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JAMIE'S RANDOM AMERICAN RAILWAY PHOTOS.


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Thanks for that pH, James Hill was certainly a Character.  I can't remember exactly but wasn't Cornelius Van Horn one of his employees before going over the the CPR.

 

Anyway we are still in Ogden and its still, just, the 15th September 2012. Another shot from the interior of the station that's now a sort of museum. A muriel showing the construction of the UP.

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Apparently Mr Young was rather miffed that the UP went north from the bottom of Weber canyon rather than south via Salt lake City.

Outside the museum I though that I needed something to show the size of the Big Blow.

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The next morning we had decided to take the train down to Salt Lake City but no trains run on Sunday so we had to drive. Some power was parked just south of the station.

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The Wahsatch range made a nice backdrop to photos.   A double stack was passing heading north to then head west across the lake,

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There was even a patched unit n the consist.

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Then it was off down towards Salt lake City and the towers of the temple.

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Of course, as SLC has a tram system we had to go.

 

Jamie

 

 

Edited by jamie92208
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9 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Thanks for that pH, James Hill was certainly a Character.  I can't remember exactly but wasn't Cornelius Van Horn one of his employees before going over the the CPR.

 

wasn't Cornelius Van Horn one of his employees - Yes

 

before going over the the CPR - No

 

The first railway Hill was involved with (and out of which the Great Northern developed) was a bankrupt road in the States called the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, which he bought as part of a group which included Donald Smith and George Stephen. These three then became part of a group which contracted to build the Canadian Pacific Railway. Hill recommended Van Horne, who he had dealt with in the US, to the members of this group to be in charge of construction of the Canadian Pacific. So Van Horne was actually an employee of Hill's at the CPR.

 

Hill expected the CPR to build south of Lake Superior on the way west, putting a lot of construction traffic on his St. Paul and Pacific (now expanded to be the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba) and then continuing to provide through traffic after completion, as well as giving the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba access to a transcontinental mainline. However, the CPR built an all-Canadian route, going round the north of Lake Superior, and Van Horne even transported construction material by boat on Lake Superior before the line was completed, so the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba gained nothing from the CPR. Hill resigned from the CPR and swore he would get his revenge on Van Horne - even if he had to "go to Hell for it and shovel coal.”

 

The competition between them was fierce. The CPR, in alliance with the Soo, took a US mail contract between Chicago and the west coast away from the Great Northern, using virtually the east end of the route Hill had expected the CPR to be built on. And there was conflict in southern British Columbia, where the GN had access to the mining areas along north-south valleys with easy connections to the Great Northern mainline in the States, while the CPR had to build east-west over the various mountain ranges. Once Hill gave up control of the GN to his son and died in 1916, the GN started to withdraw from British Columbia (the mining areas were being worked out as well). Nowadays, the only ex-GN track still in use in BC is the BNSF line from Blaine on the border in Washington State to Vancouver, and a few kilometres of track in the vicinity of  Grand Forks and from the border to Fruitvale, both now operated by shortlines.

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Yes Van Horne was a real Character as well. I believe that he's got a whole mountain range after him.  Somewhere I've got a copy of Pierre Burton's Impossible Dream and do vaguely  remember the various machinations.  I do remember that it was a vital political imperative to keep the CPR on Canadian territory and that part of the reason it was built was to tie BC into the Dominion.  The book was a good read. I may have got some of that wrong.

 

Anyway we are still in Utah on 16th September 2012, in Salt Lake City on a Sunday morning. The main purpose was to allow us to ride the Light rail system. From the city centre we headed south Towards sandy civic centre on the blue line.

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Then back to the junction for the Daybreak branch on the red line.

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Interesting to ride as it was obviously used for freight on a lot of sections, probably at night. Traditional style colour light signals but line of sight driving in the town centre.

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I think this was back at the Fashion Place West Junction.

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The triangle here was quite sharply curved.

