going on short trips with me to watch trains, at least until our first child arrived.  But that was another year in the future at the time.

Taken from the employee parking lot at Jolene Co., this set of GP-30s appears headed for work at Geneva Steel, or possibly running farther up the line to Midvale.

Once settled into our apartment, Nici took a job with JoLene Co., which produced children’s clothing and had its production facility on the south side of the tracks through Provo.  So, nearly every day when I would drop her off or pick her up from work, I would see one or more trains!  The best ones were afternoon westbounds, which would be particularly well lit when viewed from the parking lot where I waited for her.

The last three years of school all seem to blur in a railfanning sense – there were few significant adventures that stand out.  However, the mundane was not too bad.  Every-day events included:



·         Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe’s little ex-UP NW-2 switching beat up gondolas of scrap iron,

·         Coal trains led by sets of Utah Railway’s rebuilt SD-40s, wearing an updated version of their famous gray with red stripe paint scheme, with mid and rear train helpers still slogging over Soldier Summit,

·         Many freight trains still led by “pure” consists of Rio Grande tunnel motors, and

·         Lots of DRGW GP-30’s still working hard in local service, including occasional sightings of them working the Tintic Branch west of Springville.

One additional benefit to marrying Nici was her “adoptive” family, the Elmer clan, living in Ogden.  Several times while married, we visited and stayed with Grandma Elmer, and this gave me opportunities to witness the rail activity up there.  Most of the family’s households sat on 17^th Ave. in a part of town completely cut off by the SP’s Overland Route from the Great Salt Lake causeway and into Ogden Union Station, so it was nearly impossible to avoid the trains if I had wanted to.


The eastbound Pioneer exiting UP's Ogden Subdivision, June, 1991.

An eastbound UP freight near Honeyville, June, 1991

An SP local working west of Ogden, Feb, 1993.

Two significant episodes I remember from Ogden visits were chasing UP trains on the single-track, ABS controlled Ogden Sub north toward Pocatello.  I also shot an early morning photo of Amtrak’s Pioneer coming off that sub.  And, on a dreary winter day, I drove out toward the lake and encountered two SP GP-9s working one of the industrial spurs out that way.

An omen of the future, for me at least.  Conrail C30-7 leading coal empties at Scofield, UT, May 1993.

Upon graduation, we prepared to travel east to a new job in Michigan.  Before leaving, another railfan friend invited me to head up Soldier Summit with him one last time (I have been back since, but not many times).  We bagged Utah Ry. trains coming over the summit, but the most interesting thing we saw was a train of coal empties heading up the Scofield branch, with two Conrail GE units!  That was a weird coincidence, because less than a week later, we were setting up housekeeping just a few blocks from a Conrail branch serving our new community.

As a graduation present, my parents purchased a video camera, ostensibly to record their grandkids - but they knew full well what it would mostly be used for.  In the last week before leaving , I managed to record a few glimpses of Utah railroading in action.

As said, I’ve been back to Utah many times since, and many things have changed.  For starters, on short visits with family and friends, there is seldom the same kind of time available to watch trains as there was when I lived there.  After the UP-SP merger, no D&RGW-painted locomotives can be found in revenue service, and SP engines are almost gone too.  And, with UP now owning redundant mainlines in the Denver/Cheyenne to SLC/Ogden corridor, traffic levels over Soldier Summit have suffered.

A southbound FrontRunner train approaches its terminal at Provo.  Aug, 2015.

One thing that has changed for the “better” is the establishment of UTA’s “FrontRunner” commuter trains, operating on or alongside the former D&RGW mainline between Ogden and Vineyard (near Orem), where it shifts over to UP’s Provo Sub for the last few miles into Provo station.  This means scheduled trains can be seen in action 6 days per week.

With the approaching May, 2019 sesquicentennial of completing the Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit, west of Brigham City, the Beehive State will become a major mecca for railfans.  No less than four separate railroad history organizations will hold their annual conventions in Ogden, in addition to whatever corporate events Union Pacific decides to host.  Plus, most enthusiasts are hoping UP’s Big Boy steam locomotive 4014 will have been fully restored and operating as part of the celebration.

