The California Zephyr is about an hour late this morning, which worked out perfectly for lighting! The train hustles east here at the siding of Maxwell, in between Helper and Price. It is meeting a westbound coal load, which arrived in the siding just a few minutes earlier.
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After loading at the West Elk mine in Colorado the day before, this coal load is crossing Kenilworth Road on the approach to Spring Glen and the start of two main tracks.
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A single ET44AC, one of the few Tier-4 locomotives on UP's roster, brings up the tail end of this westbound coal load at Spring Glen. The coal is headed for Long Beach, CA, where it will be exported.
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Although coal has largely declined in recent years, it has not yet disappeared completely. I actually lucked out and caught a meet between a westbound load on Main 1 and an eastbound empty on Main 2. The load is waiting for manned helpers to be cut in, and the empty is waiting for a new crew to climb onboard.
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The crew on this eastbound coal empty is onboard and just about ready to start rolling east. The train will load at the West Elk Mine on the North Fork Branch. Meanwhile, manned helpers are about to cut in to a westbound coal load on Main 1.
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Soldier Summit is one of the few places left in the United States that still uses manned helpers. Heavy westbound UP unit trains, such as coal and oil, have a mid-train swing helpers cut in from the Helper Yard onto Main 1.
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The conductor for the mid-train helper set throws the yard switch in the helper yard back to Track one after four units came out of the yard onto Main 1 and have been cut in to a westbound coal load.
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With four mid-train (manned) helpers cut into the train, this Long Beach, CA bound coal load is now making the climb up the 2% grade of Soldier Summit on Main 1.
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Four mid-train swing helpers are throttled up in run 8, helping this CWELB (Coal train, West Elk to Long Beach) make its way up Soldier Summit alongside US-6.
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UP 7851 and train emerge from the 401-foot Nolan Tunnels on Main 1. This is one of the few spots on the east side of Soldier Summit where the tracks depart from US-6. The highway runs through a cut here, while the tracks follow along Price River.
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After running through Nolan Tunnels, this westbound coal load left the highway for about a mile to follow along Price River. Here, the tracks rejoin US-6 at a fantastic S-Curve.
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The control point at East Kyune has to be one of the most unique control points out there. Westbound trains pass the signal on the east side of Kyune tunnel. The switches for the siding are on the west side of the tunnel. The tunnel itself is 468-feet long on Main 1 and 410-feet long on Main 2.
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The 15 miles or so between Castle Gate and Colton are the steepest part of the climb up Soldier Summit. Indeed, those 15 miles are really the only section of the climb that necessitate mid-train swing helpers. This coal load just passed the crossover at Colton and is starting to slow to a stop. It is here that the mid-train swing helpers will cut out from the train and return to Helper.
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After setting the air on the back third of the train, the helper crew indicates to the head end that they are good to pull ahead, cutting away from the train. Once they are clear of the crossover at Colton, DS-378 will cross the manned helper over to Main 2 so they can return to Helper.
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UP 8310 and three GEs just helped a coal load climb Soldier Summit on Main 1. Here at Colton, the manned helpers have crossed over to Main 2 so they can return to Helper. Before heading down the hill, the conductor will assist the coal load in putting their train back together.
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