Passenger Trains > California Zephyrs on Solstice

Was out for an pre-sunrise bike ride yesterday to enjoy the early light on solstice and happened to check the Track-a-Train map after catching the tail end of a southbound freight roll through the Jordan Narrows (between Salt Lake and Provo, UT).  Noticed that the eastbound California Zephyr (#6) was hours late and hadn't made it to Salt Lake City yet, it should have passed my location more than an hour before I was riding through.  So I went home, got breakfast, and then headed over to a little spot in Lehi where the tracks make a long S-curve through town.  The south end of the curve is where I setup, a few family fields have yet to be subdivided.  As I was waiting, I heard the bells for the crossing gates (this is a quiet zone) but couldn't figure out which set of gates started first (there are crossings at each end of this curve).  Turned out to be a northbound UTA Frontrunner headed to Salt Lake.  Was worried it would block my shot and then remembered it was on the far track here, so I would have been ok with a meet.  It cleared and then 2 minutes later I could hear the gates again and here came the almost 3+ hour late Zephyr.  With our drought the field wasn't as green, but with the sunlight the trains sure looked good.  

1 - northbound Frontrunner
2 - California Zephyr
3 - Looked like a full summer consist today, but I forgot to count the cars

 

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Last year I caught #5 headed westbound and was hoping to bag both Zephyrs today now that they are back on a daily schedule.  Hope was fading as I watched the map in the evening and saw the train was running over an hour late.  No chance for even a "fading light" shot, and I was tired.  But what the heck, I decided I could risk falling asleep during meetings on Tuesday and watched the map until the train got close to Provo.  Headed over to an overpass on the east end of Lehi but was disappointed to see the lights off under the bridge.  So I turned my high beams on and hoped for the best with lots of light from the cement silos in the background (which is finally back in use of years of being dormant).  All in all, a good summer day with a few trains thrown in.  I don't get out to chase much, and UP's changes plus the drop in coal traffic means a lot fewer trains through my neck of the woods than their used to be.  

Nathan

4 - friendly honk from the engineer as they rolled by
5 - wasn't going for a blur effect, might have to try again
6 - there it goes, watched the taillights until it rounded the curve from the first batch of pictures

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