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Day 13: Flagstaff

(Ok I've gotten a little behind on the updates…)

Another cold and gray day in Flagstaff. Started off fairly good, just a bit of high cloud. Went down to Maine again to try and get a repeat of yesterday, but very little was happening. I could hear on the radio that a train was just up the road a bit at Bellemont with DPU problems, seems the front half of the train wasn't talking to the rear. Once they got it all set up again they did something called the "bump test", where the rear locos are told to go forward and depending on which way the train lurches they can see whether the locos are operating in the correct direction or not. It's something I'm familiar with on my model railway, so to see it being done in the real world too was funny.

Strolled down beside the tracks in the snow for a bit to see if there was much around the corner. Caught this EB flying past…

And then eventually the guy who had been ge...

Day 12: Seligman Sub Railfanning

Sun! What a difference a bit of sunshine can make. Slept in thinking it'd be another gray day; the weather forecast hadn't been very encouraging. Was confused when I went into the toilet and the window was blue; looked outside and Flagstaff was bathed in glorious sunshine. As I was gawking :the earthworm" roared past outside in full throttle. The earthworm is a unit grain train, full of brown BNSF grain hoppers. When stretched out it looks like a long brown worm, hence the name. Today it was in a 3x3x2 configuration, i.e. 3 head end locos, 3 mid train helpers, and 2 rear end DPUs. Even more excitingly the rear DPU was a warbonnet.

So in about 5 minutes flat I dressed, washed, packed the car and was on the road heading East, determined to catch the worm. A few miles out of town at Bellemont I made a carefully timed drive-by shot on the overbridge.

Onwards I went to Parks/Maine. Great wee spot, and bow was I in for a treat here....

Day 11: Flagstaff

Bit of a gray day today, not much sun and really cold, so didn't get much shooting done unfortunately. Went a short way out of town and set up camp waiting for the torrent of trains. Caught a west bound fairly shortly after with a warbonnet SD70 leading. Don't often see EMDs on the transcon, it is almost exclusively GE territory.

Heading towards Flagstaff, containers snaking away.

Then another west bound with a warbonnet on the point.

Then things ground to a halt. I could see the next train off in the distance, but it wasn't moving. 30 minutes passed and a westbound crossed it, then another 30 minutes and another WB crossing, and then finally it continued on its way.

West bound meets east bound and finally things start moving again.

As expected there wa...

Day 10: Mexican Hat to Flagstaff

Slept really solidly, didn't even hear my Peek vibrating and chiming for at least 10 emails through the night. Woke with a start when someone banged on the door and called out something about coffee, I think. I grunted something and they went off to the next room.

Was soon on the road and before long I was going through Monument Valley. So much quieter this time, hardly any cars on the road and none of the roadside vendors were there. Saw a sign advertising a motel, saying "Stay where John Wayne stayed". This is, after all, the setting for Western movies.

Came across some wild (?) horses grazing amongst the snow. They weren't tame enough to come up and talk to me, but they didn't run away either. I also saw a very serious looking truck making a lot of noise climbing...

Day 9: Helper to Mexican Hat

This morning dawned bright and sunny in the motel room it felt almost summery, but I changed my mind on that aspect as soon as I stepped outside! I decided my time in Helper was up for now, so I packed up, consulted the maps and decided to head south. While I was packing I heard a horn, and it wasn't an Amtrak horn, and it wasn't a modern diesel horn, so I decided to check out the Utah Railway depot on the way out of town. Sure enough there were many extra coal wagons there, and plenty more signs of life than there had been Saturday or Sunday. Maybe they'd be running a coal train today? And yes, as I watched the train started moving, so up the highway I raced to catch it.

The train eased down off the Utah Railway track and onto the UP mainline, but had to wait at the signal bridge for a green light. While waiting the morning UP manifest came squealing down the hill with a very heavy aroma of burnt brake shoes.

Waiting for permiss...