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At one point  a Utah Railway loco was tucked away.

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Very clean and well maintained.  It ws obvious that we got into some poorer neighbourhoods as we got further from the city centre.

 

Jamie

 

 

 

Edited by jamie92208
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Good afternoon from a slightly brighter Charente.   The tardis is still in Salt Lake City Sunday 17th September 2012.   On our way back north on the red line of the TRAX system there were some good views of the Wasatch mountains.

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Another Utah Railway loco was seen.

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And we passed one of the two depots.

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With a variety of stock outside.

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From the city centre we stayed on the red line to go up towards the big medical centre.

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And a double unit working waiting to run back into town from the terminus which is quite a height above the city.

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Jamie

 

 

 

Edited by jamie92208
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5 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Another Utah Railway loco was seen.

P9169315_resize.JPG.fe3b7a4c70f13aa5d0fe8aff1240887a.JPG

 


Jamie, is that not just the same unit from a slightly different angle? (Same road number.)

 

On 16/11/2021 at 03:58, jamie92208 said:

At one point  a Utah Railway loco was tucked away.

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I didn’t manage to get a picture of a Utah Railroad unit when I was in Ogden. We passed three at the side of a highway but:

 

- I didn’t know where the next exit was

- the neighbourhood looked a bit sketchy 

- it was getting dark

 

 so we didn’t go back.

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43 minutes ago, pH said:


Jamie, is that not just the same unit from a slightly different angle? (Same road number.)

 


I didn’t manage to get a picture of a Utah Railroad unit when I was in Ogden. We passed three at the side of a highway but:

 

- I didn’t know where the next exit was

- the neighbourhood looked a bit sketchy 

- it was getting dark

 

 so we didn’t go back.

Yes now I've checked it is the same unit.  I vaguely remember  seeing another but didn't get a photo.

 

Jamie

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Good morning from a grey and misty Charente.  The tardis is till in SLC on 17th September 2012. This is the view from the tram as we came back into town from the Medical Centre.

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The old Union Pacific depot no longer has trains by it with a tram turning onto, IIRC, South Temple in front of it.

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The inside is lovely with two large Muriels. Here Brigham Young is driving the last spike of the connecting line from SLC to Ogden.

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The other end commemorates the great Trek.

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One interesting bit of trivia that Tony and I noticed was that each overhead stanchion had a decorative base the included the street name.

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After a run out on the western branch we headed back up to Ogden and then followed the line west towards the lake to try and get some photos of trains with a backdrop of the Wasatch mountains. A suitable grade crossing was found.

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I do hate the new ad bar that pops up at the base of the screen, right where I need to put my mouse when uploading photos.

 

More tomorrow.

 

Jamie

 

Edited by jamie92208
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23 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Good morning from a grey and misty Charente.  The tardis is till in SLC on 17th September 2012. This is the view from the tram as we came back into town from the Medical Centre.

P9169324_resize.JPG.2d3f7806c9c1fc458130db267e1cabc7.JPG

The old Union Pacific depot no longer has trains by it with a tram turning onto, IIRC, South Temple in front of it.

P9169329_resize.JPG.80c29fc71213cb5b794ee5f3f9717c89.JPG

The inside is lovely with two large Muriels. Here Brigham Young is driving the last spike of the connecting line from SLC to Ogden.

P9169331_resize.JPG.2a702fb4909318a93b89f9a5aef8a9e1.JPG

The other end commemorates the great Trek.

P9169333_resize.JPG.1571d53800e64db58e44c19d29e11903.JPG

One interesting bit of trivia that Tony and I noticed was that each overhead stanchion had a decorative base the included the street name.

P9169335_resize.JPG.626ab095a7e8ef73f47b0b071201f72a.JPG

After a run out on the western branch we headed back up to Ogden and then followed the line west towards the lake to try and get some photos of trains with a backdrop of the Wasatch mountains. A suitable grade crossing was found.

