Western Railroad Discussion > UP #844 Boise Turn Video ~ Part II

Here's a video of the UP #844 Boise Turn taken 4/22/17 about three miles east of Glenns Ferry, Idaho alongside Old U.S. Highway 30, overlooking the scenic Snake River.
Conditions were challenging with poor light and 40 mph winds.
While shooting this video, I stood alongside two railfans from Australia who had followed the train all the way from Cheyennel
I'm very familiar with the area from Glenns Ferry to Nampa and used to having my favorite shooting locations to myself when chasing trains in that area.
Not so yesterday!
Every one of my favorite shooting locations had dozens of people crawling over them.
On many occasions, someone walked into my perfectly-framed shot as I was about to press the shutter.
The traffic was heavy with people speeding, passing each other on double yellows, driving onto private property, and in a panic to beat the train to the next shooting spot.
The train stopped for 30 minutes in Glenns Ferry and was welcomed by a crowd of hundreds of people.
Crew members told me they had big crowds everything they've stopped on the trip.
Stay tuned for Part III, shot @ Orchard, Idaho where they "wyed" the train before backing it all the way to Nampa.
Phil



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/17 06:28 by philhoov.

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Very NICE video!

Larry

Wonder why the Diesel helper was added. . . .??

Narniaman Wrote:
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> Wonder why the Diesel helper was added. . . .??

For the reverse move to/from Boise.

Very nice Phil.What is the last car in the train.It didn't look like UP's merchandise car.
Regards,DK

DKay Wrote:
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> Very nice Phil.What is the last car in the
> train.It didn't look like UP's merchandise car.
> Regards,DK

That is the kitchen/bunk car from the snow plow set assigned to Cheyenne.

I was told today that the diesel was added at Pocatello because of the bridge over the Malad River west of Gooding was damaged by flood water. They had to separate the 844 from the diesel and go over the bridge by itself then have the diesel take the cars across the bridge and join together and continue westbound.

Thanks Larry!
Phil

One of the crew members told me, today in Boise, that the diesel was added for dynamic braking and not used for power.
I also heard from a fellow railfan that they uncoupled the #844 and moved it across the Malad River Gorge Bridge separately due to weight concerns.
They backed the train in 34 miles from the wye @ Orchard to Nampa, so they could run it into Boise forward.
To make things interesting, the MHKNP 13,000' long manifest came thru Orchard as they were backing the #844's train into the wye with hundreds of spectators standing on and alongside the mainline.
The security people were very busy getting people away from the tracks as the MHKNP crawled thru the crowded mainline.
They will run the train back out to Nampa backward tomorrow morning, then it will be properly positioned to head east to Pocatello.
I'm guessing the crew will be very relieved to highball out of Nampa after interacting with all of the people over the past few days.
Backing in to Nampa from Orchard, I heard the crew on their radios (on my scanner) calling out unguarded crossings from the rear of the train as they approached crossings and calling for dynamic braking.
I actually spoke with the crew member who was on that rear car and calling out the crossings as they backed into Nampa yesterday.
He told me he had an assistant conductor standing beside him who knew the details of the line and helped protect the crossings.
The #844 was blowing for each crossing from the opposite end of the train.
The crew told me that the diesel was not MU'ed to the #844 and it was all coordinated with radio communication.
The level of precise communication that I heard on the scanner was amazing!
Those crew members are the ultimate consummate professionals!
Phil



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/17 21:04 by philhoov.

There is a nice wye in the Nampa yard, why wasn't it used? Its part of the Idaho Northern Industrial lead.

Might have had something to do with the turning radius?
Phil