Day 8: Helper again

Up bright and early today to find a cold crispy Helper. So while NZ was fast asleep I was busy suiting up with layers of merino, polar fleece, ski pants, insulated boots, multiple socks, etc and so on. Worked out how to use my shoelaces to tie seal gators in my ski pants tight around my shoes, so not a drop of snow got into my boots all day :-) Not bad when I spent half of it stomping round in knee high snow.

First port of call was the Wildcat loadout facility, but all was empty and not a train or person in sight. Second call was Walmart to stock up on food, I now have Oreos with a weird vaguely radioactive green looking mint icing. Third stop was the Savage load out, but again all was empty, although I couldn't find any roads anywhere near it. What I did find were some dear bouncing along in the snow…

Flying deer, near Wellington, UT.

Called back in at Wildcat, still no train! Stopped in at Helper yard and saw t...

Day 7: Helper

Today, for once, I wasn't travelling. Woke up to a knock on the door; Mark and Courtney had come over to invite me to breakfast. A bit of snow had fallen overnight, but only an inch or so. Helper looked very pretty with its fresh dusting. Breakfast was a fairly drawn out affair and Courtney made me a plate-sized inch-thick pancake, which kept me going for most of the day!

By lunchtime I had finished most of the pancake and was ready to start railfanning. I went down to the railway yard to see what was happening, and as it turned out a big UP manifest had just arrived. As I watched they uncoupled the first 2 locos and put them to one side, then uncoupled the remaining 3 locos and put them in a siding and reattached the first 2 locos back on the train. Obviously the 3 locos had been an extra helper set added before its journey over Soldier Summit.

Large line up of locos in the Helper yard, the Book Cliffs clearly visible behind. Ma...

Day 6: Wendover to Helper

A very snowy day today. Fantastic! The snow was gently falling as I went to bed last night, and when I woke in the morning there was a light dusting over the cars and buildings.

The beast, still filthy after yesterday's endeavours.

I packed the car and was soon on the road for the Bonneville Speed Flats. What a place (naturally). I cruised down the road a way, put the car in cruise control after a while.

Then suddenly I noticed there was water on 3 sides of the road… and the road just ended!

Click to enlarge and read the plaque.

Reading the plaque I was amused to note the same Donner Party that had (famously) got stuck on Donner Pass (and hence earning the pass its name) had also had troubles here crossing the salt flats. Seems that once things dry out the Bureau of Land M...

Day 5: Winnemucca to Wendover

Good morning Nevada. Fairly patchy cloud this morning, weather definitely deteriorating as I head East. Was soon on the road and heading for the Utah border. Called in at Paliside Canyon where you can get a reasonable view of the trains, but passed one just as I was coming in and then didn't see any more.

Look cold? There were large frozen ponds down there and a cool breeze blowing. Didn't hang around long; even if a train had come along the lighting wasn't being very cooperative.

Next stop was… can't remember… but I only wanted petrol. Saw a fairly serious trailer on a ute though…

Continued on my way and passed a number of huge industrial sites. One made mining lubricants, another appeared to be a steel mill, and another was a power station, all way out in the middle of the desert, miles from anywhere.

As I drove I came across a BNSF trackage rights ...

Day 4: Reno to Winnemucca

You know when you hit Nevada for two reasons. 1) CASINOS EVERYWHERE. 2) The roads suddenly improve, and the speed limit is 75mph. Had an emergency repair job to a website to do in Reno, lucky I found a fee wifi network as soon as I opened my laptop. Bought some chains and sub-zero wiper fluid, just in case. Then on I went.

Stopped at some god-forsaken town, Lovelock if I remember, but I'd have to check the receipt. It's… not as romantic as it sounds. The petrol station toilet was just like in the movies.

    ""Discount Furniture" read the sign in the window / Casino next to the supermarket. Note what Nevadans like to drive.

But here things suddenly got interesting. That grain train I'd seen at Donner Pass? Well guess who I bumped into again!

  (#3 could almost be NZ)

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