My long term plans certainly include attending this event.  Whether I can afford to participate as one of the conventioneers or will have to settle for whatever crumbs fall off their table remains to be seen.  But, even if I am fully vested in all the official activity, I certainly plan to break away for some of the more mundane rail activity while there.  Just like the good old days, I guess.

Chasing the Past (Lame title, I know)

Creeping, not all that slowly, down the Deep Creek grade, former Great Northern SDP-40, now Montana Rail Link 290,  has just led its train of grain empties underneath the former GN mainline where it once led the Empire Builder and Western Star passenger trains.

Speaking of “over-railfanned” trains (see my previous blog), another rail operation receiving an increased, but not undue, amount of attention lately is the Eastern Washington Gateway.  The EWG is a shortline railroad offering service to wheat shippers located on the former Northern Pacific “Central Washington” branch from Cheney to Coulee City, WA.  The Washington State Dept. of Transportation owns the route itself, and EWG holds a contract with the State to operate the line.

I grew up in the Spokane area and spent a lot of time between there and Cheney, so I’m very familiar with the “CW” as it exits Cheney and heads west.  However, I always had rotten luck finding trains running that route during the BN era.  Plus, because my familiarity with the line did not extend west of Medical Lake, I never dared take much time seeking out rail activity there.

It wasn’t until I returned to the Northwest as an adult that I learned more.  By this time, the Palouse River & Coulee City RR had acquired the CW from BNSF, and I had become acquainted with some of the PCC staff.  They were willing to clue me in on when and where I could best see a train on the CW, and I tracked down (intended pun?  You be the judge) a couple trains heading out from Cheney.  I even wrote an article about the PCC that ran in the April, 2000 issue of Railfan & Railroad and included coverage of the CW.

More recently, a large number of Spokane-area rail enthusiasts have really latched onto the EWG and have posted their exploits, almost on a daily basis, to the Pacific Northwest Railfans Facebook group.  It also helps that two or more of the EWG crew members are self-avowed “foamers” and are willing to share information with fans on when and where trains will be running on a particular day.

As with many shortlines, a key attraction to the EWG is the “rag-tag fleet” of locomotives they use (see, I managed to fit in a Battlestar Galactica reference!).  When the EWG started up, their roster included a few SD-45 and SD-45-2 models, which was pretty exciting.  As these reached their end of usefulness, the EWG gradually replaced them with other oddball castoffs.

Oddest of the odd, a former Chesapeake & Ohio SD-18 on trade-in trucks from old Alcos, sits in the Western Rail, Inc. yard awaiting its fate.  Attempts had been made to use it on EWG trains, but a series of mechanical breakdowns made that impractical.

These “oddballs” have included GE B23-7, B40-8, C40-8, and EMD GP-7 and SD-40T-2 models in a variety of paint schemes.  The most interesting engine so far was a former C&O EMD SD-18 with a low nose (and trade-in trucks from old six-motor Alcos) still painted in Chessie System colors.  Unfortunately, this one only made one or two trips on the EWG before mechanical problems sidelined it for good.

The EWG does not appear to directly own any of the locomotives they use, as nearly all have carried reporting marks for lessors Northern Illinois & Wisconsin (NIWX) or Western Rail (WRIX).  Conveniently, Western Rail is located right on the EWG’s Geiger Spur and also performs nearly all maintenance on the EWG’s leased power.

I live in the Tri-Cities area now, and travel to Spokane frequently to visit family up there.  But, the usual family oriented one or two-day trips up there have not left much time for serious pursuit of EWG trains.  A couple weeks ago, however, the stars aligned and I found a likely opportunity to chase an EWG train.

I planned on driving up to Spokane on a Saturday morning to help my son with some car repairs he couldn’t complete on his own.  I only expected the work to take an hour or two, and I had commitments to be home in the TC by the evening.  This would leave a 3 to 4-hour period of potential “me” time.  If there happened to be an EWG train running anywhere on the line, I might be able to follow and photograph it.

A week before my chase of the EWG train, I had been through Cheney and had found MRL 290 idling with the other EWG power.  This encounter whetted my appetite for catching the engine in action.

An added level of anticipation came from the possible presence of a “celebrity guest” locomotive at the head end of EWG trains.  With most of its long-term leased locomotives down for a variety of reasons, the EWG had recently signed a short-term lease for a rare SDP-40, Montana Rail Link number 290.  The 290 had originally been built for the Great Northern Railway, in 1967, for use at the head end of the GN’s premier cross-country passenger trains.

