Western Railroad Discussion > Fish Cut, WY, info please

I bought this post card on Ebay for a few bucks. The card states “Near Green River, WY”.

Can anyone tell me the following information:

1) Is this location east or west of Green River?

2) How far from Green River?

3) Is this location accessible?

4) Directions?

Thanks in advance.

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Looks like the climb west of Green River to Peru. There's a frontage road to the north that follows the tracks about maybe a hundred feet below the right of way. Side view shots. MOW road only other choice.

West of Green River on old Hwy 30 about 3 miles. Cross the Green River and look up to your left to the tracks. Turn left on any dirt road that looks like it goes to the base of the hill below the tracks. Hike up to the tracks. Be aware that the cut has been changed from your postcard. The low side of the cut has been completely removed.

Dick
Roosevelt, Utah

Beyond the cut was called Riview, and at one time it had a Harriman-style wood sign that said so, but this came down in the mid-1970's. There was a side dirt road that took off south of the main road that parallels the tracks after it crosses the Green River that led up to that spot; as I recall it was kind of obscured by a trailer park and maybe some steel buildings, I don't know if it is still there. It was also possible to drive the ROW from Green River westward, but I haven't done either road for nearly 20 years. --- --- - --- JLH

This is west of Green River and is accessible although its probably not wise to try it in the winter, unless you try to hike in. This road parallels the tracks and is apparently a public road, Ive never been approachrd by UP police while on it. On the same road is access to the famous bridge over the Green where one can have a train and Castle Rock in the background in the frame.

Here are views taken in 1971 at Riview and Peru. Review seems to be gone from the timetable, but
Peru is still listed.

Keith A

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Keith, isn't the 3200 that one of a kind SD24 UP uprated?

SD 45X

Yes, that is the beast. It used to run Salt Lake east and back all the time. It was also numbered
3100 - 3399 - 3999 and ended up as 99. Got slides in all those numbers.

Keith A

Now that you know where it is, I'll tell about the name.

"Fish Cut" is called that because of the fossil fish from the Eocene (about 48 million years old) Green River Formation. When they made the cut, they discovered some of the best preserved and most abundant fossil fish. If you've seen the fossil of a fish that died eating another fish, it came from that formation (which covers most of Southwest Wyoming and parts of Utah)... along with the millions of fossil fish often seen at museum gift shops for surprisingly low prices.

Interestingly, Como Bluff to the east has a similar story involving UP railroad workers discovering abundant fossils, but there it was dinosaurs. Como Bluff is the dig that kicked off the western states dinosaur hunts, started the "war" between Cope and Marsh, and provided a huge percentage of dinosaur fossils in museums around the world. It's now the haunt of one of the most well known living paleontologists, Bob Bakker (the one on Discovery Channel with the beat up hat and scraggly beard).

Kieth,

That is a great consist at Riview. It looks like the magnetic door latches are still working on the UP 3200. It was always nice to chase the USS Fs off the mountain and then get a shot of the same train climbing out of the terminal with the UP power leading.

Kushtaka, that's fascinating. Aaron 20

Here are a couple of shots from November 2007 of where Riview would have been and Peru. Interesting to note that when Keith took his shots at Peru, the spur or exchange track was accessed from either the far track, which I believe is main one or from both; it appears 275 has set off or is about to lift cars. In my shot of 4854 east, the old main number two alignment seems to exist under the station name sign "Peru" and the set-off track is only accessed from main two.

Was there always a set off cross-overs there at Peru west of the overpass?

Jeff Robertson

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