Western Railroad Discussion > Rare move on the Pegs Wye

A rare daylight move on the Pegs wye these days, train E-PEGPUE0-02A waits to enter the BNSF transcon on the east leg of the wye at Pegs,NM on 12/12/12. This train was the second of 2 Colorado coal trains from Tri-State's ColoWyo Mine, near Meeker,CO, to test burn at Tri State's Plains Electric Generating Station, near Prewitt,NM. The train originally had all UP power, but due to power problems, BNSF lent them a helping hand with 3 of their motors to get the train over the road. The only other train to use this wye regularly is the 211 local(now a night move), as PEGS generally gets its coal from the Western Fuels train from either Lee Ranch or El Segundo Mines via Escalante Jct, off of the Lee Ranch Sub.

A special thank you to SD45X for rustling me out of my stuper to get out and grab a shot of this train!

Drew Mitchem
Centralia, WA



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/14/12 20:58 by amtrak34east.

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Wow, nice shot!

Posted from iPhone

WOW is exactly what I thought too. Very nice pic! Thank's for posting!

Any idea of the reason for the test

Posted from Android

Around the stack behind the hills is the power plant plus a balloon track leading to a car dumper.
When we visited PEGS years ago, after riding the Lee Ranch train, we watched a little Navajo grandma run the huge, rumbling dumper, a fascinating contrast.

Great pic Drew, quite the mix of power!

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Drew, nice pic and catch. That s-curve reminds me of the curve at Klondike along the Needles Sub and the curve at West Eagle Nest, Seligman Sub.

George Cataulin
San Diego, CA
Left Coast Rail Videos

jc76 Wrote:
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> Any idea of the reason for the test
>
> Posted from Android


The Western Fuels guys were telling me that they wanted to test burn a couple of trains because the rate per ton of the Colorado Coal is $12/per ton vs El Segundo/Lee Ranch coal being around $40/per ton. Looks like they are trying to get a more competitive rate.

Drew Mitchem
Centralia, WA

Here's one of the Western Fuels trains pulling up to the dumper at the power plant on Oct. 25 after coming off the Lee Ranch Sub. I only post it because Drew provided me and my buddy with information about the train and enabled us to be in position to shoot it here as well as coming through Escalante Junction. Thanks, Drew.

Kim Heusel



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/12 09:43 by KimHeusel.

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Very nice, Drew. A rare event, indeed!

JCL

Not only an awesome shot, but what a consist! Wonder how it got mixed up like that!?!

Posted from Android

Sure glad you chased. Great shot!:)

Posted from Android

I still think that is the best paint job ever on an SD40-2

RickL


KimHeusel Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here's one of the Western Fuels trains pulling up
> to the dumper at the power plant on Oct. 25 after
> coming off the Lee Ranch Sub. I only post it
> because Drew provided me and my buddy with
> information about the train and enabled us to be
> in position to shoot it here as well as coming
> through Escalante Junction. Thanks, Drew.
>
> Kim Heusel

SP8595 Wrote:
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> Not only an awesome shot, but what a consist!
> Wonder how it got mixed up like that!?!
>
> Posted from Android


Originally the lashup was the 2 UP's plus the BNSF Warbonnet on the lead, and the other 2 UP's as the DP's on the rear. However the train encountered power problems between Clovis and Belen, so the BNSF added a unit to the front and rear consists to get a good DP link and get the train over the road. When the train was unloaded, they used the Western Fuels SD40-2's to pull 2 separate cuts around the loop since the arm and pulley system on the loadout can't handle more then 52 cars. So after the train arrived, they got all of the inbound BNSF/UP power together and took it to Gallup for servicing while the Western Fuels guys unloaded the train in 2 cuts with their SD40-2's. For the outbound empty shown above, the crew decided to use an EOTD on the rear and just ran the 7 unit consist, as it was put together after dropping off the loaded train the day before, on the head end.

Drew Mitchem
Centralia, WA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/14/12 10:18 by amtrak34east.

KimHeusel Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here's one of the Western Fuels trains pulling up
> to the dumper at the power plant on Oct. 25 after
> coming off the Lee Ranch Sub. I only post it
> because Drew provided me and my buddy with
> information about the train and enabled us to be
> in position to shoot it here as well as coming
> through Escalante Junction. Thanks, Drew.
>
> Kim Heusel

You are very welcome Kim, if you or anyone else needs any more info, let me know anytime(PM me). I will do my best to help, albeit my wacky work schedule.

Drew Mitchem
Centralia, WA