Back then, passenger cars required a source of steam to run their heating and cooling equipment.  Steam locomotives provided a ready supply, but diesels for passenger trains needed a separate steam generator.  When the 290 was built, ridership had dropped drastically and very few railroads dared purchase brand new locomotives for passenger service.  EMD’s 3000 horsepower SD-40 model represented state-of-the-art when introduced the year before, and it certainly did not include room for a steam generator inside its narrow hood.

So, when the GN surprisingly sought a passenger version of the SD-40, EMD designers quickly stretched the SD-40 frame slightly, and extended the rear hood to make room for the steam generator.  They designed the hood extension with a flat end, instead of a tapered one, which made the SDP-40 unique among its freight-only sisters.

Only six SDP-40s were built for use in the US, all for the Great Northern.  Only two of these remain in revenue service today, although I can’t immediately confirm the status of the other, so the 290 may truly be the last of the breed.  At some point, probably during BN ownership, the 290 had its steam generator removed, and the related intakes and vents capped.  Also, Livingston Rebuild Center took a cut at rebuilding the 290 to more modern electrical standards after its transfer to MRL.  So, effectively the 290 is just like any other upgraded SD on many other railroads.

But the 290 still stands out in a crowd, thanks as well to its spiffy new coat of MRL blue paint.

So, hoping the 290 would be out on the line running with an EWG train during my available timeslot, I posted a question to the Facebook group the day before, hoping to hear exactly that.  Instead, I heard the opposite.  An EWG crewman replied that a string of loads had just come into Cheney Friday evening, and they did not expect BNSF to deliver more empties until late on Saturday.  The earliest possible EWG train wouldn’t run until Sunday or Monday.

But, within minutes, another group member injected some new info; they had just spotted BNSF dropping that cut of empties at Cheney.  So, my hopes were still alive, but I would have to wait until sometime Saturday to know for sure.

Two BNSF "geeps" lead the Lind Turn through Tokio WA on its return to Spokane.  Both rebuilt engines are old enough to have been Great Northern units, which would be fitting considering the inspiration for the paint scheme they now wear.  However, the leading GP-30 is ex-CB&Q and the trailing GP-35 is ex-ATSF.

 Perhaps it was a good omen that on my drive to Spokane that morning I caught up with BNSF’s eastbound Lind Turn following hot on the FRED of an eastbound stack train.  The power for the Lind Turn was a two unit set of early 2^nd generation GP-models, resplendent in nearly new versions of BNSF’s latest “swoosh” scheme.  I was kind of hoping the leading GP-30 would be of GN heritage, but it turned out to be a former CB&Q unit.  Still no room for complaint.

A few hours later, with my son’s brakes functioning properly again, I was ready to head back.  I looked to the Facebook group again and found good news: a report that the EWG crew was currently assembling their train at Cheney, using the 290 as hoped, preparing to head west within the hour!  Plus, the weather was extremely cooperative with blue skies and lots of sunlight coming from the southwest.  I made my way to Cheney directly.

Arriving at the yard, there was the 290 shuffling the last couple grain cars onto its train.  My timing couldn’t have been better.  Within minutes of my arrival, the train began rolling out of the yard and onto the CW line.  I photographed one run-by of the train as it passed through the commercial area north and east of Cheney, and then headed north (the tracks run almost due north between Cheney and Four Lakes, before bending toward the west) to get ahead of the train for another run-by.

At my next selected photo spot, I noticed I wasn’t the only “foamer” out to catch the action.  I saw at least two guys with cameras, and it turned out I recognized both of them, Charlie Mutschler and Ryan Reed.  I’d make both their acquaintances in the past (although I doubt Charlie remembered me as my 14-year-old self, hanging out in the train department of Columbia Cycle) and had recently corresponded with both.  That was a cool coincidence.

A prototype for everything.  I never thought I would see an SDP-40 pulling a freight train all by itself, but here it is.  Ryan Reed is driving the Subaru - he worried he had "ruined" this shot, but a car on the highway just adds context, I think.

