Western Railroad Discussion > Flowery Lake Pass/Hogan Tunnel (North East NV) Oct 3 - 5, 2020

I drove my pickup truck camper out to the Hogan Tunnel area which is about about 40 miles west of Wendover on the ex-WP (57 miles by rail)  around noon Saturday, Oct 3 and stayed out there until late afternoon Monday Oct 5.  At just under 6000 ft of elevation, Hogan tunnel is the high point on the ex-WP and is about 1700 ft higher than Wendover so most of the distance from Wendover is a climb.  At 5676 feet the tunnel is just over a mile long and runs almost straight east-west with a relatively sharp turn of about 80 to 85 degrees to the north at either end.  At one point on the south side of the cut on east side there is a clear view thru the tunnel.  Anyway, the weather was favorable except for the smoke from the fires in California that made it hard to see across the valley on either side.

I just missed an eastbound train when I was driving in around Saturday noon.  There were no more trains during the day Saturday and only 2 freight trains during the night in addition to the 2 Amtrak trains that normally pass during the night.  After no trains, Sunday morning  I drove over to the east side of tunnel and waited.  Finally, I had a long westbound stack train around noon.

1.  For a shot of the lead power, I am set up on the south east side of the cut before the tunnel looking mostly north.

2.  The train was relatively heavy for the available power and was grinding up the hill not much faster than a fast walk.  I walked down off the cut and towards the tunnel and set up to take a picture of the distributed power locomotive that was cut into the middle of the train.  The yellow blooming plant is rabbit brush and was one of the reasons that I had driven out there hoping that I had not missed the peak of the bloom.

3.  Just after the stack train passed, I had shorter and faster westbound auto rack train with one locomotive on either end.  The lead locomotive was a relatively new and relatively clean SD70AH.  I have to admit to a preference for EMD power as the paint is generally better.

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4.  The auto rack train was considerably faster than the previous stack train but I was able to walk down off the cut and get a picture of  the rear DPU surrounded with blooming rabbit brush.  The rabbit brush has a tendency to grow along the edge of roads and the tracks.  Maybe there is just a little more water available along the edge as most of the rest of the land mostly supports sage brush.

5.  After several hours of waiting, I had an eastbound so I setup on the south side of the cut for the tunnel where I had a view down the tunnel.  The light favors a picture in the morning and with the sun higher in the summer but you take what get.  Anyway, I had a eastbound train with 2 lead locomotives including a relatively clean C45AH GEs, a cut of stack cars, a cut of auto racks, and a cut of general freight.

6.  This is a shot of the mid-train DPU cut in between the stack cars and the auto racks.  With a relatively long train, I was hoping for a rear DPU but it was not to be.  This was the last train of the day.

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The only trains during the night were the 2 Amtrak trains.

7.  After waiting a few hours on the west side, I heard the detector to the west indicate that I had an east bond train coming.  Normally, I would be able to see it but the smoke limited the visibility.  Anyway, I drove over to the east side of the tunnel and setup on the south side of the cut with a view down the tunnel.  The lead locomotive was another relatively clean GE C45AH (UP's designation).

8.  UP must have been moving power as there were a total of 8 locomotives on the lead.

9.  After a cut of stack cars and then a cut of general freight, there was a mid-train DPU.

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Wow, great photos, thanks for sharing. 

Tom

Hogan Tunnel may be the highest point on the former WP mainline, but the Inside Gateway's Norvell, CA is the highest point on the former WP. At 5741', looks like Norvell wins by 65'.

TJY

10,  After another long cut of genera freight cars, a rear DPU.  The train has dragged along some dust and exhaust so the visibility is even of worse.

11.  I had no sooner moved my camper to where I had a clear (except for the smoke) view across the Goshute Valley and a view of a signal that indicted that I had another eastbound train coming. This time I had a very short train that had no trouble going up the hill.  I barely had time to walk to where I wanted to setup before the train came out of the tunnel.  As the train did not have to work hard, the tunnel is virtually clear of exhaust and dust and you can see the end of the tunnel above the relatively new, low emission T4 GE locomotive.  Now you can see both the end of the tunnel and the oncoming train.