P9179358_resize.JPG.517efcc4a2c392847fcd9c178991a4b7.JPG

I do hate the new ad bar that pops up at the base of the screen, right where I need to put my mouse when uploading photos.

 

More tomorrow.

 

Jamie

 

Yeap, so designed that the Sky link then launches 

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Good evening from a dark and cool Charente.  Our Tardis is still in Ogden on 17th September 2012. As the double stack made it's way onto the causeway and out across the Great Salt Lake we drove back into town and saw this former espee near one of the big grain elevators.

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Some sort of big U boat I think.

The next morning we were up betimes and went down to the station to catch a train to SLC. This was it.

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Cab car leading and loco pushing from the rear.

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This was the unit when we got to SLC with it's builders plate. Obviously built in the former Morrison Knudsen works.

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On the way in we did pass a critter working in a chemical plant.

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Then it was back to Ogden, and an abortive attempt to buy a decent road atlas.  Deseret Books were not impressed by our request. It turned out to be the LDS equivalent of a Christian bookshop.  Anyway south and then east along the interstate up Wasatch canyon then in Echo Canyon we were able to get onto US30 and near the tracks.

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Fabulous scenery.

 

Jamie

 

Edited by jamie92208
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32 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Good evening from a dark and cool Charente.  Our Tardis is still in Ogden on 17th September 2012. As the double stack made it's way onto the causeway and out across the Great Salt Lake we drove back into town and saw this former espee near one of the big grain elevators.

P9179371_resize.JPG.644ac2f0693b8c06f567b82b15787da5.JPG

Some sort of big U boat I think.

 

It's a B30-7, but I'm not sure whether 7806 is its Southern Pacific number, or whether that's its Union Pacific number and they haven't got round to applying the cab side number yet.

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1 hour ago, Moxy said:

It's a B30-7, but I'm not sure whether 7806 is its Southern Pacific number, or whether that's its Union Pacific number and they haven't got round to applying the cab side number yet.

It appears to be the SP Number....

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPicture.aspx?id=104991

Seems to have lived in Ohio in more recent years from the photos on that site

If you click on the UCRY number heading, it comes up with a photo in Ogden, UT in 2012.....

 

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Good moaning from a grey and misty and distinctly cool Charente.  The Tardis is in Echo Canyon Utah on 18th September 2012. Near the summit of the grade we pulled off the road and took a couple of photos of the area which I believe is known as the Devil's Post Office.

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This is one of the few areas where there are tunnels on the line.  One troublesome one was known as Aspen. I believe that most have been daylighted or rebuilt to give extra clearances.

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Then through Evanston and on to Green River, where the instantly recognizable Castle Rock dominates the sykline.

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The rather magnificent depot still looks impressive but passenger trains no longer stop here as I did in 1978.

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A footbridge give a great view of the yard which included this patched unit. 

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Some non mechanised trackwork was ongoing. The tools would have been familiar to the workers who built the line i 1868.familiar to the workers in 1868 as they came through this area.P9179391_resize.JPG.4dc5c39cd84cfcb7baf174ee87231082.JPG

As we came down from the footbridge to get back to the car I couldn't help wondering precisely what services were offered here.P9179392_resize.JPG.c6cbdd24bae3bcf76858b717a05344d2.JPG

Jamie

 

 

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Good morning from a grey and cloudy place, however it was sunnier in Wyoming on the 18th September 2012. From Green River we headed to Rock Springs and saw this eastbound.

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Then it was back in the car and head east through the first part of the red desert basin to Wamsutter. This really is a place in the  middle of nowhere with the peculiarity of having the Continental divide on all sides. Decent water for locos was always a problem here but signs of such time remain.

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While we supped a coffee a westbound came through.

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An a local inhabitant looked on with no real interest.

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From Wamsutter we carried on towards Rawlins and saw several westbounds sitting in passing sidings along the way.

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Then got into Rawlins, I think that this is there.

