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Day 23: Helper to Evanston

Was very tired this morning, something to do with the AC6000 idling outside my window for half an hour while the mid train helpers were cut in; all just an hour after I'd fallen asleep! Poor me was in two minds, on the one hand I was very tired, on the other hand, the rumble was amazing and I felt like I should be out there videotaping it all, although it was night time so there wouldn't be a whole lot to see. But the sound! I could feel it through the bed! For a diesel-head it was pretty amazing.

Anyway woke up and packed everything away, said goodbye to Helper and was on my way. Beautiful sunny day out there, glorious blue skies and wonderful patchy snow everywhere. Stopped at the ice-fall on the way up the hill.

Now that is ice! We're talking 30-40 ft high here, as high as a two story house. Oh and the sun was wonderfully warm, but the wind was ferocious! No trains to see, but the scenery was amazing as ever.

Day 22: Helper

I was fast asleep this morning when I heard the distinctive wail of an Amtrak horn echoing throughout Helper. Within a split second my brain decided that since it was getting lighter earlier these days I might have a chance to catch the Cal Zephyr during daylight; next thing I know I'm standing outside with my camera around my neck snapping away as a pair of P42DCs roar into Helper. My eyes hadn't even finished opening, so suffice to say the weren't great. Oh… and it was snowing!

I love waking up to fresh snow, especially when it is unexpected. Yesterday it had been sunny and the snow was melting, this morning there was an inch of fresh powder. Wow! I went back to bed but within minutes another train came roaring out of Helper; this time I got a decent shot.

The diesels had obviously only just woken up themselves as there were great clouds of snow cascading off the locos as they went through the crossing. Look closely ...

Day 21: Cedar City to Helper

What a day! Started off by washing the car. Fun fun, I love American DIY carwashes with their dozens of different modes, but dang it took a lot of blasting in the water blaster to get all the caked on mud off. Afterwards the car was nice and clean but somehow all that mud ended up on me. Hmm.

After that I went looking for a RadioShack to buy a replacement Peek (lost mine yesterday somewhere between Caliente and Cedar City, probably dead in the mud somewhere, poor thing). Checked out the spot where Google said it would be, and the spot where my GPS said it would be, and nothing. Oh well.

Hit the I15 and headed for Salt Lake City. Looooooong unexciting drive. Saw a military Hummer with two massive antenna on the back, looked like it was a trolley bus they were so huge. Inside it was bristling with radio gear, looked pretty neat.

Continued on, got some petrol, had a stretch, saw some mountains, saw some HV transmission li...

Day 20: Caliente to Cedar City

Woke early today, although fairly late by Caliente standards — they sure like their early nights and early mornings here. Then again I was never really sure what time it was there; my bedside clock and the microwave clock were in disagreement over what time zone they were in, so time was a very relative thing in Caliente. Nevertheless I was up and about very early this morning and even had a "short stack" of pancakes for breakfast with oodles of maple syrup. Not bad for $3.

Then I was on my way. I tried exploring out from Caliente into Clover Creek Canyon but didn't get very far before I hit private Union Pacific roads. So off on the highway and with the help of my GPS soon found the turn off for the Beaver Dam Road. Road was in good condition and after a while I was down at Barclay having a look around. This wasn't in the canyon any more which was a shame, indeed the most exciting view was around a curve. The track here was immaculate though, a lot of TLC has defini...

Day 19: Caliente Railfanning

Slept very heavily (why is holidaying to exhausting?) and woke up to a cool crisp morning in Caliente, NV. Looking around it had snowed overnight, but there was now very little to show for it in town. An interesting quirk of Caliente is that it is high enough (4500 ft) to catch the winter storms and cool temperatures, but is far enough south that the sun's heat is still extremely strong and will melt most snow within a few days.

I had a nibble and jumped in the car and headed south back down into Rainbow Canyon again. First few spots I tried were all private property with fences everywhere which I wasn't too impressed about. I headed further south towards an open valley near one of the tunnels. Along the way Rainbow Canyon was certainly living up to its name:

 

Nevada really is a geologists dream come true. So many different rock formations, each one at a different angle and a ...

