Goodbye Salt Lake, hello Ogden
We woke bright and early on the 10th (not hard with UTA's damn noisy busses roaring past our heads!) and were soon on our way to Ogden. Why Ogden? Well there is a certain museum there that made it worthwhile fighting the interstate to get there. Almost saw one accident happen next to me when the car braked suddenly and the following car starting fishtailing as it tried to brake too.
Anyway the museum had something a little bit special for me…
This, ladies and gentlemen, is D&RGW 5371, the last tunnel motor in the original RIo Grande colour scheme. So..? Well the Rio Grande is my favourite of the American railroads, for a number of reasons. 1) Their slogan was "the action road " and when it came to crossing the Rockies or Sierras, their philosophy was to chuck more locos on the front, mid, and rear of the train until it started moving. So 15 locos on one train was common. And fifteen locos slogging their guts out up a mountain pass is something worth seeing! 2) Their paint scheme is a stunning gold/black creation with a wonderfully simple yet stylish logo. Their locos really mean business! 3) Their locos were something special. 5371 was one of their many Tunnel Motors, which are special locos designed for working through the many tunnels on their lines. They have lowered air intakes to suck cooler air in from the bottom of the tunnel and exhaust hot dirty air out the top (conventional locos suck and blow from the top, literally leading to engine suffocation in tunnels).
So seeing the last true Rio Grande tunnel motor in the flesh was a true highpoint for me. Being able to clamber over it, stand next to it's 1/4 inch steel snowplow, scale it's steps, touch the paintwork was awesome. And it is great to see it in pristine as-found condition, still with 3/4s of a tank of diesel!
Spent a good few hours pawing over their locos. Part way through a young wedding couple arrived and posed for photos around the station, I liked their choice of background…
Saw a few UTA commuter trains whoosh by; certainly a striking colour scheme. Very… American.
UTA commuter train whizzes past 5371, Union Station hiding in the background.
The Utah Railway Museum's collection / Angela beside an Union Pacific 4-8-4 loco, dwarfed by the driving wheels.
Inside the station there was a delightful little model shop with more N gauge than the whole of NZ. I had a great look and bought a Kato loco, UP 1989 which is one of the Heritage Series locos from UP, painted up in a 21st century version of the Rio Grande paint scheme. It is an exquisite loco and last time sold out within weeks. The guy at the shop was very nice and we had a good chat.
After that is was off to Huntsville, high in the Utah mountains. Found a campsite (Anderson Cove Campground) with a reasonable $12 fee, but the hosts have a well earned reputation as golf cart riding Nazis. There were forms for our windscreen, a form to clip to a specific post, designated areas to park, even tire shredding barriers at the exit and compulsory stop and verify checkpoints at the entry! The best part was, about #3 on the 30 point rules list was no noise after 6pm, and as 6pm rolled over there was nothing but the sound of high powered speed boats tearing up the lake. Ahh the serenity!
Had dinner at a delightful little restaurant (Eats of Eden) which made a fantastic pizza big enough to feed and entire rugby team, and at a very reasonable price. Our waitress was very friendly and great fun, and her favourite show is Flight of the Concords so she was delighted to meet some real kiwis. Kiwis in Utah are very rare we're discovering! We tipped her well and had a good chat. Slept well, woke early. Had some very important destinations to reach the next day :-)