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| Title: |
Long view |
| Description: |
The perspective on the empty grain train changes as a long lens shortens the distance. |
| Photo Date: |
3/20/2023 Upload Date: 4/28/2023 6:11:00 AM |
| Location: |
Cullison, KS |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 5134(SD70M) UP 4651(SD70M) |
| Views: |
168 Comments: 2 |
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| Title: |
Mid train power |
| Description: |
The westbound stack train had this GE deep in the train. |
| Photo Date: |
3/20/2023 Upload Date: 4/28/2023 6:14:07 AM |
| Location: |
Greensburg, KS |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 5819(AC44CWCTE) |
| Views: |
147 Comments: 1 |
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| Title: |
Prairie skyscraper |
| Description: |
Grain elevators are often the tallest structures for a long way out on the prairie, hence the name. A westbound stack train rolls past an elevator near Greensburg Kan, on the ex Rock Island Golden State Route |
| Photo Date: |
3/20/2023 Upload Date: 4/28/2023 6:17:43 AM |
| Location: |
Greensburg, KS |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Scenic,Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 7779(AC45CCTE) UP 4799(SD70M) |
| Views: |
203 Comments: 1 |
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| Title: |
Stack power |
| Description: |
The head end power on the westbound stack |
| Photo Date: |
3/20/2023 Upload Date: 4/28/2023 6:21:32 AM |
| Location: |
Greensburg, KS |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 7779(AC45CCTE) UP 4799(SD70M) |
| Views: |
141 Comments: 1 |
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| Title: |
Kansas icon |
| Description: |
During our last trip to Denver, I had seen this spot east of Greensburg and wanted to get a shot of a train here. I got one last time, but now was hoping Id get another chance. Just as I thought Id miss it this trip, this westbound rolled out from behind an elevator a few miles east. Some days, you win one!! |
| Photo Date: |
3/20/2023 Upload Date: 4/28/2023 6:25:22 AM |
| Location: |
Greensburg, KS |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Scenic,Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 7779(AC45CCTE) UP 4799(SD70M) |
| Views: |
153 Comments: 1 |
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| Title: |
Caught one |
| Description: |
A trip to the Alabama Gulf coast for us involves running US 65 from Pine Bluff to Lake Village, much of which is next to UPs ex MP line from Little Rock to Alexandria LA. Once in a while we see something, as on the return trip, where we caught a southbound with NS power and 172 cars. Note the railfan chase vehicle at left. |
| Photo Date: |
4/18/2023 Upload Date: 4/28/2023 5:43:31 AM |
| Location: |
Gould, AR |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Action |
| Locomotives: |
NS 4424(AC44C6M) UP 8527(SD70ACe) |
| Views: |
193 Comments: 1 |
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| Title: |
Past the automatic |
| Description: |
I like lineside hardware, and by chance picked a spot with a signal. The train passes the automatic. |
| Photo Date: |
4/18/2023 Upload Date: 4/28/2023 5:48:15 AM |
| Location: |
Gould, AR |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Signal,Action |
| Locomotives: |
NS 4424(AC44C6M) UP 8527(SD70ACe) |
| Views: |
203 Comments: 2 |
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| Title: |
Not much happening |
| Description: |
I went to see friends in Belen NM during December 2023, driving out from Arkansas. OF course, I had to stop in Tucumcari, hopefullly to see something passing the ex Rock/SP station there. Unfortunately, not much going on, just a couple of trains canned in the yard, among them this westbound. Id see more later, including a meet between here and Santa Rosa. |
| Photo Date: |
12/8/2023 Upload Date: 1/4/2024 4:40:49 AM |
| Location: |
Tucumcari, NM |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Signal,Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 7345(AC45CCTE) UP 5416(AC45CCTE) UP 8949(SD70AH) |
| Views: |
238 Comments: 2 |
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| Title: |
DPU west |
| Description: |
I came up on a westbound grain train that was holding in a siding at Los Tanos, with a single unit DPU on the rear. This is a close up look at the power. |
| Photo Date: |
12/8/2023 Upload Date: 1/4/2024 5:02:49 AM |
| Location: |
