Passenger Trains > Canyon Spirit inaugural run to Salt Lake City

I missed the trial run(s) last year, but was able to catch the first runs of the season yesterday and today for the Canyon Spirit to & from Salt Lake.  Based on the timing for Amtrak runs between Salt Lake and Provo, I had a decent idea of when the train would show up, but it was hard not to have a GPS tracker to tell me where it was, so I was flying a bit blind.  I decided on the Jordan Narrows yesterday, and as I was walking to the spot I wanted to film from, here came the train, about 10 minutes earlier than I expected.  I still got some halfway decent shots from my backup spot as it glided through the Narrows.  It's a great looking train, hopefully I'll get a chance to ride it some day.

 

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My daughter who tagged along yesterday decided to come with me again this morning.  Unfortunately, the train was way later than expected.  I got to my spot about 10 minutes before I expected it to arrive, and we watched 2 Frontrunners roll by and still no Canyon Spirit.  My daughter checked out the horses and mules at the farm while I waited, but I gave up after 40 minutes.  We drove around to check the nearby signals, but they were all dark.  We stopped to grab some breakfast treats for the rest of the family, but then I wondered if the train was late leaving Salt Lake because of ceremonies and festivities, or just first run delays, this morning.  So I was headed back to check one of the signals near the farm spot and noticed the crossing gates going down.  I hopped out to take pictures, but it was another Frontrunner, drat.  The gates went up and as I drove across the tracks, I could see the headlights of the Canyon Spirit coming around the corner and the crossing gates were starting up again to go down behind me - yikes!  I hustled to the spot and barely got the video started in time, yikes!  The train is really quiet, even compared to the Frontrunner trains we normally see.  Hopefully I'll get to chase the Canyon Spirit up towards Soldier Summit later this summer, it sure adds some variety and color to the ex-DRGW.

Nathan

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Very nice. Had no idea that Salt Lake was a profitable destination for rail charters.

Does it use the dismal Amtrak 'station' in SLC?

Posted from Android

I'm glad to see these great pictures of the inaugural run of the new Canyon Spirit between Denver and Salt Lake City.  My wife and I were among the passengers and I can honestly tell you it is truly a luxury experience!  I'd be glad to share more about the trip, incl how slick they are with luggage handling, room checkin, etc., but for now here are a couple pictures of what the passengers experience. (ps when I preview this msg the pics are 90 degrees from right side up.  Sorry about that I'm no good at this) --webmaster note, I fixed them for you.

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Great photos, video and coverage Nathan.  And congrats on the Video of the Day.

Rich

gonx Wrote:
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> Very nice. Had no idea that Salt Lake was a
> profitable destination for rail charters.

Good airline connections.

dadonatrain Wrote:
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> I'm glad to see these great pictures of the
> inaugural run of the new Canyon Spirit between
> Denver and Salt Lake City.  My wife and I were
> among the passengers and I can honestly tell you
> it is truly a luxury experience!  I'd be glad to
> share more about the trip, incl how slick they are
> with luggage handling, room checkin, etc., but for
> now here are a couple pictures of what the
> passengers experience. (ps when I preview this msg
> the pics are 90 degrees from right side up.
>  Sorry about that I'm no good at this)
> --webmaster note, I fixed them for you.

Glad you got to ride!

Posted from iPhone

PHall Wrote:
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> gonx Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Very nice. Had no idea that Salt Lake was a
> > profitable destination for rail charters.
>
> Good airline connections.

Agreed, I wonder how many more one-way trips they’ll be able to pick up by having great (Denver) to good (Salt Lake) airline connections on each end. Only running to Moab previously, I wondered how many rode round trip versus one way because there weren’t really any other transit options out of Moab.

Nathan

Posted from iPhone

I can add a bit to this, since I was on the inaugural run myself.  We had at least a couple dozen psgrs on the Denver-SLC three day run who only went as far as Moab and then left to take either side trips org by the canyon spirit org or their own.  And some we overheard were doing this in between the time the WB got to Moab and the EB return run got to Moab and they got back on and went back to Denver.  That was an option I hadn't thought about at all.

My only point in offering this bit of trivia is to say there seems to be quite a range of ways to use this new run.

atsf121: thank you very much!  It was a wonderful trip in every respect.

Great pictures and great comments by all. Amazing what Rocky Mountaineer can do. I wonder how much that Silver Leaf coach cost.......or cost to modify.......Looking forward to Canyon Spirit / Rocky Mountaineer using Salt Lake City and Denver as a hub. I would hope they are just getting started! Salt Lake City to Glacier National Park and/or Los Angeles. Denver to Grand Canyon. It's a stretch, but having a hub at Salt Lake and Denver could open some doors if all is successful!  

not sure the Moab slc will do as well, wish they would invest into running to the end of the line at Moab, lets hope the passengers travel  all the segments!