Nostalgia & History > a long look down the main .....

May 13, 1978 .....

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Location?

 Great photo but where?

exopr Wrote:
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> Location?

I know it, but want to see if anyone else does  ....

Best guess:  UP in Wyoming between Rock Springs and Point of Rocks.


Allen

bradleymckay Wrote:
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> Best guess:  UP in Wyoming between Rock Springs
> and Point of Rocks.
>
>
> Allen

right RR, right state ..... gotta work on location : >) 

Sinclair Wyoming

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Railpax71 Wrote:
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> Sinclair Wyoming

Bingo!

Can't beat the west for the "big Sky!" Makes me feel claustraphobic living in the east.

The big sky country went on forever, especially in the days of the gas crisis and 55mph speed limit. It took me a whole day to travel from Cheyenne to Salt Lake City, after previous whole day to travel from Ames to Cheyenne. To escape the boredom of the solo drives I turned off to explore many places like Sinclair if even for a few minutes while looking for gas. Highlight of the drives was catching the Amtrak rainbow San Francisco Zephyr both directions. Images to be scanned and shared later.

Railpax71 Wrote:
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> The big sky country went on forever, especially in
> the days of the gas crisis and 55mph speed limit.
> It took me a whole day to travel from Cheyenne to
> Salt Lake City, after previous whole day to travel
> from Ames to Cheyenne. To escape the boredom of
> the solo drives I turned off to explore many
> places like Sinclair if even for a few minutes
> while looking for gas. Highlight of the drives was
> catching the Amtrak rainbow San Francisco Zephyr
> both directions. Images to be scanned and shared
> later.

55mph across Texas wasn't a drive, it was a career!

Ha! In a tractor/trailer, Texas interstates were 50 mph at night. Wasn't a career as much as a lifetime!!!

Don't miss that at all.

S_W

Posted from Android

It sounds like some of the others have come close, but this location is on the UP Overland Route east of Sinclair, WY looking east with a part of 11,162 ft. Elk Mountain on the right. This was a fun straightaway on the UP when Amtrak's "San Francisco Zephyr" was late and the UP dispatcher would tell the hoghead "You can take the bridle off..." Triple-digit speeds were common along here back in the 1970's!

Also, this flat is home to thousands (or more) prairie dogs who just love to run back and forth across the train as you come up on them at 90 to 105 MPH (at least back then...). On one trip one of the "dogs" stopped right between the rails on my track and stood up on his hind legs with his front paws hanging down to watch our approach (he might have been a railfan, but I didn't see a camera around his neck...). He was still there when he disappeared from view beneath the nose of my diesel.

One final tidbit is that in the distance where the line leaves the flats it also crosses the North Fork of the Platte River. At this location as the UP was building west across Wyoming in 1868 the US Cavalry established Fort Steele to protect the railroad. You can tun off I-80 at the river and drive over to the remains of the old fort.

Lot's of fun memories from along this historic line!

Thanks for sharing!

ShastaDaylight