Here is a few more shots taken in Reno including of our Sleeping Car (#32079); but, could not get a better shot of the station this time either... [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT]
Video #19 - Sparks, NV to Golconda (~MP 435) We now leave Sparks and I catch a Pullman in the yard listed as Virginia City, I wonder who owns this piece of history. Soon we pass through Vista then over a Trestle (~MP 249.6), another at (~MP 248.5), and another (~MP 258.5) before passing Masters Foods USA in McCarran, NV. Did you see RI hoppers sitting on the siding? There is another industrial facility at ~MP 260 and I catch a TANK heading down the highway later. We cross more Trestles (~MP 270) before passing Wadsworth, NV and Fernley (MP 275). Near Hazen, NV I catch a shot of Black Butte and then head off to Dinner. Upon returning from Dinner I have no idea where we are at but today with the help of Goggle Earth I determine we were at ~MP360. Rye Patch Reservoir comes into view (~MP 370) and soon the Majuba Mountains come into view. At around 7:30PM, we see the ever so late Train #5 go by that I talked about earlier that will be turn around in Reno. Given the time, I estimate it will make Reno around 10PM so it still running 12+ hours behind schedule due to the Rain/Floods in the Midwest. As the sun starts to set, I catch views of Springer Canyon, Blue Mountain, Little Tabletop Mountain, Winnemucca Mountain, and Bloody Run Peak. The trains runs down along West Railroad Street as we pull into Winnemucca, NV and see folks waiting at the Am-Shack. We ourselves are running about 45 minutes late and as we leave I catch a blury shot of a sign about the "First Railroad" in Winnemucca dated 1868. I spoted a railcars around MP 420 as the sun continues to set behind Spoon Mountain as we pass through Weso, NV. The Humboldt River reflects the setting sun around MP 435. [video=youtube;bAFC3-ujeOQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAFC3-ujeOQ[/video] YouTube - Amtrak #6 - Part 19 Duration 7:44 Minutes
Video #20 - Preble, NV to Elko, NV (End of Day #3) OK, I've gotten past my Technical Difficulties... With this clip, we concluded Day #3 as the sun is setting rapidly at this point but I try to film as much as I can. We start out this clip near Preble, NV where I would later catch MP 555. Soon Lone Butte comes into view and I will later see MP 574 go by. As you can see, there is more much out there but there is beauty in that too with the mountains in the distance. As we reach Rennox, an industry site shows up as well as another at Jenkins. Newmont Power Plant comes into view before we pass through Dunphy, NV and later through Boewawe where we cross over State Road 306. MP 623 comes into view and soon a UP Freight Train is seen going the other way followed by MP 625. Next we pass near Cluro where the landscape becomes more interesting and up near the tracks. The Westbound track is now more visible in this region as we reach an area where we have Bridges and start entering Tunnels again near Palisade. By the time we reach Carlin there is little Sun or Moon light most of what can be seen must be illuminated like some tanks at Vivan. Even the tunnels of I-80 take on a different view near Tonka as basically natural light is nearly gone. We reach Elko at 10:14PM (about 30 minutes late) and once we pull out it's time to catch some sleep. [video=youtube;JyXwBTsETHo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyXwBTsETHo[/video] YouTube - Amtrak #6 - Part 20 Duration: 8:28 Minutes
Passing of the night As I said earlier, at Elko, NV we called it a night. The train will now pass by Coin, Osino, Elburz, Halleck, Deeth, Tulasco, Wells, Ventosa, Spruce, Hogan, Sage, Shafter, Silver Zone, Clifside, Pilot, and Ola Nevada before crossing into Utah. Within Utah we will pass through Wendover, Burmester, Lake Point, Garfield, Salt Lake City, Midvale, Riverton, Lehi, American Fork, and Provo before we awaken near Springville Utah. All in all, we will cover about 310 miles while we sleep. :moon: :moon: :moon: :moon:
Video #21 - Mapleton, UT to Green River, UT We begin Day#4 somewhere near Mapleton, UT and we are up out of bed around 6:12AM/MT to find it raining outside. As we pass by Moark Junction we see several Wind Generators. We the reach Castilla Siding and later spot my first railroad MP of the day as we pass by MP682. We will one again pass through Thistle Tunnels were I catch both portals including our Speical Cars exiting the tunnel. We will head for Breakfest at 6:30 and within the video I document some of the places we will pass during the hour we are in the Diner Car. As we head back to our room we pass through Kyunne tunnel and as we exit I will see MP 637.1 pass by the window. As we exit Nolan Tunnel I catch the portal sign well enough to read it as well as catch the other portal too. MP 635 comes into view next as the pass into a canyon and I get a good shot of Castle Gate. The next area that comes into view is the Ghost Town of Royal (a.k.a. Bear Canyon) where today their is a siding. The views here are truly wonderful and then out of the blue at MP630 the Carbon Power Plant shows up neat to the tracks. We now reach Helper around 8:04AM (Scheduled 7:37AM) so we are running about 30 minutes behind schedule. Did you see the Rio Grande Boxcar rusting away in Spring Glen, UT? We pass into Garley Canyon and soon the views in this area come into view as we reach Price. We will soon pass siding after siding which helps me locate where we are at along the route. We end this clip as we reach Green River... [video=youtube;RUTW8QhM6OA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUTW8QhM6OA[/video] YouTube - Amtrak #6 - Part 21 Duration: 9:59 Minutes
These videos are great!! Thanks for sharing. They've got me thinking.. we used to have raised dome cars where we could see not only above and to the sides, but in front and back too. But now with superliners that view is skewed. I would think the ability to view forward and back would be a major selling point as we all love to see the lead engine snaking its way around curves. When should we expect the next generation of passenger cars and will they have observations with a forward view? Doesn't the Alaska have a superdome that raises above the roof of a superliner to get that view?
