Western Railroad Discussion > Lakeside, Utah

I drove out to Lakeside which is the western end of the ex-SP causeway across the Great Salt Lake. I was hoping for a clear sunny day with snow on the background mountains but yesterday while a relatively pleasant day and relatively clear air was not the day. There was a perfect day the first weekend in January but I had promised to finish a job for someone plus I had been out railfanning several days over Christmas and New Years. Maybe, I will get another perfect day before the snow melts. Yesterday was also a really slow day for trains as there was only 4 trains from about 10 AM to almost 6 PM. One day a few years back, I could see 5 trains from on top of the hill where the microwave tower sits. My "Where is it?" thread a few lines down

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1346455 shows some of the scenery. It is a really pretty place it you like solitude.

The first shot is an eastbound that is just passing through the western Lakeside control point. There is a siding here that is almost 3 miles (15200 ft) long that can be used to stage several trains. The siding off to the left goes to a quarry that is used for large rock for fills including the causeway and also for ballast. If you can not make out the writing on the dirt on the nose of the locomotive, it says s**t train.

Then nothing for several hours. Finally, a short westbound train came. The mountains in the background are a good 50 miles away. I need to get a longer telephoto for this location. There are some days in the winter just after a storm when the air is just crystal clear but it is more common in the summer. There was an approaching storm so all I had was hazy sun at best.

After several more hours of nothing, another eastbound. It is real easy to tell when a train is coming as the dispatcher issues a track warrant for the causeway. I am not sure why the warrants other than it would be a really bad spot to have an accident. Also, maybe there are no intermediate signals out on the causeway.

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A westbound stack train at twilight. Just enough light for a decent picture.

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Very nice.
TAH

I always enjoy your pictures in the lonely areas of Nevada and Utah. Thanks for posting!

I don't think there are signals on the causeway ... I believe it's "dark". It may be too hard to maintain them with salt spray to deal with. Maybe a hogger can confirm.

Stan Praisewater

Causeway itself is dark teritory. Signals were taken out after the 1986 rebuilding. Salt water and electrical systems don't mix

Mr Drake...the last one at twilight, is a winner!

All pics very nice...looks like it was a cold day out there! Thanks for posting.

Kent in Carmel Valley

Thanks for those pics man. I too, have spent long hours at Lakeside, even at the top of the microwave tower hill waiting for something to come along. For the record, there are no intermediate signals across the causeway. It is still track warrant territory. My dad, Doug Harrop, a renouned photographer, who retired a few years back can vouch for that. Lakeside is definitely a lonely but great place to photograph trains!

NscaleMike Wrote:
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> Mr Drake...the last one at twilight, is a winner!


Number two is a perfect composition—very nice work and thank you for sharing.
—Mac

Very nice!!

mikeh Wrote:
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> Thanks for those pics man. I too, have spent long
> hours at Lakeside, even at the top of the
> microwave tower hill waiting for something to come
> along. For the record, there are no intermediate
> signals across the causeway. It is still track
> warrant territory. My dad, Doug Harrop, a
> renouned photographer, who retired a few years
> back can vouch for that. Lakeside is definitely a
> lonely but great place to photograph trains!

MikeH,
When is your dad going to do some writing about his experiences with SP? His contributions to CTC Board, Trains, etc., were my favorite photo/journal articles of those magazines. Please tell him, "Thanks for the great work from a loyal Doug Harrop fan." Michael