Utah Railway Coal Train - May 6, 2000
| The Utah Railway is the owner of one of the two tracks over Soldier Summit and they make good use of it running from three to six trains daily. Utah Railway locomotives can also be found on the end of BNSF manifests since they provide helper service for BNSF over Soldier Summit. |
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| Here's how you get the shot above. The two Utah Railway SD40s are the first two of six about 2/3rds of the way back on this train. The sound of six older EMDs roaring by is one of the great things about the helpers currently used by the Utah Railway and Union Pacific over Soldier Summit. To experience it yourself, download this MPG movie taken right after this shot was snapped. The file is 1.2MB so download time will vary with the speed of your connection. |
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Even with over 31,000 HP, it's a slow climb up through the Price River Canyon. |
| Following a loaded coal train over Soldier Summit is not a rushed experience and there are many good shots that are easily accessible from the highway. Just be careful pulling on and off the highway because there is a lot of traffic. |
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At Kyune, the grade levels out and trains can pick up a bit more speed. Well, not that much speed. The eastern part of Kyune can be easily accessed from a dirt road that cuts off to the east before the bridge that crosses the tracks. |
| It may not be as steep but the Utah Railway
helpers are still in Run 8 and smoking up the valley. The 5th unit
in the former ATSF paint scheme is a leased MPEX unit.
The helpers assisted the train all the way to Soldier Summit where the IPPX train met an eastbound empty heading towards the Wildcat load out. |
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An empty, eastbound Utah Railway coal train coasts down the Price River Canyon after exiting one of the two Nolan Tunnels. This train was led by four AC4400s including three Southern Pacific and a single Union Pacific unit. |
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There is both a load out and power plant served by the same mine at Castle Gate. The load out is about a mile west near the end of this train and the power plant is well hidden behind the bluff to the right. It is only a few more curves and this train diverge at Utah Railway Jct., travel by Utah Railway's facilities at Martin and head on up to the load out at Wildcat. |
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The Utah Railway passes over a road and the former right-of-way of a Rio Grande branch above West Helper on its way to the Wildcat load out. |
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