At this point on its journey, 290 was doing the work all by itself.  Probably my favorite photo from the day was one I shot just north of Four Lakes as the train wrapped around a slight curve with only the 290 at the head of the train.  It reminded me I had once considered buying an Athearn “blue box” HO-scale SDP-40, but had refrained because I thought a single six-axle passenger locomotive pulling a freight train by itself around my 4x8 layout would not appear realistic.  As they say, there’s a prototype for everything!

My next encounter with the train turned out much less than I’d hoped.  One thing I remember about the CW line from my youth was it skirting the north edge of North Silver Lake as it approaches the community of Medical Lake.  I’d fished there with Dad many times, so I thought a shot across the lake would be pretty cool.  I parked along the road and walked out onto the causeway that separates Silver Lake from North Silver.  It hadn’t been that long since I’d seen the train at Four Lakes, so I expected it to roll through my viewfinder within minutes.

Much less than I'd hoped.  There are train tracks on the opposite shore of North Silver Lake, but not knowing the crew had work to do before reaching this spot, I lost patience and went looking for the train.  I found it just fine, but not with enough time to return to this vantage.  Hopefully I'll get another chance someday.

For 5 minutes, I waited.  After 10, I wondered.  After 15, I worried.  With no train yet in sight, had I missed something?  Was the train not going out as far west as I’d expected?  Were the tracks not visible from this vantage point, as I believed, and had the train slipped past me?  Finally, after nearly a half-hour, I gave up and headed into Medical Lake.

From there, I doubled back along the other highway, only to find the train calmly rolling toward me.  With some sense of relief that the rest of the chase would continue, I set up for my next shot.  As the train rolled past me again, I realized what had caused the delay.  Ex-UP C40-8 9129 was now coupled behind the 290.  The train had stopped to pick up the 9129 off the Geiger Spur, where it had returned from some down time at Western Rail.

As I stopped north of Medical Lake to get another series of shots, Ryan Reed pulled up alongside me in his Subaru (full of furry companions, as I’ve come to expect from previous communications with Ryan).  Not recognizing me at first, he introduced himself, and after I assured him we already knew each other, we talked trains.  He planned to shoot the EWG train as it crossed under the BNSF mainline a short distance from where we now stood.

The shot he planned to take is one many Spokane-area train chasers attempt, but in this case would be particularly fitting.  The BNSF mainline at this location, the Columbia River Subdivision, is a former Great Northern property.  When the 290 was new, it had crossed the CW line at this location many times at the head of the Empire Builder and Western Star.  Now, a photo of it crossing underneath its former stomping grounds would be a neat memento.

I declined to follow him, though.  I believed it would take considerable time getting into, and out of, the location for that shot.  I see there now are roads permitting better access to that overpass than there were in my Spokane days.  So maybe I’ll try for that shot next time.

Instead, I continued north to US Highway 2, then west to Espanola Rd.  Between Medical Lake and Reardan, the next town of note on the CW route, the tracks drop off the West Plains into a trough formed by Deep Creek, before regaining elevation onto the rolling wheat fields that form the northern edge of the Columbia Plateau.  I was always curious about the loop of track visible just south of US 2, and had decided to check it out for myself.

Climbing up out of Deep Creek

Although it turned out it is nearly impossible to photograph the loop from the sunlit south side without trespassing on someone’s property, I did find an interesting location where the tracks cross MacFarlane Rd. on their way down toward the creek (see top photo).  Again, I’m pretty sure this road crossing wasn’t here when I was younger.  Taking the shot here gave me time to get back to the Espanola Rd. crossing and shoot the train as it worked its way upgrade toward my location.

After ducking under US Highway 2, the EWG train enters the wheat country of Lincoln and Douglas counties.

By the time the train reached this point and ducked under US 2, my available time was running out.  I figured I could follow the train as far as Reardan before heading home.  I took another series of shots at Hite – I stuck to the south side of the tracks, while Ryan showed up and positioned himself on the north side while talking to the train's conductor.  Turns out he was right, my side of the train was in shadow because of the sun’s position.  That was OK, I told him, one bad run-by would only be fair after all the other kick-butt photos I’d taken so far.

Stopping at Reardan, without their grain cars, it appeared the EWG crew would spend some time shuffling the stored well cars there.  I'd been hoping to grab a couple last shots as the train rolled through and out of Reardan, but with this unexpected stop, it was time for me to head home.

