The activity level of this track belies its once important status as part of D&RGW’s Tennessee Pass. Michael Humphreys Q In December 2010, I noticed a little-used rail line running through Eagle, Colo. What can you tell me about it? The mainline rail dated from the 1950s. — Michael Humphreys, Berryville, Va. A The tracks […]
An eastbound Union Pacific freight smokes it up leaving Taylor, Texas, on a December 1995 day. On the point is a leased unit, Motive Power Industries, SD40M-2 No. 9037. The unit started out as Louisville & Nashville, SD40-2 No. 1237. J. Parker Lamb photo […]
Union Pacific “Heritage” SD70ACe No. 1989 emerges from the tunnel at Newcastle, Calif., on July 31, 2010. The engine is leading UP’s high-priority Chicago-Lathrop, Calif., intermodal train, and it’s on the home stretch to the Roseville, Calif., yard. Jake Millie photo […]
Union Pacific steam program director Steve Lee. David Hoge CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Union Pacific steam program boss Steve Lee will retire at the end of this year after 22 years in his position. Lee has become synonymous with the program during his tenure. Lee went railroading in January 1972 as a student fireman on the […]
Click the image to download this interactive PDF. Dick Steinheimer knew an era was coming to an end in the Sierra Nevada. It was 1983, and the wooden snowsheds that had long protected Southern Pacific Railroad’s mountain crossing over Donner Pass were disappearing, most of them torn down or replaced by concrete sheds. That spring […]
Athearn Trains HO scale Union Pacific Veranda Turbine The Union Pacific’s gas-turbine era saw some distinctive locomotives, such as the “Veranda” B-B-B-B locomotive modeled in HO scale by Athearn. The ready-to-run model operates smoothly on DC layouts and includes provisions for adding Digital Command Control (DCC) and sound. The prototype. Delivered by General Electric in […]
Three Union Pacific diesels muscle a southbound intermodal train under classic Southern Pacific searchlight signals near Mojave, Calif., on Sept. 3, 2010. In the background are the Tehachapi Mountains, site of one of the world’s most impressive railroad crossings of a mountain range. Photo by William Steck […]
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Pelle Søeborg is a frequent contributor to Model Railroader magazine. Pelle talked with Model Railroader Editor Neil Besougloff about his Daneville & Donner River layout and his new modern-era Union Pacific HO model railroad in this interview from August 26, 2010. You’ll also […]
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page Pelle Søeborg is a frequent contributor to Model Railroader magazine. Pelle talked with Model Railroader Editor Neil Besougloff about his Daneville & Donner River layout and his new modern-era Union Pacific HO model railroad in this interview from August 26, 2010. You’ll also […]
Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard in North Platte, Neb., was named world’s largest rail yard by Guinness. The yard’s 2,850 acres includes two separate hump yards (eastbound and westbound) where freight cars are sorted and combined into new trains. From the top of the West Hump tower, watch cars move toward the crest of the hump, […]
Dan Czech clearly remembers the first time he laid eyes on Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard. “I flew out here at night. I looked out the window and said, ‘That must be the city of North Platte.’ They said, ‘No, that’s the rail yard.’” The young terminal manager, who once taught Navy SEALs how to parachute, […]
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Lynn Nystrom, a fireman and engineer with Union Pacific’s steam program, died last week at a Cheyenne hospital. He was 69. Nystrom, a Vietnam veteran, worked in law enforcement before joining the Rock Island as a special agent in 1968. He joined UP as a switchman/brakeman in 1989. Nystrom’s family has requested […]
