Recently I came across the attached photo, in a news source that referenced a new UP yard in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, among many other items. The attached, uncaptioned photo was included.
Questions.
Is this small yard the new yard in question?
looking into the back row, I see an A B A set of old covered wagon style diesels. Did this photographer just get lucky and catch the office car special in town, or does UP have multiple sets of these old units still floating around?
Convicted One:
I cannot speak to the first part of the question about the yard, but to the second part referencing the OTC Covered Wagons (E9 A-B-A) set in the back row. I guess the photog got lucky. I tried increasing the size of the photo you presented and they do resemble possibly #949-A or #951-A )
link: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=393048&nseq=7
or: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=393214&nseq=5
or this from 1997: (see covers on fans; the 3 units in your photo seem to also have them, as well):
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=136261&nseq=1
Based on the photos the photog probably just got lucky, and caught the 3 units in town; there was apparently a westbound inspection train in that area in March of 2012(?)
P.S. Nice to see you, and your avatar are still around here, these days. [:-,]
(blush) THANKS!!! Just a lil ol’ parole violation. Nothing serious. [O]
As to #1 I am 99.9% confident this is NOT Santa Teresa NM. I believe it is still under construction AND there are no trees in that area like show in photo.
Mac
. . . and waaay too much water and no Franklin Mts . in the background.
I don’t know nuttin’ about where the photo was taken, but if you reverse the image and ‘enhance’ it in various modes (“Emboss” did the best) there is an Oval sign that is apparently reflected in the window the photo was taken through (though I don’t see a reflection of the photographer so I am not sure of the ‘reflection’ idea!).
The text is all capital letters of differnet heights per word/phrase. The best I can read of it is:
LISTEN HERE. YOU’RE A SNIVELING
EXCUSE _ _ _ _ _ RECOVERY YOU’RE _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I cannot make out the underscored spaces above.
The first blank might be “FOR A” but that makes no gramatical sense to be followed by “RECOVERY YOU’RE” (but I am not sure of that ending “RE”). The might be room for a 3rd line of text, but it would probably be fairly short.
Assumming the sign is not totally obscene, anybody know what it actually reads as?
Alas, that is bleed through from the other side of the magazine page that I scanned the picture from [sigh]
April 4 edition of time Magazine. from the article titled " 97 Lb Recovery"
The new refuelling and yard facility at Santa Teresa, New Mexico, has barely had ground preparation completed, so this photo can’t have been taken there. I see loaded UP ballast trains heading that direction through Arizona on the Sunset Route, and think they are going to Santa Teresa because that’s the only project area I know of between here and El Paso, Texas that would be using so much ballast.
The latest available aerial image of the area, dated February 2012, appearing on the Union Pacific Railroad’s web site, shows nothing but bare ground with no track yet in place, so your photo can’t possibly have been taken at Santa Teresa.
Propane tank in back ground says it gets cold enough for switch heaters, high switch stand, (or harp stand) in foreground says yard is several years /decades old, those have been out of common use for a while, would not show up in new construction.
Yes, that’s the 951, 949 and 963B in the last row.
All 3 are basically SD40-2s on the inside, just cosmetically kept as E9s, so all the electrical equipment and air brake equipment is easier to replace/repair, and any engineer can run them.
They do pinch hit and haul freight on occasion, we had them at the PTRA on a UP inbound a few years back, just working their way back home!
Ed, so forget about that wonderful old growl of 567s as the engines rev up? That was the best part!
Yup,
But, having ridden both behind them, and in the cab, these guys will get up and go lickity split, buggars are fast out of the hole.
Dash 2’s on the CNW were always quick starters.
On one trip with just 2 of them (light engine move), I had a blast doing quick starts and stops. Had a 0-to-60 time of just 33 seconds, and at high speed (yeah, I know the speed limit for light engines is only 45) around 70mph, I got the dynamic all set and went right to full dynamic–wow, it almost felt as though we were going to go out the front window.
Although maybe I was just lucky that day and had a couple of the more ‘sportier’ models.
One of the perks of working on a tourist line - old equipment (it can also be a curse, of course). Ran both an F10 and a GP9 this past weekend…
Had the F10 up into notch 7 working up a long grade. Sounded so nice.
Didn’t UP’s E get reengined a few years back? If I remember correctly they put the guts of a GP-39-2 inside. Leaving a lot of baggage space.
See ED Blysard’s comment about the E’s current power!
one of their major physical changes was to remove the nose door-was apparently done as a safety measure(?)
| edblysard replied on 04-07-2012 6:23 PM |
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