Western Railroad Discussion > 3,878 miles and 20 days along Union Pacific Railroad...

...this year we revived a longstanding tradition to drive from our home in Omaha to visit friends and relatives in Nevada and California. It has been five years since we made the once annual trek. The farms, plains, mountains and desert haven't changed. There's been more sprawl around the larger towns, especially Sparks and Reno which we hardly recognize and made a bad turn or two and had to consult a map. Traffic in Northern California is worse than ever and unbelievable in the afternoon on the 101.

What has changed is the railroad.

It looks different.

It feels different.

It is different.

Some of the changes I saw are things we started back in my days at UP headquarters. A big one is getting rid of loose car railroading with spurs to everywhere.
I was once quoted in the media as describing it as "We no longer can be everything to everyone." Another change was the surprising rapid fall of the coal business. We used to pat ourselves on the back about the "gold" mine we had in Wyoming' s Powder River Basin. It was supposed to be good for 100 years or more.

Then there are the stack trains. Long stack trains. Every train we saw in Nevada was a stack train. Trains Magazine editor Jim Wrinn summed it up perfectly in his current issue with his commentary: "Stacks: coal trains of our age".

Power: All the trains except a local had big six axle power. I don't pay attention to model differences anymore. Most trains had Distributed Power Units. I was going to note, in contrast to the many photos posted on TO there are trains with solid home power.and that every train we saw had solid UP power. However on leaving Cheyenne on the way home we saw a westbound between Pine Bluffs and Egbert with a KCS Belle as the second unit in a three unit consist. At least it wasn't a "pumpkin".

Highs: Plenty of trains, especially in Wyoming. Cheyenne, Rawlins and Green River were packed with trains. There were even some manifest trains in the mix in Wyoming and Utah. We saw a very long one descending Echo Canyon where I wish I could have taken a picture. (Eighty mile per hour driving trying to make 500-mile legs each day doesn't permit lolly-gagging to take pictures.

After losing our beloved Hitchin' Post in Cheyenne some years ago we tried a new place to watch trains during breakfast on West Lincoln Way at The Diner at the Exon gas station. It looks right out at C&S bridge and the UP signal bribge at the approach to the yard. Good chow!

Lows: I have to agree that the former WP Feather River line is an nocturnal operation. I don't understand why. The friendly hostess in the Grizzly Grill restaurant in Blairsden after seating us by the window so we could trains said: "People are always asking me when the train goes by. I don't know," she complained. I replied, "I'm retired from the railroad and you're right! "

Driving over Donner we didn't see any trains as we crossed the pass. I know from experience that you have get off I-80 to see the action.

Driving over the Central Avenue viaduct in downtown Cheyenne, the area between the roundhouse and the steam shop looked like a junkyard with a odd assortment of rolling stock jammed in every corner.

Being home: My wife and I enjoyed two outings this summer, one to Durango in July and this one just ending Sunday night. I stepped outside this afternoon to water plants and heard a UP train. Hey! I'm Insatiable....It's great to be home.

John Bromley



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/17 14:54 by Copy19.

Hey John, great synopsis of your trip across half the world, well half the US LOL. FYI, it was announced the other day that the Hitch is now finished. The city declared it a blight as the owners shut it down. Now they are trying to figure out what to do with the property. It desperately needs a "Railfan" motel there with a fine viewing platform out front. If I ever win the lottery perhaps it will come to fruition.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Thanks, John, very, very much for the wonderful and
fascinating account of your recent trip out here.

Yup - lots of things have changed. A lot!

That is a lot of driving! You are made of much,
much sterner stuff that I am -- and that is true
for me, right now, even if I still were able to
see well enough to drive.

This country does have a lot to see, and no one can
ever see it all in one trip.

What a wonderful trip you had. Thanks, again, for
the wonderful post.

Copy19 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
... Traffic in Northern
> California is worse than ever and unbelievable in
> the afternoon on the 101.
>
> What has changed is the railroad.
>
> It looks different.
>
> It feels different.
>
> It is different.
>


In a nutshell.

Watching the old DVD's of Donner Pass is painful knowing it's just not like that anymore. The old SP DVD's like Chas Smiley Productions are like something from a Tour of Europe or South America.

re Cheyenne. The Marriott's a little east of the old Tower A location is worth checking out, Google says 'Townplace Suites' for $149 tonight. They have an outdoor patio with a firepit (for off season), also a glassed in seating area used for breakfast seating. It's one of those places with mini-kitchens, which means byob and food too. It's not within walking distance of anything, kinda pricey sometimes too, best discounts seem to be with AAA. Would have been a good choice during last winter. I had a good view at the Candlewood but could never get that same room again.

Good hotels are pricey these days but a decent view makes them worthwhile for a night or two. All the better if there is an expense report to pay for them.

+ Looking at Google Streetview the 'Townplace Suites' is right across from the Tower A foundations, next to the old Hitching Post property. Streetview doesn't show the two new hotels, Maps does show them. When I stayed there for a week I just asked for upstairs on the south side.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/17 15:54 by TCnR.

The loss of loose car railroading is really a tragedy. Railroads say they can't make money on a car they carried for 400 to 900 miles because they had to switch it in the end. Never made sense to me, especially when you see what switching charges are. Short lines are doing quite well on those, thank you.

The Hitching Post Inn was the place I stayed on my first time to Cheyenne many moons ago. It was once a great place indeed.

Too bad intermodal runs on razor thin margins, where bulk commodities like coal had hefty margins. I don't think intermodal can replace coal on gross profit. Maybe on carloads and ton-miles, but not on margin.

The Grizzly Grill is one of my favorite restaurants in Plumas County. Great choice, trains or not.

BTW JB, turns out Steve was at WPRM that weekend. I didn't get word until a couple days after.

Cheers!

Mike