No summertime blues for host Drew Halverson this year! That’s because he managed to begin his summer of trackside treks with a day trip to the Windy City. Upon arrival in West Chicago, Ill., Drew, Kent, Ben, and special guest Kevin P. Keefe, chased Union Pacific freight and a parade of Metra commuter trains along […]
Railroad: Union Pacific
Early Amtrak trains in color
FULL SCREEN John F. Bjorklund, Collection of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art In its early days, Amtrak relied solely on equipment provided by its member railroads. The passenger carrier is barely two months old in this Independence Day view from Chicago in 1971, where train No. 18, the eastbound Super Chief-El Capitan, still […]
The big picture
A westbound Union Pacific manifest freight works its way toward Los Angeles in October 2013 in the “Blue Cut” section of California’s famed Cajon Pass. With the lead locomotives a mile away in the distance, you gain a better perspective of magnitude of the San Gabriel Mountains and the challenges railroads overcame more than […]
BIG BOY WORK BEGINS NEWSWIRE
Union Pacific 4-8-4 No. 844 acts as a shop switcher to place 4-8-8-4 No. 4014 on a turntable at the railroad’s Cheyenne, Wyo., shops in July. Hayley Enoch CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Two weeks after Union Pacific 4-8-4 No. 844’s successful excursion for the 2016 Cheyenne Frontier Days, the railroad says that the Heritage Operations team […]
Union Pacific 4-8-4 No. 844 arrives in Denver for Cheyenne Frontier Days Train NEWSWIRE
Union Pacific 4-8-4 No. 844 rolls south through northern Colorado Thursday on its way to Denver. Hayley Enoch photo Denver, Colo. — Today, the hills and valleys in northern Colorado echoed with the long-awaited sound of whistles and pistons as Union Pacific’s flagship steam locomotive, 4-8-4 No. 844, made its first public excursion in almost […]
UP No. 844 moved under her own power Thursday NEWSWIRE
Union Pacific 4-8-4 Northern-type No. 844 pictured at LaSalle, Colo., in 2009. Sources in Cheyenne, Wyo., say the giant locomotive had a steam test this week in preparation for a July return to mainline operation. Bruce A. Daugherty CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Working toward returning their much loved 4-8-4 to the high iron, the Union Pacific […]
Leverage
Pulling the correct lever is an important matter for operators of Metra’s Tower A2 in western Chicago in September 2013. This pneumatic lever machine uses brass rods to trigger air pulses to switch more than 100 points on Union Pacific headed due west out of downtown. Photo by Steve Sweeney […]
Member video: Weathered Big Boy
With some very good guidance from Tim Shackleton and Mick Bonwick on the Missenden Abbey weathering course, Andrew Thompson says he managed to get rid of the shiny plastic look from a Rivarossi Big Boy. Seen here on the test track, sound dubbed on from various recordings of Challenger 3985. […]
Member video: Weathered Big Boy
With some very good guidance from Tim Shackleton and Mick Bonwick on the Missenden Abbey weathering course, Andrew Thompson says he managed to get rid of the shiny plastic look from a Rivarossi Big Boy. Seen here on the test track, sound dubbed on from various recordings of Challenger 3985. […]
Meal time
Union Pacific train LPA81’s power is seen at South Ninth Street in Sheboygan, Wis., on July 24, 2014. The crew has just delivered coal to the nearby Edgewater Generating Station and has parked the power here while they go for a meal. Photo by Rich Peters […]
Rotary over Donner Pass NEWSWIRE
Kevin Dorm Union Pacific’s former Southern Pacific rotary snowplow SPMW No. 207 cuts its teeth for the first time this week after laying up since a 2014 rebuild. The rotary and B-unit arrived in Roseville, Calif., in early 2014 after upgrades at Iowa’s Relco locomotive shops. But due to lack of snow and teething issues related […]
EMD Tier 4 locomotives testing on UP lines in Colorado NEWSWIRE
Union Pacific SD70AH No. 8948 leads EMDX SD70ACe-T4 Nos. 1502 and 1503 along with three other UP units on a test train from Denver to Tabernash, Colo., up the two-percent grade in Coal Creek Canyon on March 7. John Crisanti DENVER — New Electro-Motive Tier 4 SD70ACe-T4s are roaming the rails of Union Pacific’s Moffat […]