On to Reardan, I set up for a classic shot of the train splitting the town’s grain elevators and passing where the old depot used to stand.  Once more, the train seemed to take longer than expected arriving here, and once it did, my hopes for one last great photo came to naught.  To accomplish a little bit of work in Reardan, possibly having to re-position some stored well cars, the crew had dropped their train just east of town and come in light – locomotives only.  I still took a few shots of the 290 with the elevators in the background, but the scene was not what I’d hoped for:  a solid string of grain cars behind the engines.

At this point, I headed south for home.  This particular trip had been more than I had hoped for, despite a few glitches, and there was no way I could complain.  The 290 is still hanging around the EWG until its lease runs out, and whether or not it stays there much longer, I plan to go back.  Based on past performance, the motive power mix will always be interesting.  Also, I have never spent time on the CW east of Wilbur, so maybe I’ll find an opportunity sometime soon to chase a train back from Coulee City.

The Most "Over-Railfanned" Train in the PNW?

Two classic EMD SD-40-2 locomotives pull an average-size Byron Turn into North Richland in late winter 2016.

Not too long ago, I remarked on the Pacific Northwest Railfans Facebook page that between my efforts and those of friend Richard Olson, BNSF’s “Byron Turn” may be the most over-railfanned train in the Pacific Northwest.  Determining whether this assertion is true would not only be impossible, but also a complete waste of time.  So just accept it as fact while I explain what I mean, then judge for yourself.

For this statement to make any sense to the uninitiated requires a couple definitions:

A railfan is an individual who is interested in railroads as a hobby, and pursues that interest by going out and watching, photographing, or video recording trains at work.  This is a slang term usually only used between the railfans themselves.  When describing myself to non-railfans, I prefer the term “railroad enthusiast”.  Meanwhile, professional railroaders may derisively refer to railfans as “foamers” because we can get very agitated, almost to the point of foaming at the mouth, if we happen to see something unusual, to us at least, about a particular locomotive or freight car.

Within railfan slang, the term itself can be used as a verb to describe the activity of watching and photographing trains, as in, “Let’s go railfanning” or “I ‘fanned that steam special a couple years ago” and so forth.

The Byron Turn (or Byron Local) is the daily train that BNSF Railway dispatches out of its Pasco, Washington yard to serve industries in nearby Kennewick and Richland.  It gets its name from a siding located just west of Prosser on BNSF’s former Northern Pacific mainline, which the railroad named Byron, probably for one of its long-forgotten shareholders or officers.  In theory, that siding is the westernmost extent of the territory served by the Byron Turn, but I don’t believe the train ever runs on that line beyond Kennewick today.

An eastbound Byron Turn traverses several miles of Union Pacific-owned tracks as it heads back to Pasco Yard.  This line through a mostly residential neighborhood provides a connection between the BNSF Yakima Valley Subdivision at Kennewick and the Port of Benton tracks at Richland Junction.  Here, GP-28M 1508 leads two cars.  The GP-28M is a BNSF-only model; the product of an extensive program in the BN days to convert old GP-9s to more modern standards.  May 2015

Instead, it exits the mainline a half mile west of the old Kennewick depot and enters Union Pacific’s old Yakima branch.  Using running rights on that route, the train continues west as far as Richland Junction, right next to the Columbia Center mall in far western Kennewick.  At this point, the train moves onto rails currently owned by the Port of Benton.

The US Government originally constructed the PoB line to serve the Hanford Nuclear Reservation several miles north of Richland.  As the Hanford Site’s mission shifted from plutonium production to environmental cleanup after the Cold War ended, the Department of Energy had no use for its railroad.  Local interests, however, were eager to restructure the local economy and infrastructure so they no longer focused so heavily on a single industry.  To this end, the Port of Benton acquired the DOE’s railroad.

GP-38-2 2334 hauls an average sized Byron Turn into North Richland, just passing the spur to the Lamb-Weston potato plant. April 2013

In addition, PoB, the City of Richland, and private interests have teamed up over time to develop additional business facilities in North Richland, several of which depend heavily on rail access.  The most obvious rail user is the Lamb-Weston potato processing plant.  It receives its spuds by truck, fries them in vegetable oil received by rail, flash freezes them, and ships them out as frozen French fries in refrigerated boxcars that keep it extremely cold while in transit.

