At the west switch of Mounds, three tracks converge. On the far left is the mainline. The center track is actually the siding. The far right track is the Sunnyside branch, running 17½ miles out to Sunnyside. UP has replaced the signals at the west end. This is one of the few places where a dwarf is still used (on the siding).
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Near the west end of Mounds, we find a string of hoppers tied down and being stored in the siding at Mounds. Two empty yard tracks sit next to the hoppers. And, to the left of all of that, we see the Sunnyside branch line. UP's trash train periodically takes trash from the Salt Lake area.
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A single DPU brings up the tail end of a long, loaded ballast train. The train just received a fresh crew at Helper and is now making its way to Grand Junction, most likely to help shore up the line around Glenwood Canyon, which has been hit hard by rock and mud slides in the runoff this spring.
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Stars swirl behind the signal at the east switch of Mounds. Note one star that is inconsistent with the rest (near the top of the photo). That is actually a shooting star streaking through the atmosphere!
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Amtrak 5, running about four hours late, comes streaking past the view finder just west of Mounds. This was a 25 minute shot with clouds moving in and out of the frame, causing some sporadic stars to com into view.
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Perhaps my best night shot to date, this was a half hour (yep, nearly 30 minutes) exposure taken at the east switch of Mounds. It was taken between 5:30am and 6:00am, although the light behind the signal is not the sun. That is ambient light from the town of Wellington, about ten miles away. Note all the stars swirling around the North Star in the upper right corner of the photo.
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Only the light from the moon reflects off the rails at the east switch of Mounds. A few of the brighter stars can be seen streaking through the night sky as they (or rather, the earth) moves during the duration of the photo.
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After dropping off loaded trash cars and picking up empty trash cars at "Banning" on the Sunnyside Sub, the Dirt Train is headed back to Helper between Mounds and Wash with UP 7060 leading.
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It is getting close to 12 o'clock noon as the eastbound MPVODEN in coming into the Utah desert approach the siding of Mounds.
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On a cloudy day in the desert, the Dirt Train is approaching the siding at Mounds.
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The sun is setting at the west end of the siding of Mounds. The sky is extrodinarily red because of a forest fire burning in the area. The resulting smoke has drifted across the western sky creating wonderful sunsets.
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The sun is setting as this UP coal empty starts its push across the Utah desert.
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Although the desert across Utah is far from busy, UP does still send a couple coal trains across the desert on most days. This eastbound empty is headed for the Northfork Subdivision in western Colorado.
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