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Great Basin Getaway 2002
I was extremely fortunate to be invited to the Great Basin
Getaway in September 2002, a three-day "op till you drop" visit to four model
railroads in Utah hosted by Lee Nicholas, Ted York, Rob Spangler, and Gary
Petersen. I had a few remaining days of vacation left this year, so jetted off
to Salt Lake City along with Lance Lassen and Donovan Furin, friends and fellow
Fort Worth modelers.
We flew on September 11, and air traffic was extremely light.
First class, too (thanks, Eve!). Gotta love those warm towels. And the huge ice
cream sundaes! We arrived in Salt Lake early afternoon, grabbed a rental car,
then headed south towards Soldier Summit and Helper, legendary locations on the
former Rio Grande, for an afternoon of train watching. Intelligence reported
that five of the last seven "untouched" Rio Grande SD40T-2 "tunnel motors" were
still based out of here, and four in fact were working a regular assignment
south out of town on a turn-around local to East Carbon City, supposedly
returning to Helper around 4pm. So off we went. . . the weather was
crappy--pouring rain and grey skies--but we didn't mind too much. . .we weren't
at work and the next few days were cleared to watch trains and operate great
model railroads.
Prelude: September
11, 2002. . .Soldier Summit Railfanning
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One of the last few. . .
We got to Helper--after a little foray in the mud near Colton that nearly proved to be our undoing--just in time to follow the "Dirt Train" the last few miles into town, led by DRGW SD40T-2 5401, one, we're told, of only seven "unpatched" tunnel motors left on the UP. |
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We arrive at Helper. . .
The dirt train pulls into Helper yard behind SD's 5401/5377/5371/5390. Recently-arrived tunnel motor 5349 waits on the roundhouse lead. The locomotive foreman at Helper has made it his mission to keep the remaining Rio Grande locomotives assigned here spotless to honor the railroad's heritage. |
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Off duty. . .
The engineer of the dirt train, a fellow name of Needles, walks in the rain across the yard to the yard office, grip slung over his shoulder, the 5349 behind him. The Tunnel Motors despite nearly eight years of UP ownership, remain in this Rio Grande stronghold. . . the last place on the railroad former D&RGW locomotives can be found in such strength. |
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Rio Grande proud
Engineer Needles is understandably proud of being the engineer on the last set of "pure" Rio Grande locomotives to run in former Rio Grande territory. . .he isn't surprized by the notority his locomotive recieve by railfans, but is amazed that the Tunnel Motors just "keep coming back" to Helper, in defiance of their dwindling numbers. |
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Staying dry. . .
Minivans suck for off-roading, but they're great to keep out of the rain in. Donovan and Lance await the arrival of a BNSF overhead train at Red Narrows, staying dry along US 6/50 under the rear hatch of the rental car. |
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BNSF on Soldier. . .
BNSF hasn't been too successful in wrangling traffic away from the UP on the former SP/D&RGW "Central Corridor," and traffic is about two trains a day--mostly overhead in nature--over Soldier Summit. In the rain, C44 5273 sure looks nice, though, as it lugs an eastbound Provo-Denver freight up the two percent grade in the beautiful Red Narrows area. That H2 paint sure looks great in the rain! |
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And going away. . .
A single C44, 4598, shoves in Distributed Power mode on the rear of the MPRODEN1-11A as it climbs through Narrows. That was it for the trains on Soldier. . . now it's time to deal with rush-hour traffic, dinner and the long drive to Brigham City. We'd all been up well over 24 hours at this point. . . |
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