Port of Benton's two tenant railroads, BNSF and the Tri-Cities RR, often work in close proximity in the N. Richland industrial area.  The newly constructed Preferred Freezer Services warehouse is, for now, the world's largest refrigerated storage facility, and a customer of both railroads.  BNSF 2630 is a rebuilt former GP-35 and TCRY 15 is a MP-15AC.  November 2015

Additional rail customers in North Richland include two grain transfer facilities and the world’s largest (for now) cold storage warehouse.  This warehouse both receives and ships loaded cars of French fries and other refrigerated foods as its many different customers require.  The grain facilities, meanwhile, receive grain cars, and often entire “unit trains”, loaded with cattle feed.  They unload the cars and send them on their way, and then load the feed onto trucks for delivery to many cattle feed lots in the surrounding region.

When PoB first obtained the rail link to Richland, they sought a contract operator to run the trains.  Tri-Cities Railroad (TCRY) was organized by private interests, and by purchasing DOE’s two surplus locomotives (both EMD model MP-15AC) and hiring crews, the TCRY went right to work serving customers – primarily the Lamb-Weston plant at first.

A well-matched pair of former Union Pacific SD-40-2s pulls the TCRY's daily train out of their N. Richland yard, headed for the UP interchange at Kennewick.  March 2016.

When I arrived in Richland 14 years ago, the TCRY was the only operator on the PoB line.  At first, the two MP-15s pulling strings of white look-alike refrigerator and black look-alike tank cars did not seem very inspiring.  It still isn’t, but when the TCRY also acquired and rebuilt a small fleet of SD-40-2s for use on its route, things got a little better.

But about 2009, I started seeing occasional splashes of green on the rails.  It appears BNSF suddenly remembered it had inherited rights from its Northern Pacific progenitor to run on the former DOE tracks.  BNSF already received some of the traffic that TCRY was hauling to Richland Jct.  But, by cutting out the middle man, BNSF expected to earn a greater share of the shipping tariffs – enough to offset the cost of running its own train out to Richland and still make a profit.

TCRY balked at this notion, believing their contract with PoB gave them an exclusive right to operate the line.  They took the issue to court, but lost, and BNSF trains have been sharing the use of the PoB line ever since.  TCRY still dispatches the line, and communicates with both crews using cell phones (I believe) to ensure neither train encroaches on the other while running.

The Kennewick Irrigation District's main canal provides a very scenic element for trains that cross it near Steptoe St.  Admittedly, it's less scenic during the 3-4 months of each year that the canal is empty.  BNSF 3186 is a GP-50.
October 2014

The reason I made my original statement was to jokingly imply that between Richard and myself, we have probably taken photos of that particular train from every imaginable angle, in all sorts of weather, and probably have photos of every locomotive that has ever been used to power that train.  And we have probably posted all of those photos somewhere on the internet as we have shot them.

What makes the Byron Turn so interesting to us?  Proximity, for starters.  I live in Richland, only a couple blocks from the PoB line.  Richard lives elsewhere in the Tri-Cities, but commutes out to the Hanford site daily along a route parallel to much of the PoB line.  Most weekdays, we both are at our respective work locations during the day.  But, we both work on 9-hour-per-day schedules that permit us to take every other Friday off.  So, Fridays are my big day for chasing trains (and lots of other domestic tasks), and I believe the same goes for Richard.  In addition, if I have doctor’s appointments, I will sometimes schedule them in the mid-morning, so I can hopefully see a train moving on my way to or from the appointment.

Totally by accident, I managed a nice pan shot of this former ATSF GP-39-2 heading toward North Richland.  I must have moved the camera while shooting, leaving the backgound and foreground "speed blurred" while maintaining focus on the forward facing end of the engine (acutally the rear end).  October 2011

Variety is another interesting aspect of the Byron.  You never know for sure what locomotive (or locomotives) will show up at the head end.  Most often, it’s a single 4-axle EMD GP-series model, but 6-axle SD-40-2s have been known to appear.  Also, with two possible BNSF paint schemes on the “geeps”, with the round or the “swoosh” logos, plus a few still wearing ratty former BN Cascade Green schemes, you never know what you’re going to get.  I’ve even seen blue and yellow Santa Fe locos on the Byron.  Depending on how the engines are used between assignments to the Byron, and whether they need to use the wye track at N. Richland, it’s anybody’s guess whether they’ll be running long hood or short hood forward on either leg of the run.