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Rawlins, named after a civil war general, is an interesting place. It has a big oil refinery nearby and fuel is cheap so it is the main refuelling stop  for transcontinental trains.  Laid out with several tracks that can refuel 4 locos at once.   We sat by the tracks and saw two westbound double stacks being fuelled up.   That finished quickly and off they roared in parallel.  8 4,300 HP locos made quite a racket as they got the trains moving.  TBy the time the tail of the trains went past us they seemed to be doing over 60 mph.  They were obviously Z of 'god' trains and the others that we had seen had obviously been put into the sidings to let them past. Very impressive as they set off in parallel on the double track main.

 

Jamie

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Good moaning from a sunny but cold place.  Not as cold as Hermosa, WY perhaps.  It's still 19th September 2012.

We started talking to a track gang foreman at Hermosa.  He was waiting for a lull in the traffic to take a possession on the westbound track.  He told us that there were 5 trains due.   Among other things I mentioned that I would have to go up the old road to the Ames monument as the landowners didn't like s using private roads.  He said, "No Problem, just drive along our maintenance road alongside the tracks to the grade crossing en-route to Sherman.   Obviously we took his advice.  We got near the western portal of the Hermosa tunnels and what should appear.

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The whole consist came past us at a fair rate of knots.

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Then headed round the corner towards Hermosa.

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As it headed onwards an eastbound came into view, travelling very slowly.

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The stack train's rear end device eventually passed us. I believe that they are known as FRED's.

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And the very slow Soda Ash train ground it's way towards us.

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Jamie

 

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Good morning from a rather wet and cold Charente.  However the tardis is still in the Sherman Hill area of Wyoming on 19th September 2012.  The soda ash train eventually reached us and headed towards the tunnels.

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After that we set off and followed the road over the top of Hermosa tunnels that then drops down to the north side of the line to cross Dale Creek on the big fill. It is a little unnerving driving across it as there are no guard rails and the road isn't very wide. The fill is I believe, about 120' high.  It looked a long way down.

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As we got onto the fill, I looked in the mirror and the soda ash train was heading a lot faster towards us, having got over the first summit.  I didn't really want to be on the high fill at the same time so got going. At the end of the fill we carried on until we got to the level crossing that's just out of sight in the above photo.  There the train came past s, slowing down again on the final ascent to Sherman summit. Here are the mid train helpers.

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Sitting next to the crossing was a lady in a folding chair, knitting.  She turned out to be the wife of a rather well known British Photographer.  He appeared and his first words were, "Get in the car woman we need to get going" A conversation with this extremely rude individual followed.  he said that he was heading for Hermosa.  I asked him which route he was taking.  He pointed to the private road to Dale Ranch.  I warned him that he might well encounter a well armed resident as it was a private road.  He just told his wife to get driving and set off.   We turned left and headed up the public road towards the Ames monument. Some local inhabitants watched with interest. Meanwhile the photographer had gone.

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Our next stop was the Ames monument, built from local granite.

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Neither Oliver no Oakes Ames have complete noses.  The chance for target practice is too tempting for the locals.

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As we stood near the monument we saw a cloud of dust coming up the road from the crossing.  It turned out to be the photographers car heading along the rather roundabout public road to Hermosa.   We both wished that we could be a fly on the wall in the car. They had obviously been turned back by the rancher or his wife. 

 

Jamie

 

Edited by jamie92208
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Love it!  I can make a few good guesses as to his identity.  It's great when things happen like it did when the UP guy said you could use their road.  I've had that sort of thing several times myself.  One of the best was at State Line in Kansas City where we were carefully keeping on public land only to be approached by a BNSF cop who got chatting.  Having found out we were British he told us we were on the wrong side for the sun.  We agreed but pointed out that being on the right side would mean trespassing on railroad property.  No problem, not only did he give us his blessing but put it in writing too together with his card in case anyone else challenged us!

 

In addition to Hermosa there are several other places well known for railfan-hostile neighbours.

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