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.