It's not that we have a problem with the daily TCRY trains.  Their red, white and blue paint scheme looks pretty snappy and there’s an ongoing hope that they’ll rebuild and roll out their former SP “Tunnel Motor”.  Also, although BNSF may have an inside track (pun intended) with certain customers, the overall traffic balance between BNSF and TRCY appears to favor the little guy, for now.  TCRY trains seem to be considerably longer than BNSF’s Byron Local trains.  Even when you factor in BNSF unit trains once or twice a month, I would still wager TCRY hands more total carloads off to UP in Kennewick than BNSF gathers from North Richland.

Ignoring the railfan safely standing on the opposite side of the street, two BNSF crewmen handle a switching move near the Kennewick depot.  BNSF 2185 is a former Penn Central GP-38, while the GP-39-2 2772 is an ex-Santa Fe unit.  March 2010

So how does the Byron crew feel about their two “groupies”?  Richard seems more comfortable conversing with them when the opportunity arises, and he has had fairly positive contacts with them.  My policy is generally to stay out of their way and let them do their job.  I have one BNSF-employed friend who sometimes has worked the Byron, and he doesn’t seem to mind a couple responsible railfans.  Either way, I know the occasional waves I get from the passing BNSF crews appear more friendly than those from the TCRY guys, but that’s an entirely subjective assessment.

There’s an unwritten rule among railroad historians that the smaller and more obscure a certain historic railroad actually was, the larger and more enthusiastic will be its fan base.  The Rio Grande Southern and New York, Ontario & Western are two examples of long-disappeared railroads that still have large followings today, far out of proportion to their actual importance.

Does this same line of thinking apply to modern railroads?  I think the Byron Turn and its two dedicated “foamers” prove the point – the amount of attention paid to, and the total number of photographs taken of, BNSF’s daily train to N. Richland far surpasses its significance in the grand scheme of American railroading.

So, here are more images of the Byron Turn in action:

Once named "Pacific Pride", GP-38 2075 has been demoted to service on the Byron Turn.  One of the first diesels delivered to the then-new Burlington Norther Railroad in 1970 (it had been ordered by predecessor Spokane, Portland & Seattle RR just prior to the merger), 2075 was later re-decorated in a special scheme that carried the emblems of all BN ancestor roads.  BNSF is satisfied with placing those emblems on grain hoppers these days to "honor" its heritage, leaving 2075 to keep gathering dirt and grime, while the weather does its best to obliterate the logos of long-gone railroads.  December 2010

The Port of Benton-owned rail line crosses the mouth of the Yakima River on its route leaving Richland Jct.  The wetlands alongside the river and the rails are part of the Chamna Wildlife Refuge, and even in easy to access locations, they provide lots of interesting photo angles for passing trains, this one behind GP-38-2 2094.  March 2013

GP-39E 2628 pulls its train eastbound across the large steel bridge that crosses Interstate 182 on the south end of Richland.  March 2015

GP-39E 2910 rolls through Richland Junction on its eastbound run.  This is the point where the original US Government Railroad diverged from the Union Pacific Yakima branch.  For some time this was the interchange point between the TCRY and Union Pacific, but arrangements have since been made allowing TCRY trains to run farther east for interchange at Kennewick.  Now, the tracks in the foreground have been removed (the Yakima Branch beyond this point has been gone since the early '90s).  With rights all the way through to N. Richland, however, BNSF trains don't give that situation much thought.
February 2011

Perhaps not the most compelling image I've ever taken, but notice the World War II-era fighter plane taxiing for takeoff at Richalnd's airport as GP-39-3 2866 passes.  September 2015

Here's that large bridge across the Interstate again, seen from a parking area for the Chamna Wildlife Refuge.  2866 again has charge of the train, with a long string of refer cars on the drawbar.  There is a significant grade in both directions to reach the elevation of this bridge, and heavy trains struggling over this hump can often be heard from quite a distance.  December 2015

A Yellowstone Ave. resident holds his son up to wave at the train crew as SD-40-2 1836 hauls its train past.  April 2014