Engineering Dept. Special – Yet Again!

UP 7454, the Engineering Dept. inspection train came back through my neck of the woods yesterday, 5/24/11, as it continued its 10 day tour of the eastern part of the Union Pacific system.

I was hoping to catch it around the old Imperial Sugar mill near MP 25 of the Glidden sub. Unfortunately, there were some contractors working precisely where I wanted to set up, so I went to Plan B.

I headed 10 miles east to West Junction, thinking the best light would be at the curve where the Terminal Sub splits off from the Glidden Sub. Once I had set up, I figured it might be a good idea to verify that the train would go via the Terminal Sub.  I had to walk about 100 yards in order to see the switch points, but it was well worth it because I saw that the special was not lined up according to my plan.

The train was lined up to continue east on the Glidden Sub, via Stella. So much for the nice light in the curve, but again, what can you really do?

You can see the Terminal Sub tracks curving  away to the left of the locomotive.

I also captured a bit of video as the train came by me:

PS- Once the video starts playing, click where it says “360p” near the right, bottom corner of the player. Then click on “480p”. this will improve the quality of the video.