Western Railroad Discussion > Winter in Wyoming

Since moving back to Colorado after living in North Carolina for two years, much of my railroad photography has actually been in Wyoming along the Union Pacific Transcon around Cheyenne and Sherman Hill, and I have taken advantage of the area’s often wild winter weather as an opportunity for some shots. In mid-December, as Wyoming geared up for significant snowfall, I headed to the Sherman Hill area of the Transcon with another railfan from Greeley just ahead of the storm. A few hours along the tracks near Dale on Monument Road yielded continuous traffic and some great photo ops as the weather shifted from clear and cold to blinding snow, strong winds, and downright bitter temperatures in just several hours. The trek back to I-80 on the gravel roads was slow-going with visibility down to almost nothing, and the rest of the drive south to Greeley and on to Denver was on the edge of the storm. It is remarkable (and quite alarming) just how quickly the weather can take a turn for the worst in this part of the country. And, through it all, the railroad keeps moving.
 
1) Sunlight illuminates a westbound stack train on Sherman Hill as it passes an eastbound Z-train near Monument Road (Road 234) just a mere two hours from the start of a major snowstorm.
2) Sunlight has been overtaken by snow showers on the leading edge of the snowstorm as a stack train works its way east across the Wyoming landscape.
3) A trio of EMD locomotives leads an eastbound mixed freight as skies continue to darken, the temperature plummets, and the wind picks up.
 
More to follow…
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/17 04:34 by 757guy.

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1) A final pocket of sunlight is visible over an eastbound mixed freight as snowflakes begin to fall.
2) Snowflakes are falling and remaining daylight has disappeared as a westbound stack train approaches.
3) Visibility is rapidly deteriorating as the rate of snowfall increases and the wind howls during the arrival of this eastbound train. By the time the train had passed, visibility had dropped to almost zero.
 
More to follow…
 

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A couple of weeks following the mid-December snowstorm, we returned to the UP Transcon once more in the midst of significant winter weather. This time, with travel very difficult on Sherman Hill, my photography was limited to the line east of Cheyenne, toward Hillsdale.
 
1) An approaching westbound materializes out of the heavy snow between Cheyenne and Hillsdale.
2) The westbound train nears Road 136 as it slices through the storm.
3) An eastbound train blasts through the snow at the crossing of Road 136.
 
Thanks for looking!
 

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Nice shots - especially like the second one!

Lovely shots all.  I feel a bit like a wimp for not going out much in our little bit of snow here in Western Oregon!

Tom

Very nice work!

Posted from iPhone

Boy that winter weather sure looks nasty.
John

Much of the railroad was shut down recently due to the extreme temps and snow.

All trains were size limited and DP's in every train.

Pretty much every train had problems, broken rail, etc.

Trains are still being shuffled around and the washouts in the west are not helping.

Posted from iPhone

Shot #3 Is fantastic showing great detail.
Regards TT

Really nice of series of shots! Thanks for braving the nasty weather to shoot this...

James Nelson
Thornton, CO
www.flickr.com/mojaveflyer

Thanks for the kind comments, everyone. Really appreciate it!