Western Railroad Discussion > Funky Dirt Train...With a Twist

I kinda got lucky on Friday, May 20th when I happened to catch the eastbound UROHP "Dirt Train" on Soldier Summit in great morning light. Actually, it really crossed the pass before sunrise but went into emergency just west of Lynn bringing the whole thing to a standstill until well after sunrise :-)

Here's a shot of UP 5694 at old Castle Gate, near the site of the former Willow Creek coal mine that caught fire in 2001 and was closed and dismantled...

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It's becoming quite a challenge to catch a UP train with a consist such as this...

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The two trailing units were headed for duty out of Helper, Utah after servicing at Roper Terminal near Salt Lake city. The crew for the Helper to East Carbon LJP45 "dirt train" was patiently waiting at Helper yard for these two vintage SD40's to arrive so they could begin their day...

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Since the UROHP train was delayed at Lynn in emergency for such a long time, the trainmaster at Helper decided to utilize the Roper to Helper GE power for the daily Helper to East Carbon EDCD run, the normal assignment of the venerable Rio Grande T-2's...

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Of course it was quite disappointing to not have our vintage Grande T-2's on the Sunnyside Sub that morning. However, it is extremely rare to catch modern UP AC units on this old branchline from Mounds.

The Sunnyside Sub may not see service much longer since the trash haul will move to a new landfill site in northwestern Utah. There is a strong possibility the trash will be trucked to this new location anyway. Apparently UP isn't interested in hauling household trash. They simply inherited this service from the SP merger in 1996.

Here's a shot of the "rare" UP AC-clad LJP45 dirt train crossing Grassy Trail Creek on it's way to East Carbon at 10:00 a.m. on May 20th.

James

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So what was the twist? The clean UP engine?

In the first picture, look how nice and maintained the tracks are..all 5 of them.. How in the Hell can UP have congestion and fluidity problems?? That looks like a model RR, it is too perfect!

scannergeek Wrote:
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> So what was the twist? The clean UP engine?

Well, not quite. The big AC power on the old Sunnyside was the twist.