Los Tanos, NM |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 7999(AC45CCTE) |
| Views: |
154 Comments: 1 |
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| Title: |
Long train |
| Description: |
I didnt get a car count-its hard to count a long train of similar looking cars while riding down the interstate at 75 MPH-but it was a good sized train, with a GE bringing up the rear. The only reason I could stop and wait for the meet was that I was parked on the I 40 ramp |
| Photo Date: |
12/8/2023 Upload Date: 1/4/2024 5:06:18 AM |
| Location: |
Los Tanos, NM |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 7999(AC45CCTE) |
| Views: |
115 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Finally the eastbound |
| Description: |
When I stopped to get the shot of the DPU, I saw a headlight in the distance. Oh good, a meet, I thought, as the eastbound approached. I was expecting the eastbound to be moving with some dispatch, but he must have taken ten minutes to get there. Finally he arrived, a stack train behind a trio of GEs |
| Photo Date: |
12/8/2023 Upload Date: 1/4/2024 5:43:05 AM |
| Location: |
Los Tanos, NM |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 5616(AC44CWCTE) UP 5935(AC44CWCTE) UP 8244(ES44AC-H) UP 7999(AC45CCTE) |
| Views: |
237 Comments: 1 |
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| Title: |
Three GEs |
| Description: |
Three GEs lead the eastbound stack, a long train of 205 platforms, with another GE 132 platforms deep in the train. |
| Photo Date: |
12/8/2023 Upload Date: 1/4/2024 5:53:48 AM |
| Location: |
Los Tanos, NM |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 5616(AC44CWCTE) UP 5935(AC44CWCTE) UP 8244(ES44AC-H) |
| Views: |
180 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Stack DPU |
| Description: |
This GE was 132 platforms deep in the stack train. |
| Photo Date: |
12/8/2023 Upload Date: 1/4/2024 5:57:31 AM |
| Location: |
Los Tanos, NM |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 7258(AC44CW) |
| Views: |
134 Comments: 2 |
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| Title: |
Head end |
| Description: |
The head end power of the grain train sits at the west end of the siding. Shot from the shoulder of I 40. Dont try this on the road!! |
| Photo Date: |
12/8/2023 Upload Date: 1/4/2024 6:03:27 AM |
| Location: |
Los Tanos, NM |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 5391(AC45CCTE) UP 2694(ET44AH) |
| Views: |
151 Comments: 1 |
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| Title: |
Eastbound |
| Description: |
When I got down to Vaughn, there were two trains facing off, one eastbound, one west. This is the eastbound, led by UP 6335, seen from across the BNSF near their station. The coveted shot here is at the crossing, where BNSF passes over UP. I didnt have time to wait out a meet. Maybe next time. |
| Photo Date: |
12/8/2023 Upload Date: 1/4/2024 6:12:29 AM |
| Location: |
Vaughn, NM |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Scenic,Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 6335(AC44CW) UP 5356(AC45CCTE) |
| Views: |
200 Comments: 1 |
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| Title: |
Grain west |
| Description: |
A westbound grain train on the Golden State Route waits to head west. The traffic on the UP had picked up since I left Tucumcari, but it was getting late, and I still needed to make Belen by dark. There would be a number of shots I got on the BNSF, but would liked to have spent more time on the UP, as there were several spots that I wanted to shoot. Maybe next trip... |
| Photo Date: |
12/8/2023 Upload Date: 1/4/2024 6:15:38 AM |
| Location: |
Vaughn, NM |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Scenic,Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 8314(SD70ACe) UP 6145(AC44CW) |
| Views: |
191 Comments: 1 |
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| Title: |
Ten years, one million miles, whichever comes first |
| Description: |
I found this amusing, that they would stencil this on an SD 70. Probably out by now, those units are 20 plus years old. This one was on a northbound ahead of the 4014 special. Must be a beast taking it back to the dealer!! |
| Photo Date: |
10/14/2024 Upload Date: 10/31/2024 6:12:01 AM |
| Location: |
Claremore, OK |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 4039(SD70M) |
| Views: |
59 Comments: 1 |
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| Title: |
Samson of the Plains marker |
| Description: |