12.  The entire train was the locomotive, a buffer flat and the track geometry car, EC-4.  Above the track geometry car, you can see my camper.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/20 12:42 by sdrake.

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13.  I new that there was a train at Wendover that I believed was headed west as they had been in contact with the dispatcher with a problem of a broken air line.  They had stopped to meet the train with the track geometry car so maybe someone decided to cause a  problem.  Anyway, I waited and waited.  Finally, I decided to pack up and leave.  Just as I was getting ready to leave, the detector east of me indicated that there was a train coming.  So, I drove over to the west side of the tunnel hoping to get a picture of the train coming out of the west portal.  Finally, got a picture of a coal train coming out of the west portal.  Again this is a good afternoon shot but is better in the late spring or summer when the sun is higher.

14.  Same train further out of the tunnel.

15.  Single rear DPU on the coal train.  The coal trains often have 2 DPUs on the rear but it may depend on where they load and unload.

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Funny looking caboose!

Nice looking stone work on that west portal shot.  Thanks for sharing this nice series.

Kent in CArmel Valley

I show Silver Zone East of Hogan Tunnel to be 5955 feet just West of Arnold's Loop maybe the highest between Wendover and Elko.
Blaine M

What determines freight routing on the ex-WP in this area (vs the ex-SP to the north)?  Does freight on this line have business in Salt Lake City vs freight heading transcontinental run via Lucin/Ogden?

Thanks,
--j

TJY and Blaine M

Union Pacific lists the high point on the Shafter Sub as Hogan Tunnel at 5901 feet.  See the info from Union Pacific below.

https://www.up.com/cs/groups/public/documents/up_pdf_nativedocs/pdf_highest_elevations.pdf


--J    "What determines freight routing on the ex-WP in this area (vs the ex-SP to the north)?"

Wish I had a better answer for this.  The loaded coal and loaded grain trains commonly use this line as the grades are less.  The problem with the ex-WP is that most of the sidings are around 6000 ft which is short these days.  Typically, UP will run what they call a "no-fitter" meaning that it will not fit in any of the sidings.  There is a 10,000 ft siding at Windover and 8000 ft sidings at Timpie and Dell but these are most of the way to Salt Lake .  Then they can not run another long train in the opposite direction until the first train either reaches Salt Lake to the east or Alazon (Wells) to the west.  I am sure that all of the trains in my pictures with double stack cars were "no-fitters"  I think that the 2 trains that went thru Saturday night were a west bound loaded grain train and an east bound empty coal train.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/20 15:05 by sdrake.

My wife Pat and I rode a business car from Council Bluffs out to Salt Lake City in 1991 where we joined the steam double-header with 844 and 3985 for the westbound steam special to Sacramento over the former Western Pacific.  She was in the cab of 844 when we went through Hogan tunnel.  She was quite a sight when she came back to our business car in Elko, her hometown.  We were hosting a dinner party for friends and relatives that evening and she some how managed to put herself together in time to greet our guests.

Great photos.  Thanks Sam for your persistence out there at the tunnel.  They sure triggered our memories of an unforgettable  trip.

JB - Omaha



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/20 15:56 by Copy19.

Great series!

You are one patient fellow. Great job and shots. Does the former SP line host a similarly small amount of traffic?
JB

3rdswitch Wrote:
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> You are one patient fellow. Great job and shots.
> Does the former SP line host a similarly small
> amount of traffic?
> JB
That is where the bulk of the Overland Route traffic goes

Always love your photos and stories from this part of our great country

Posted from Android

Great series, Thanks for posting this, triggered many memories!

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA

Thanks for the pics...

Following along here.... maybe I am mistaken, but isn't there a IOACY (stacker from Oakland to Cheyenne) that runs over the WP/Arnold Loop? It also seems to suggest that there ought to be a westbound counterpart of some sort...INPOA? ISCLT? INPLT? 

If there is (the folks in Omaha keep scrambling scheduling around), when could I expect to look for it up there? 

If I am understanding this correctly so far, there is certainly freight activity over Silver Zone, but it sounds as though it is not frequent and is sporadic, with no clue in a 24-hour period of when to expect anything in either direction. 

Any readers ere have a clue?

--Gerrypaul