Steam & Excursion > UP 3985 - Rocky Mountain Railroad Club's 50th Anniversa

The Rocky Mountain Railroad Club's 50th anniversary was celebrated with two steam powered excursions. The first excursion, featuring UP 3985, was run on Saturday, June 18, 1988. The trip ran from Denver to Laramie and return. UP 6936 headed the Denver to Cheyenne segment and UP 3985 took over at Cheyenne for the run over Sherman Hill to Laramie.
The second trip was on the Georgetown Loop, and was run on Sunday, June 19, 1988. http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,2455030

1. UP 6936 at Denver early in the morning just before the trip departed.

2. On the way to Cheyenne we enjoyed a photo runby with UP 6936. Except for several locations on this trip I have no idea where the runbys were held. If anyone can identify the locations please do and I'll update this post.

3. After exchanging UP 6936 for UP 3985, we soon had our first runby on the mainline to Laramie.

Jack Bejna
Los Angeles, CA



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/11 04:56 by juicejunkie.

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4. Another runby, probably at the same location.

5. UP 3985 at Laramie, Wyoming, taken from the bridge over the yard.

6. Up 3985 about to back up for a runby at this unknown location.

Jack Bejna
Los Angeles, CA

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7. Runby at same location as photo 6.

8 and 9. Moving on to another location UP 3985 roared past the photo line.

Jack Bejna
Los Angeles, CA

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10 and 11. UP 3985, another location, multiple runbys!

12. UP 3985, another location, another runby.

Jack Bejna
Los Angeles, CA

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13. Up 3985 at the same location as photo 12.

14 and 15. UP 3985 at Buford, Wyoming for multiple runbys.

Jack Bejna
Los Angeles, CA

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16, 17, and 18. UP 3985 at Buford

Jack Bejna
Los Angeles, CA

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19, UP 3985, the last runby at Buford.

20. The photo lines were well organized by the volunteers of the RMRRC, no mean feat considering the large amount of fans on the trip.

21.UP 3985 gave us a nice broadside shot at another location.

Jack Bejna
Los Angeles, CA

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22. This shot illustrates the reason that UP 3985 was converted to an oil burner. After the runbys, the fans spread out to stamp out the fires that were started by the star of the show!

23 and 24. Another location and more great runbys!

Jack Bejna
Los Angeles, CA

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25, 26, and 27. The final location and another well organized photo line. This excursion had more than enough runbys at multiple locations. At the end of the day it was nice to relax in the lounge car with a libation and some good company!

As always, comments, corrections, locations and additional photos are welcome.

Thanks for looking!

Jack Bejna
Los Angeles, CA

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Excellent thread!!! Thank you for posting.
Too bad you didn't cover the 1522.

These are great photos. I would love a chance to photograph this engine. Has anyone ever done a photo freight with 3985?

I wish they would run trips without diesel helpers now days. It just seems that no matter how you look at it, photographing steam just gets harder and harder. Are the diesels more for backup in case the steamer stalls, or is it mostly about insurance and Amtrak certification?

It depends on which railroad or steam locomotive you're talking about. Some excursions (ATSF 3751, SP 4449, etc.) it is my understanding that the Amtrak units are present so the train will be Amtrak certified. On the UP, when they run longer passenger consists out west (or anywhere they encounter bigger grades with said longer train) they usually run a diesel for dynamic brakes, and yeah, they'll occasionally use the diesel for a boost to keep the active mainline freight railroad they're traversing on the move.

As for where I live (Missouri), I've been chasing UP steam excursions since 1996, and we've never been "blessed" with a diesel in the consist, usually because they normally run a short train (rarely more than 6-8 cars), and they have no problem slowing that down air, even on our biggest grades. But, even when they run a long train out this way (Oklahoma Centennial Train in 2007 was around 20 cars), they still don't use a diesel "helper", because no major grades are encountered, at least not constantly like in a mountainous area.

Also, I suppose if a UP steam engine came up lame they could get a shove from a diesel helper, but if they didn't trust their own steam locomotives more than that (and they do trust them), they would have no business having a steam program.

Pump

steam290 Wrote:
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>Are the diesels more for backup in
> case the steamer stalls, or is it mostly about
> insurance and Amtrak certification?

Nice shots, Jack! Was John Green on that trip, maybe wearing a purple shirt?

WOW! GREAT PHOTOS*******

Of Mighty UP 3985......

SUPER G-R-E-A-T.*

Vernon Harrison
La Tour, Missouri

steam290 Wrote:
. Has anyone ever done a
> photo freight with 3985?
> ?


There is a video(youtube I think) of 3985 pulling a stack train ,and making it look easy.
regards,Daryl Kay.

juicejunkie Wrote:
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> 20. The photo lines were well organized by the
> volunteers of the RMRRC, no mean feat considering
> the large amount of fans on the trip.

Looks like you got my best side, Jack ;)

Masterphots is over my left shoulder.

My recollection of the run north with 6936 is that we did runbys at only one location, the CO / WY state line.

Great shots.

JAC

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Excellent series of photos!

Wish I had been there....

Thanks!

Steve Mitchell
http://www.yardgoatimages.com

Nice photos Jack. Yes, that's me in the purple Atlantic Coast Line tee shirt and the green Southern Railway hat. I still have the old VHS videos I shot on those trips with my brother's RCA camcorder.

John Green
Waxhaw, NC

The lighting that nature provided for that trip was fantastic. Great photos, Jack. The detail on the running gear is just terrific. Wish I had been there.

Great photos. I sure do miss photo runbys. Maybe UP still does them on some trips, but the last two I've been on no one was allowed off the train except at the end of the trip. Daze