Coming Soon - Video Clip #22 The next video clip will get us back to Loma, CO so start looking for places where you were at that day to see if I by chance caught you in the video. Also, it might be fun if you post your photographs when I reach those points so folks can see both aspects; here is Darren's view from the train followed by your shots of from that same location. :tb-biggrin: :tb-biggrin: :tb-biggrin: :tb-biggrin:
Video #22 - Green River, UT to Loma, CO This next section is just breathtaking in the views out the window. We reach Green River Station only about 20 minutes behind schedule and then we are off crossing over the bridge. We will once again pass Siding after Siding with absolutely wonderful views all along the way. Did you see all those Rio Grande Hopper sitting out in the middle of nowhere at the UT/CO State Line? Oh yes, there is a Tunnel shot in there too... [video=youtube;8Ssy7CyECVA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ssy7CyECVA[/video] YouTube - Amtrak #6 - Part 22 Duration: 10:01 Minutes Better if you use the HQ Viewer
Head-Up Working on the next clip tonight, it will cover Fruta to Parachute... :tb-biggrin: :tb-biggrin: :tb-biggrin: :tb-biggrin:
Video #23 - Fruta, CO to Parachute, CO We start this next clip in Fruta, CO and will soon pass Fruta Siding and Durham Siding before pulling into Grand Junction Station; ON TIME!!!!!!!. The first building here is the "New" station which to me is a sad replacement of the "Old" station sitting next to hit with a "For Sale" sign on it. I will pick up two nice books by Eva J. Hoffman on the California Zephyr for the sections we travlled on this trip at the Gift Shop which is a hopping place when the train come in. She was a thrid book of the section we didn't travel on this trip. I will post more info on the books later... We pull out of Grand Junction and soon the D&RGW Station comes into view as well as D&RGW Boxcar #3001 that sits across the street as a Static Display. I will also catch D&RGW Boxcar #X-2514 now being used as a shed. As we start to head out of town, Garfield Mountain comes into view. We then pass Palisade Siding that is 12,260 feet long. We later pass though Cameo, CO and the views out the window again are just wonderful. Beaver Tunnel nearly catches me off guard but I do get a good shot of it with the back of the train coing out of it. Canyon after canyon come into view and this is why I Love Colorado! Akin Siding soon is here as more canyon and mountain views still pass by our window. As we reach De Beque, CO Mount Logan dominates the view. I wonder what the views are like from that Dome Car that is still behind us. We later reach Una, CO where Mt. Callahan is now in view before reaching Parachute... [video=youtube;6kGu6eI0z5E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kGu6eI0z5E[/video] YouTube - Amtrak #6 - Part 23 Duration: 9:37 Minutes OK, Ben fell free to jump in with your shots taken while I get a few stills ready from Grand Junction Station...
Great video! I happened to be on the other side of the tracks when you passed by the Cameo Power Plant. I wish I had the money to buy the Grand Junction Depot. It would make a great hobby shop. Ben
Here are a few signals that you passed along your trip. Palisade Siding Cameo Akin Siding DeBeque Ben
Grand Junction, CO OK, let's rewind a bit back to Grand Junction where we had time to get off the train and look around. First off I get a shot of part of the "Old" station and then head up to the front of the train to take a few shots of the engines. The forth shot in this sequence is of engines BNSF#8627 followed by SF#8738 with caboose BN#12517. [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT]Now if I can get Ben to post at least the shot he took here you will notice that we are basically standing in the same spot. Too bad we were not there at the same time or we would have finally met each other in person.
Here is some more shots from Grand Junction [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT]
As promised... Here are four books I've used to help put this Trip Report together; including the two mentioned earlier... [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT]
Grand Junction - Continued... [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] - [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica] [/FONT]
Video #24 - Parachute, CO to Dotsero, CO We start out this section passing through Parachute where we find lots of Hoppers on the siding that include many Fallen Flags intermixed. Lots of great views continue to pass by the window as we pass Lacy, Riffle, and Silt Siding before crossing over the river near Chacra, CO. Not thinking, we setup a 1PM Lunch reservation in the Diner Car... Shortly after putting in our Lunch Order we reach Glenwood Springs and I have left the Video Camera in our room to not have it at the table. As you might understand, we are now heading into another great section and without the video camera the wife is a bit upset. I do have my point and shot with me that (and you have seen earlier) can take video so out it comes while we eat. Those clips will come in the next video post... We try to eat quickly and get back to the room where both of our primary cameras are but we are basically coming out of the main part of thecanyon by then... We next pass by Allen Siding where the views once again wonderful but it would be nice to get rid of a few trees. Note how high the river is from all the rain that has fallen in this area as well; yes, the Walk/Bike path is underwater in spots. As we reach Dotsero we pull onto the siding to wait for Train #5 to pass; is that a deer our there on the island... [video=youtube;HsgXf3RY0b0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsgXf3RY0b0[/video] YouTube - Amtrak #6 - Part 24 Duration: 9:24 Minutes