Theres a historical marker in the small parking area just off US 54 at the bridge, explaining the local history, and how the 1200 foot long structure came to be built. |
| Photo Date: |
10/23/2024 Upload Date: 11/3/2024 5:04:56 AM |
| Location: |
Kismet, KS |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Bridge |
| Locomotives: |
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| Views: |
39 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
What I was waiting for |
| Description: |
Ive been here a number of times over the last 30 years, shot a train here once, in cruddy light. The conditions were better, would have been ideal if they hadnt set off the second unit at the last siding. Solo power leads 156 stack platforms across the viaduct. |
| Photo Date: |
10/23/2024 Upload Date: 11/3/2024 5:18:15 AM |
| Location: |
Kismet, KS |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Scenic,Bridge,Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 5917(AC44CWCTE) |
| Views: |
103 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Giving it a push |
| Description: |
There was a mid train DPU 85 platforms deep, seen here on the bridge, the engine dwarfed by the huge viaduct. |
| Photo Date: |
10/23/2024 Upload Date: 11/3/2024 5:22:07 AM |
| Location: |
Kismet, KS |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Scenic,Bridge,Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 2576(ET44AH) |
| Views: |
93 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Kansas icon |
| Description: |
The stack train is now at Plains, seen here in a long lens view that brings in one of the classic structures of the high plains, the local elevator. |
| Photo Date: |
10/23/2024 Upload Date: 11/3/2024 5:24:49 AM |
| Location: |
Plains, KS |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Scenic,Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 5917(AC44CWCTE) |
| Views: |
123 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Stack DPU |
| Description: |
The mid train DPU on the stack. Its not needed so much here, as the gradient is gentle for the most part, but on the old SP part of the route, west of Tucumcari, the line tops out well over 6000 feet elevation. |
| Photo Date: |
10/23/2024 Upload Date: 11/3/2024 5:28:59 AM |
| Location: |
Plains, KS |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 2576(ET44AH) |
| Views: |
94 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Through the glass |
| Description: |
We were driving through Sallisaw OK making our way to US 59 north, when we were stopped at a light, and heard a horn behind us. A quick dive into a parking lot with a clear view got this going away shot of a coal train through the windshield. Glad I had just washed it!! UP 7174 was a returning friend; I had shot it on the KCS about a month earlier. |
| Photo Date: |
2/28/2025 Upload Date: 3/1/2025 6:26:52 AM |
| Location: |
Sallisaw, OK |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 9796(C44-9W) UP 7174(AC44CW) |
| Views: |
106 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Trailing along |
| Description: |
After I got the head end, it was just a matter of waiting out the DPU. I was hoping for a couple of units-the KCS, which crosses this line here, almost always runs their coal trains in a 2x3 configuration here-but UP runs them 2x1. Of course, their grade profile is a lot more favorable than the up and down KCS. Still, a nicely lit and nicely clean SD 70AH was a good finish as the train rolls past the local library, in the distance. |
| Photo Date: |
2/28/2025 Upload Date: 3/1/2025 6:31:20 AM |
| Location: |
Sallisaw, OK |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 8949(SD70AH) |
| Views: |
73 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Greeley Sub late in the day |
| Description: |
My wife consults with a couple of doctors at National Jewish Health in Denver, for which we do an annual trip there for follow ups. We stayed in Brighton this trip. As we were coming back from dinner, I had just pulled into the parking lot, and heard a horn-the UP Greeley Sub follows US 85, the main route through town. She bailed, and I gave chase, catching him here, just outside Henderson, in low afternoon light, three units and a good sized train of stacks and TOFC, a vanishing sight these days. |
| Photo Date: |
4/8/2025 Upload Date: 4/16/2025 6:06:55 AM |
| Location: |
Henderson, CO |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Scenic,Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 7324(AC4460CW) UP 6937(AC4460CW) UP 2600(ET44AH) |
