Nostalgia & History > It Was Just Another Tunnel Motor in 1989

Tunnel motors were pretty common power in the 1980's. You could catch one on most any Rio Grande freight train, especially the coal drags.

Rio Grande 5371 is listed on UP's current roster as a D&RGW unit with sibling DRGW 5390. They continue to pile on the miles working out of Helper, Utah and receiving a kind of celebrity status. The 5371 was built by EMD in 1976 and the 5390 in 1978.

Here's a photo of the 5371 back in the day, working the lead position of the nightly #152 train out of Roper Yard, bound for Grand Junction. Joining in the consist is an SD45 and two more SD40T-2 units. The long cut of white tanks will be set out on the "acid track" some 167 miles east at Thompson, Utah.

James

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Beautiful shot.