Day 18: Las Vegas to Caliente

Slept really well and woke to an overcast day. For the curious, here is what $45/night buys you in Las Vegas:

Photo hardly does the room justice. The bathroom had a marble counter and the hot water was hot as soon as you turned on the tap. I don't know how they do that (and yes I had a look under the bench to see). The TV was about 50 inches, and came with a wireless keyboard, plus on demand Adult Entertainment; I guess I'd expect nothing less from Vegas.

So I packed up and hit the road. Next stop, Caliente, NV. Along the way I came across some amazing scenery; Nevada never disappoints in the scenery department. In some ways it is very similar to NZ scenery, but then you round a corner and hit something like this:

And then you remember you most certainly aren't in NZ any more!

And you know what I said about how in Nevada the roads r...

Day 17: Baker to Las Vegas

Woke up in "lovely" Baker and all was quiet. Looked outside and everyone had left town by 9am. Well, I guess no one in their right mind would actually want to hang around here. The only reason I was still here was to change over some settings for a PatronBase client, and you heard how prolonged that was.

So as soon as I possibly could I left Baker and hit the freeway. Didn't stop until I'd crossed the Nevada border at a little town called Primm. Primm boasts a roller coaster and several casinos, surprise surprise. Also a large power plant. I guess if you're going to build a coal power station, build it right on the border with California huh, let them get half the emissions!

Spied a couple of trains crossing on the UP LA-SL (Los Angeles to Salt Lake City) line, but lighting was all wrong to get much of a shot. Followed the tracks into Las Vegas, snapping a single unspectacular shot on the way. And then I was driving down Las Vegas Blvd!

...

Day 16: Kingman to Baker

Another lovely morning in Kingman. I tell you, life is pretty rough when in the middle of winter you can go around in short sleeves. That's how far south I am. For the curious, here is what $45+tax/night gets you in Kingman:

$45/night. Note the lovely 50s decor: lamps, bed head, etc. The lamps were attached to the desks too!

So I left Kingman via Rt 66 which took me past the canyon and then out into the open desert. Things are pretty flat out here. I had an idea from the maps that after a while the road would curve and there would be some good bluffs to view things from, but didn't quite work out that way. The highest things for most of the drive were highway overbridges! So I caught a single container train from a highway overpass…

 

Continued on a bit further and took another exit down to a wash. Ended up crossing the wash which was a new driving experience. For the ...

Day 15: Kingman Railfanning

Woke up and had a long Skype chat with a friend, then since the weather had largely cleared up I headed back up the hill towards Walapai to try something a bit different. On the way up I caught a downhill train so snapped off a few quickies.

I then went up the road a bit, parked the car and went exploring. I found a little bridge that was just high enough to walk under, provided you bent over. Came out on the sunny side of the tracks and before long an EB intermodal was making its way past me. A few minutes later a WB intermodal cruised down the hill, and already the headlight of another train could be seen making its way up the hill.

The approaching train turned out to be a massive EB manifest, complete with a mid train helper and a rear pusher. Even before he'd finished passing me (which admittedly did take a while) another down hill train had come around the corner and w...

Day 14: Flagstaff to Kingman

Time to head West. Packed up and hot footed it down the Interstate to Seligman. Took Rt66 at the first opportunity and was soon paralleling the railway, where I saw some possible good photo spots on the way down. Pulled into Seligman only to find the Sno Cap was closed for winter, so no malt for me today. Wandered down to the tracks and found this old barn along the way:

(Note the lovely weather)

Down at the tracks I could see a WB train quickly approaching town, so lined up for a shot. Found some really old looking track in the yard, reminded me of an old western movie.

Cruised back up Rt66 to my previously identified photo spots and even before I'd got there I cold see a light off in the distance heralding an approaching train.

Continued on to my actual spot and could see another approaching train off in the distance. While waitin...