Western Railroad Discussion > Any suggestions for the Deseret Power Railway?

Planning a trip to Colorado and Utah next month.  Would like to follow the the Deseret Power Railway (formerly the Deseret Western Railway) and get some good shots. Would appreciate advice on how to go about this.

How often do the trains run?  Do they run every day?  Any set schedules?  Where are the good locations?  Do I need to rent a Lamborghini to keep pace with the trains?

Many thanks.
 

There have been many, many posts on this road.  Recommend a search.

Biggest problem is the roads don't follow the track closely, if at all.  Speed OK to a point, but these are mostly back highways that don't see a lot of maintnance.  They can be rough and take the scenic route!   At best, you might get two shots per trip depending on your choices of locations.  Best to plan on one good one.  Largely a Monday through Friday op with one am trip and not always a pm trip.  If mine is down for maintnance or moving a long wall, there can be none at all for days.  It is all based on the coal mining.  No coal, no train.

Again, recommend a search.  Dick from Roosevelt, UT (search 2ebright) spends a lot of time out there and has posted many photos.

Rob



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/16 10:42 by OregonOldGuy.

One day a week they shut down for trackwork. Might be Wed or Fri. If gasses get too high in the mine it will shut down for a day or two.

You can see the train loading from the paved road east of the load out. That will give a good idea if there will be a morning train to chase.

Start the day with a full tank of gas and a lunch since services along the route are mostly unavailable. There are a couple of places to learn about the Gilsonite industry between trains.

Posted from iPhone

Is there usually an east bound in the morning?  Any suggestions as to where a good spot for an east bound would be?

Thanks
 

seaboardc30-7 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is there usually an east bound in the morning? 
> Any suggestions as to where a good spot for an
> east bound would be?
>
> Thanks
>  

No, not normally.  West from the mine to the power plant in the morning and again late afternoon, if run.

Rob

fbe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One day a week they shut down for trackwork. Might
> be Wed or Fri. If gasses get too high in the mine
> it will shut down for a day or two.
>
> You can see the train loading from the paved road
> east of the load out. That will give a good idea
> if there will be a morning train to chase.


Unless they paved county 65, I don't know of any paved roads.  County 65 is west of the loadout.  Can you see the loadout from US 40?  I didn't think it was visible.


>
> Start the day with a full tank of gas and a lunch
> since services along the route are mostly
> unavailable. There are a couple of places to learn
> about the Gilsonite industry between trains.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Yes, don't go out there without gas, water, sunscreen, food.  You might not see another car for hours on some of the roads.

Rob



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/16 10:41 by OregonOldGuy.

Was there two weeks ago. A friend had followed the morning and afternoon train on Monday. I met him on Tuesday and we followed the morning train and I stuck around for the afternoon train. Both days were similar.

As mentioned earlier, you can see the headlight of the train at the load out from the highway when you are eastbound. The train crews went on duty at 08:00 and 15:00 and took about 90 minutes before they left the load out. We shot the WB morning train at the mine road crosssing and then cruised across US 40 and then headed south down Old Bonanza Highway to Utah Highway 45 and north to the tracks. We waited about 10 minutes for the train. We then sat ( about 2 hours) west of this overpass and waited for the train to unload at the plant and start the trip back east. After our shot there, we reversed our route and made it to the Blue Mountain Road crossing with about 4 minutes to spare.

My friend on Monday, and I did it on Tuesday, caught the afternoon train around 17:00 +/- west of the Colorado Highway 64 overpass.

Additional info my friend learned on Monday....
There is a bridge out south of Bonanza on Utah Highway 45 so if you were to continue west from CO Hwy 64, you will end up backtracking.

Todd Busse

These posts are very helpful--thanks

I live in the area of the railroad and have been fanning it for decades. I was just out there yesterday. No afternoon train yesterday according to the Swing Shift engineer I talked to. I did learn some important info. The RR will be shut down for the entire month of May and possibly into June. This is due to the Bonanza Power Plant being shut down for enviornmental modifications and maintenance. The RR wil be doing track and catenary work during this shut down period. This includes removing some track in Holum Pass, improving the subgrade and replacing the track. The usual Swing Shift (4PM til 2AM) will work with the normal Daylight Shift (6AM til 4PM) in order to get all of the work done. By the way, the Deseret Power Ry. normally runs trains four days per week, not five. Monday thru Thurs, unless there are unusual circumstances. Until I retired, I saw and photographed this RR several times a week and am friendly with some of their personnel. I see it less often now. I have prepared some notes re: this RR as I get several requests from fans a year for info. If you want a copy, PM me and I'll send one out to you. Please include your email addy. as Trainorders Private Message service does not allow attachments. If you come this way and want company let me know. I sometimes offer guide service; free of course. Please, leave the Lamborghini at home, bring the Jeep instead.

Dick Ebright
Roosevelt, Utah



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/16 17:54 by 2ebright.