| Views: |
24 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Holding |
| Description: |
On our way up from Denver,, wed seen this baretable train of heavy duty flats holding in Henderson. I wasnt able to get the meet of this train and the southbound, but here he is starting up now that the intermodal has cleared. |
| Photo Date: |
4/8/2025 Upload Date: 4/16/2025 6:10:40 AM |
| Location: |
Henderson, CO |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Scenic,Action |
| Locomotives: |
BNSF 6197(ES44AC) UP 3806(SD70M) |
| Views: |
9 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
On his way |
| Description: |
The baretable train rolls north past an automatic, the southbound distant signal on the same mast, as it gets moving toward Cheyenne with its 32 flats. |
| Photo Date: |
4/8/2025 Upload Date: 4/16/2025 6:13:28 AM |
| Location: |
Brighton, CO |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Scenic,Signal,Action |
| Locomotives: |
BNSF 6197(ES44AC) UP 3806(SD70M) |
| Views: |
10 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Interstate local |
| Description: |
We were in Denver two days, starting back after our second consult and a hearty East Side Kosher Deli lunch. On our way out of town, we pulled up next to this local on the UPs Kansas Pacific line, It was a solid train of covered hoppers, so Im guessing it was a transfer move to Kyle Railways, which runs a long stretch of the former Rock Island across eastern Colorado and Kansas, This was a lucky catch; they dont run a lot of trains here since the coal traffic dropped off, and this train often ran at night when wed stay in the KOA in Strasburg. My wife was driving, I got the shot from I 70, a good clip-we were going maybe 85 at the time!! |
| Photo Date: |
4/9/2025 Upload Date: 4/16/2025 6:21:29 AM |
| Location: |
Watkins, CO |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 1997(SD40N) UP 1837(SD40N) UP 817(GP38-2) |
| Views: |
11 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Another lucky catch |
| Description: |
The last day of the trip, we were rolling east from Colby, when we caught up to this eastbound oil train near Ogallah. I was able to get him rolling past the elevator there with 94 cars. |
| Photo Date: |
4/10/2025 Upload Date: 4/16/2025 6:26:40 AM |
| Location: |
Ogallah, KS |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Scenic,Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 7851(ES44AC) UP 7503(AC45CCTE) |
| Views: |
10 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Going away |
| Description: |
The oil train had a single GE as its DPU, pushing toward an ever dropping elevation as it made its way toward Kansas City. |
| Photo Date: |
4/10/2025 Upload Date: 4/16/2025 6:28:16 AM |
| Location: |
Ogallah, KS |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 7795(AC45CCTE) |
| Views: |
9 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Home of the Railroaders |
| Description: |
The city of Ellis was once a division point-theres a lake on Big Creek there that was dammed to provide water for steam power back in that era. Time has passed the facilites by, and now its just another town on a long drag across the plains, but they are still proud of their history, as the art on the elevator shows. The oil train pays homage. |
| Photo Date: |
4/10/2025 Upload Date: 4/16/2025 6:32:04 AM |
| Location: |
Ellis, KS |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Scenic,Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 7851(ES44AC) UP 7503(AC45CCTE) |
| Views: |
15 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
On the crossing |
| Description: |
Leader 7851 is framed by the crossing flashers as it rolls over Main St. |
| Photo Date: |
4/10/2025 Upload Date: 4/16/2025 6:36:37 AM |
| Location: |
Ellis, KS |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Signal,Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 7851(ES44AC) |
| Views: |
14 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Another elevator |
| Description: |
This one at Yocimento, not really a town, though it once was on the map between Ellis and Hays. My last catch of the train before we broke for lunch at Hays. |
| Photo Date: |
4/10/2025 Upload Date: 4/16/2025 6:43:15 AM |
| Location: |
Hays, KS |
| Author: |
Tom Beckett |
| Categories: |
Scenic,Action |
| Locomotives: |
UP 7851(ES44AC) UP 7503(AC45CCTE) |
| Views: |
11 Comments: 0 |
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