Western Railroad Discussion > Adventures in train chasing

So I knew Amtrak #203 (Operation Lifesaver) was coming through again and I wanted to try to get another video and some pictures, hopefully with a little less snow in the frame.  I was mixing up biscuits when I noticed the Zephyr (6/21) had left Salt Lake, so put that on hold and grabbed the youngest two for what I thought was going to be a quick train chase - we were gone for a little over an hour.  The day was already off to a great start with a spectacular sunrise. I decided to try the new Vineyard, UT Frontrunner station as I could get Mount Timpanogos in the background which is looking good with all the snow from the storms of late.  The Track-a-Train map was on the fritz again so we had to guess a little as to when to get out and brave the cold.  UTA put the parking lot a long ways from the platform for some reason, really bad design for cold mornings.  After getting the video and photos of the Amtrak train, we walked back to the car.  But I happened to look at the signals again and noticed the UP signal had gone from red over red to red over green.  Something was following the Zephyr this morning!  So we waited in the car to warm up, and I thought once or twice that maybe I heard the train coming.  But nothing showed, so I decided to take a chance and move up to the Vineyard Connector overpass that you see in the Zephyr clip.  A southbound UP manifest headed for the old Provo yard (hence the diverging signal to get them on the correct track) showed up, I think it's a North Platte - West Colton train, but not 100% sure.  And just when I thought the day couldn't get any better, as we were driving up to I-15, a brand new "Fleet of the Future" car for BART was headed south on I-15.  There wasn't a second of hesitation, even though it meant going the wrong way, and I got on I-15 south to give chase.  The funniest thing was that after I past it in south Provo, I was getting off the freeway in Springville and noticed the truck was exiting, too, probably for the truck stop there.  So one more set of pictures and video before heading home.  Great set of trains, especially the unexpected BART car, in 30-ish minutes of train chasing.  Everyone else was awake by the time we got home, so I finished off the great start to the morning with some homemade biscuits and gravy while we watched the snow storm start that blew in.  I'm sure glad that waited until after our adventure was over.

As for the BART car, seems like this is UTA's way of extending Frontrunner service to Springville from Provo.  :)  I'm guessing it was going this way to avoid the weather and traffic problems on Donner.  So maybe I-15 Salt Lake to Barstow, and then over Tehachapi, and then up the Central Valley and over Altamont to Hayward.  Just a guess, but that seems to make the most sense.  We saw a BART car going down Parley's on I-80 west of Park City three years ago, so seeing the car in Utah wasn't the surprise.  It was seeing it in Orem/Vineyard, that was a huge surprise.  Wonder how many there are left to delivery, I know it's a huge order.  Someday I'll get to ride them, just missed the chance 4 years ago and haven't been back to the Bay Area since.

1 - Snagged this sunrise photo as we were leaving, too bad I couldn't have gotten a train in the frame
2 - my superhero train chasing buddies

---

---

You must be a registered subscriber to watch videos. Join Today!

Thanks  Nathan, forgiving me glimpse of my surrounding area that I no longer can get around to seeing.  I really do appreciate your efforts.  What great expediences for those two boys of yours.  I enjoying seeing them also.
Blaine
American Fork

Great video and variety, Nathan.

Rich

I REALLY like the sunrise!!

Niiiiice!

PCBill