A gantry crane moves containers filled with uranium tailings from train to truck outside Moab, Utah, in April. Union Pacific will ship the tailings over a 10-year contract. Sandy Lonsdale After nearly 60 years resting beside the Colorado River near Moab, Utah, the nation’s largest uranium tailings pile began moving by rail in April to […]
Our June 2009 “Fantrip” offered an itinerary for a 10-day Colorado railfan vacation. But you have 11 days to explore! Just in case you find yourself with time to spare, here are more ideas for railfan fun in Rocky Mountain territory. The Forney Transportation Museum The museum features more than 500 transportation exhibits. For the […]
The adobe town of Old Nogales resides on the backside of the Eagle Mountains. A cattle drive is taking place up the main street. Sage-colored brittlebushes will be aflame with golden “daisies” in the spring. Doris and Doug Evans The railroad at a glance Name: Eagle Mountain Railroad Minimum radius: 18″ on logging loop, but […]
Bridges connect different areas. A train on the high line near Ophir passes above a standard-gauge train rolling into Rockwood. The upper train is a mix of scratchbuilt and LGB equipment. Christopher Zider From the outside, Barry Bogs’ house looks similar to most others in a subdivision northwest of Houston. But as soon as you […]
Think “Rio Grande” and one imagines long freights grinding through the tunnels and screeching around the tight curves of the Front Range, or coal drags with multiple helpers creeping up Soldier Summit or winding through the double horseshoe at Gilluly. Not as frequently considered, yet almost entirely accessible end-to-end, is the stretch from Dotsero, at […]
Soldier Summit is one of two sites in Utah profiled in Kalmbach’s Guide to North American Hot Spots by TRAINS Senior Editor J. David Ingles. Read below for Soldier Summit information. DescriptionDouble-track main line of Union Pacific’s ex-Denver & Rio Grande Western line over the Wasatch Mountains, used jointly by UP and the Utah Railway. […]
Ogden is still a busy railroad town with main lines approaching from four different directions. From the east, Union Pacific reaches Ogden through 40-mile Weber Canyon (pronounced “WEE-ber.”) It’s one of two Utah hot spots profiled in Kalmbach Publishing’s Guide to North American Railroad Hot Spots by TRAINS Senior Editor J. David Ingles. Read below: […]
The importance of ballasting gauge-1 track: LGB track is heavy enough to float by itself in ballast, just like full-size railroad track. The ballast not only provides a good, solid base for the track, it keeps the track away from the soil and provides good drainage. Before we could begin ballasting, we had to remove […]
The end of the 19th century marked the beginning of a conservation movement in America. Naturalists and environmentalists lobbied the United States government to set aside vast areas of wilderness in the American West as national parks. Growing public awareness and support for the idea prompted Congress to pass the National Park Service Act, which […]
The silver bunk car marked “D&RGW” rests on the stockyard spur next to Cisco siding, windows open to the night breeze. Inside, the track-gang members lie sleeping on top of their blankets, the blistering head of the eastern Utah desert sun still lingering in the outfit. From the west comes the low whine of diesel […]
