Western Railroad Discussion > Railfanning at Wendover?

Now this has come up as a possibility later this year:

Anyone done any rail fanning at Wendover (UT-NV state line)? As far s I know, there's only one daily train that is a predictable, "regular" train: the westbound 'MRORV' from Roper YD headed to Roseville.

I know that MRORV is rolling through Wendover in maybe a 3am-6am (?) period daily. I know that the eastbound MRVRO is routed on the causeway to Ogden.
Is there any point in spending a day or two at Wendover to watch trains other than the MRORV? I figure none originate there at the yard on the Utah side.
Maybe unit sand or unit gravel (eastbound or westbound or both?) come through Wendover?

Feedback would be much appreciated on this. If I'm driving I-80 and pondering this, it would be good to know if there's much of any point to stop over.

--Gerrypaul

I have been fanning the Wendover area for decades, most recently about a month ago. You are correct that there are only a few trains; I usually see 3 or 4 trains during daylight, most of them westbounds. The MRORV that you mentioned can actually show up anytime. Also there is the 3 times a week BNSF trackage rights train; one each way often during the day. One train actually does originate at Wendover, the Wendover local, LUE50 eastbound and its westbound counterpart LUE51 which originates at Salt Lake City. The westbound crew overnites at Wendover and returns east the next morning. This train usually has older power; SD40N’s, SD60’s, SD70’s etc. Then there are grain trains, export coal trains, and odballs to fill out the 3 or 4 daily. Amtrak 5 and 6 pass in the middle of the night. You did not mention what you will be driving, but if you want to venture off road, I would recommend 4wd. By far, the best scenery for photography is the Arnolds Loop area on the north side of I80 in Nevada accessed from the Shafter exit. Do not expect to have any company if you go far off road; you will likely be by yourself all day. PM me if you have any questions.

Dick Ebright
Roosevelt, Utah

Up to at least the mid-60s, Wendover had a bad reputation centered around automobile breakdowns. Wendover is in the middle of nowhere, and had quite a bunch of gasoline service stations and restaurants along the highway. It is said that the service stations and auto repair shops paid some of the "locals" to sneak around and puncture tires, poke holes in radiator hoses, etc. on the autos of unwary motorists, and then would charge the motorist two or three times the going rate to repair the damage to get them out of town ASAP! My Dad would never let them even "pop the hood" at a gas station in Wendover. They tried preying on my Mom a couple of times, telling her once that a brand new set of brakes was completely shot, and another time that the battery was on it's last legs.....all total BS. After all of this, I avoided stopping at all in Wendover on my railfanning trips to/from Utah and Colorado! Then, I "discovered" the railroad wonders of Ely, and have never been in Wendover since! Does Wendover still have this bad reputation?

I have been going to Wendover since 1968 for railfanning and business. Never had any trouble such as you describe. On modern cars you can't "pop the hood" without actually being in the car. So, just keep it locked.

Dick Ebright
Roosevelt, Utah



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/18 09:44 by 2ebright.

For the years that Wendover was in my area of responsibility I as well never had any problems, tons of hotels and food,
if the local power is interesting you'll have time to watch them switch. If it's really slow you can go chase the DFeep
Creek ROW, or visit the old airfield, or go see the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Out

If you have a good car, then go out to 800 South Airport Way, there Is a Industrial Company out there and they have these 2 Loco's in use.

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Should be mentioned the two pictured industrial units work the reload where ore from the mines in Ely is loaded into gondolas. UP handles that as unit trains as they are loaded, heading east to Salt Lake and then northwest to the export docks in I think Portland. Every once in a while the empties return south down to Roseville and then east, but typically the retrace their steps back to Wendover. Otherwise I'd second everything Dick says, except that at least a couple days a week the Wendover local will go west to the Graymont limestone mine uphill from the Pilot exit. And the most trains I see in daylight averages around 3, though as stated the only usually predictable one in the Roper to Roseville. Not too long ago it usually showed up inside a three or so hour window in the late afternoon, now it can be anytime.

Jeff Moore
Elko, NV

“If I'm driving I-80 and pondering this...”

I’m sure you know this, but if you don’t — lots more trains to be seen along I-80 at Elko, Carlin, Battle Mountain and Winnemucca than at Wendover, on account of both WP and SP traffic going through these towns.

Happy travels,
Ted in MN

Yes, I understand that. I was only dealing with issues about the old WP route and Arnold Loop.
It seemed to me that the best way to deal with questions would be from the perspective of easily driving to/being at a location to watch this route.

lynnpowell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Up to at least the mid-60s, Wendover had a bad
> reputation centered around automobile breakdowns.
> Wendover is in the middle of nowhere, and had
> quite a bunch of gasoline service stations and
> restaurants along the highway. It is said that
> the service stations and auto repair shops paid
> some of the "locals" to sneak around and puncture
> tires, poke holes in radiator hoses, etc. on the
> autos of unwary motorists, and then would charge
> the motorist two or three times the going rate to
> repair the damage to get them out of town ASAP!
> My Dad would never let them even "pop the hood" at
> a gas station in Wendover. They tried preying on
> my Mom a couple of times, telling her once that a
> brand new set of brakes was completely shot, and
> another time that the battery was on it's last
> legs.....all total BS. After all of this, I
> avoided stopping at all in Wendover on my
> railfanning trips to/from Utah and Colorado!
> Then, I "discovered" the railroad wonders of Ely,
> and have never been in Wendover since! Does
> Wendover still have this bad reputation?


That was 50 years ago! And when gas stations actually
had pump jockeys! I suspect you still hold a grudge a
half-century old.

I've been through Wendover more times than I can count
over the past 30 years, I almost always fuel up and eat
there and even spent some nights there in one of the
many hotels. Never any problem at all. Or even heard of
any.

I was standing in line at the Chevron station, pre card reader days and the three people ahead of me all had the same
brand of fleet card that we werre using. Most days the industrial types in town almost outnumber the locals.

Out