Western Railroad Discussion > Utah Part 7, 6-4 Provo - Deseret Power Railway in CO

Hung around Provo, UT in the morning on June 4, and on this day not much Utah Railway moves were happening, so decided this would be the day to return home, and catch the afternoon departure of the Deseret Western from their coal loadout near Rangely, CO.

Photo 1 -  This intermountain railcar 1-spot SW-something pulled an entire empty train out of the car shop at Provo for Utah Railway power to couple onto, but the locomotives did not move from the ready track all morning.

Photo 2 -  A heavy MCWRO (West Colton-Roper manifest) off the LA&SL (thanks, Mpaul101) rolls into Provo westbound led by UP 5317.

Photo 3 - This Local was departing Provo with mini-wings on a "snoot" SD40-2, according to the scanner it was going to Nephi, UT

After the long drive, there's mooore...

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/15 19:37 by highgreengraphics.

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Usually, if you go to the Main Office at The Intermountain place in Provo, they will Call their Locomotive A New SW1001, which will move to a location good for Photos, then go back to work

Photo 4 - The Deseret Power Railway afternoon coal load awaits the train crew at the end of the balloon track at the Deserado Mine loadout. The train will go to the other end of the dog-bone track layout to unload at the power plant just across the state line outside Vernal, UT.

Photo 5 - While waiting for the train crew to show up, time to play with a wide-angle distortion of the 3 big ex-NdeM GE E-60 electrics.

Photo 6 - Getting underway, climbing Holum Pass away from the loadout, this is the grade that makes 3 of the electrics advisable in the loaded direction. Last year, the rear electric was still painted for NdeM, this year all 3 units match!

There's mooore... 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/15 12:29 by highgreengraphics.

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Photo 7 - With a whir and a rumble on the main line near Dinosaur, CO.

Photo 8 - At track speed rolling under the highway overpass near Dinosaur, CO.

Photo 9 - Had a few stragglers, as I mentioned in the first instalment, my time/date stamp in the Nikon went awry, and photo order was jumbled up as a result, so here are the leftover 4 views.

Photo 10 - Utah oil load on 5-31 has 5003 leading, zig-zagging while approaching Nolan Tunnels.

There's mooore... 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/15 09:40 by highgreengraphics.

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Photo 10 - On 5-31, the Utah oil load exits the west end of the Thistle Tunnels, with the slide area at the right that necessitated the line change and tunnels in 1983.

Photo 11 - The entire train just clearing the tunnel.

Photo 12 - Closest view, yes the sun was both high and wrong but still a nice vista!

Thanks for looking. Glad I got the stuff for these reports before the hot weather. Long live the MK50C's and the Deseret Power Railway!  === === = === JLH



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/15 12:51 by highgreengraphics.

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GREAT pics!! Thanks for sharing.

What a Fantastic little outing that you had! Seeing all of your Great pictures of the Utah Railway is giving me the "itch" to make a trip over that way:}

Those winged "snoots" sure look good. The middle engine on that local looks to be the UP 1206, which started life as Kennecot Copper 787 before being sold to the M-K-T.
It must like the environs of Utah as it sure hasn't strayed very far away!

Fantastic photos as usual! The local train you caught was the LUL57. A local that runs Monday-Friday. The freight you caught in Provo (2nd photo) was actually the MWCRO (West Colton-Roper manifest) it had just come up the Sharp sub on the LA&SL.

Thanks - I thought I was going by what I heard on the scanner. For me, this was a better catch, I am going to go to the maps to see the route, thanks! Oops - guess I'll change the caption, too. === === = === JLH

what are the reporting marks for those Desert power railway hopppers?

The DPR's hopper reporting marks are simply "DPR". === === = === JLH

Great series.

I really enjoyed that series on the Deseret Power Railway, an interesting operation to be sure. Thanks for sharing the results of your trip, great stuff.

~Ryan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/15 09:55 by Cajon92.