Western Railroad Discussion > Day 3: Wyoming/Utah Awesomeness - Evanston-Echo Canyon-Heber

From July 22-26 TO member "wko" Kirk, our friend Max, and I took a trip across Wyoming and into Utah along Union Pacific's Overland Route along the Laramie, Rawlins, and Evanston Subdivisions. From there, we proceeded onto Provo where we followed the former D&RGW to Helper over Soldier Summit. And to close out the trip, we stopped at the Deseret Power Railway near Dinosaur and Rangely. Then the remaining part of the trip was along the former Rio Grande from Craig, Colorado to the eastern slope on the Moffat Route.

Posts from this trip will follow in this order:

Day 1: Hermosa-Green River
Day 2: Green River-Evanston
Day 3: Evanston-Echo/Weber Canyons & Heber Valley
Day 4: Soldier Summit
Day 5: Deseret Power, Craig Branch, and Moffat

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On day 3, we left Evanston and went into Utah. Traffic was slow most of the morning, so we took advantage of the dull time to take a look at the summit at Wahsatch. Afterward, we headed to Echo to meet up with James Belmont who would show us some of the best spots in Echo and Weber Canyons. Once the afternoon arrived, train traffic began to pick up with a few trains. After grabbing a few trains, we headed off to Heber City to catch the Heber Valley Fiddlers n' Fireworks special they were operation between Heber City and Charleston for the state's Pioneer Day celebration. After enjoying the free light show, we headed off to Provo for the night to prepare for Soldier Summit the next day.

1) An eastbound manifest scoots along I-84 near Henefer, Utah between Echo and Weber Canyons.

2) The same manifest previously seen at Henefer climbs the grade through Castle Rock, Utah to the summit at Wahsatch.

3) A little while later, a westbound loaded coal train from Black Buttes, Wyoming descends the Wahsatch grade through Castle Rock. The train is bound for the power plant at Valmy, Nevada.

There's more...

John Crisanti
Longmont, CO

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4) Jumping ahead, we catch up to a westbound vehicle train descending the Wahsatch grade through Echo Canyon just east of Echo.

5) Following the vehicle train, the westbound Valmy coal load rolls on by the beautiful rock formations east of Echo.

6) An eastbound hopper train exits the tunnels at Taggart in Weber Canyon.

There's more...

John Crisanti
Longmont, CO

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7) The loaded Valmy coal train heads west through the town of Morgan.

8) Following right behind the coal load is a westbound manifest at Morgan where both the UP and the residents are flying the red, white, and blue.

9) An eastbound stack train enters a pocket of sunshine at Henefer along I-84.

There's more...

John Crisanti
Longmont, CO

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10) The eastbound stack train exits the tunnel at Castle Rock climbing the grade towards Wahsatch.

11) A westbound Z-Train races out of Evanston towards Wahsatch.

12) After climbing to the summit at Wahsatch, the westbound Z-Train descends the grade through Castle Rock.

Some more...

John Crisanti
Longmont, CO

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13 & 14) Heber Valley EMD MRS-1 No. 1813 leads the Fiddlers n' Fireworks special between Heber City and Charleston.

Thanks for looking!

John Crisanti
Longmont, CO

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Very NICE interesting series with lots of beautiful grounds.

Larry

The sky in 3 & 4 is outstanding! Great series, looking forward to the rest. Is there a bit of HDR capture with a few of the images?

Jeff Eggert
Plainfield IL

All very nice! The late SP/UP hogger and railfan Doug Harrop lived in Morgan...



Allen

Excellent series, John!

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

Very Nice Series!

SouthWest RailCams
CA, NM, CO, TX, AZ
https://SouthWestRailCams.com

Awesome photos, Castle Rock is one of my new favorite places this year. And we love seeing the train in Heber.

Nathan

Posted from iPhone

Wow, outstanding photos from all 3 days! So much color in these.

Rich

GREAT pics!! Thanks for posting.

Superb work. What majestic scenery in photos 3,4 & 5. It puts things in perspective.
John



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/14/17 09:54 by jmbreitigan.

Awesome is putting it mildly! Thanks for great shots, and good to see a healthy consist on the Heber Valley.

B&OBill