Sunset for a Union Pacific branch line train

This Union Pacific branchline  train heads home at sunset near Platte Center, Nebraska on Aug. 22, 1988. The train — the Norfolk local returning to Columbus with a little bit of everything in tow — was a common enough sight at the time. The well-maintained motive power includes three, four-axle locomotives. The lead unit is a General Electric U23B acquired in the 1982 merger with Missouri Pacific, the second, lettered for MoPac but wearing UP paint, is an Electro-Motive Division GP38-2, and the trailing engine is a GE B23-7. Union Pacific was even then spinning off or shutting down branch lines as quickly as it could. Soon it would be the Norfolk branch’s turn. Like many branches radiating out from Columbus, it became part of Nebraska Central Railroad, which operates it today. The GP38 may still be in service, photos online show it active in Southern California in recent years.

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