IMG_0985-Helper
Helper, Utah, 19 April 2010
In April 2010, I rode Amtrak from Sacramento to Chicago to attend the Center for Railroad Photography and Art conference in Lake Forest, Illinois, a few miles north of Chicago.
En route, I stopped and spent a day in Helper, Utah and another day In Burlington, Iowa. I'd wanted to watch trains in both places for some years and this was a chance to do so, as I was going by myself. I could not imagine my wife feeling that a stopover at Helper would have been a great idea on one of our trips to the east coast to visit her family.
Helper is at the east end of the climb over Soldier Summit, which takes the former Rio Grande Deniver-Salt Lake City main line from the drainage of the Colorado River to the drainage of the Great Salt Lake.
The photos start with a view out the rear car as we pass Soldier Summit, then a few shots of Castle Gate before we arrive in Helper, bright and early.
At one time, this was quite a busy yard, but with less traffic on the former DRGW, and DPUs in common use, there are fewer trains that need helper units over the mountain.
The empty storefronts in the town reflect fewer people living in the area, as railroading and coal mining have declined in the area.
I stayed at a motel at the west end of town, so it was several blocks of bag drag down the quiet main street before checking in. A move was being filmed at the hotel and I watched a couple of scenes being filmed. I don't recall the name of the movie, but I don't recall ever seeing it released...perhaps it was an art house film.
After dropping my bags in my room, I went for what I intended to be a short walk. A 55 Chevy was in a parking lot. I got photos of that and then wound up following a ballast train (chasing a train on foot, it was going so slowly!) up the hill. The ballast train was pulled by a patched C&NW GE. A westbound coal train overtook the ballast train as I watched.
I walked as far as Utah Railway Junction. The Utah brought a train out of Martin and it stopped. I waited around for a while, but the Utah train didn't go any farther and I had not brought water, as I'd intended this to just be a short walk that had gone a lot longer are farther than expected, so I went back to the hotel.
The movie was filming in the office when I had first arrived and when I got back from my walk the crew was chatting with a couple of actors taking a break outside,...the woman in a man's shirt that was long enough to cover her hips and the guy in a towel.
My next walk was into town, producing photos of the nearly empty yard an underpass with faded Rio Grande lettering.
A couple of eastbound UP mainfiests came through, including one with a wrapped up Siemens LRV on a flatcar. The ballast train returned with the C&NW GE running short hood forward.
Next destination was the Utah's shops at Martin. Utah's units had a mix of Utah red/gray paint and G&W orange.
Upon my return to the hotel, an outdoor scene was being shot for the movie. Actors were sitting around a table and a chef and waiters brought food. This shot was repeated maybe a dozen times until the director was happy with it. Another UP eastbound manifest rolled up the crossing near the motel and stopped for a while, allowing me to get it from several angles, including one featuring an old truck that I've seen used as a prop in other photos.
The westbound California Zephyr was due at sunset and I shot it near the motel, across the track with a dramatic sky.
A good day for photography, even if the Utah no longer ran Alcos or F45s and the railroad through town was no longer the Rio Grande
IMG_0985-Helper
Helper, Utah, 19 April 2010
In April 2010, I rode Amtrak from Sacramento to Chicago to attend the Center for Railroad Photography and Art conference in Lake Forest, Illinois, a few miles north of Chicago.
En route, I stopped and spent a day in Helper, Utah and another day In Burlington, Iowa. I'd wanted to watch trains in both places for some years and this was a chance to do so, as I was going by myself. I could not imagine my wife feeling that a stopover at Helper would have been a great idea on one of our trips to the east coast to visit her family.
Helper is at the east end of the climb over Soldier Summit, which takes the former Rio Grande Deniver-Salt Lake City main line from the drainage of the Colorado River to the drainage of the Great Salt Lake.
The photos start with a view out the rear car as we pass Soldier Summit, then a few shots of Castle Gate before we arrive in Helper, bright and early.
At one time, this was quite a busy yard, but with less traffic on the former DRGW, and DPUs in common use, there are fewer trains that need helper units over the mountain.
The empty storefronts in the town reflect fewer people living in the area, as railroading and coal mining have declined in the area.
I stayed at a motel at the west end of town, so it was several blocks of bag drag down the quiet main street before checking in. A move was being filmed at the hotel and I watched a couple of scenes being filmed. I don't recall the name of the movie, but I don't recall ever seeing it released...perhaps it was an art house film.
After dropping my bags in my room, I went for what I intended to be a short walk. A 55 Chevy was in a parking lot. I got photos of that and then wound up following a ballast train (chasing a train on foot, it was going so slowly!) up the hill. The ballast train was pulled by a patched C&NW GE. A westbound coal train overtook the ballast train as I watched.
I walked as far as Utah Railway Junction. The Utah brought a train out of Martin and it stopped. I waited around for a while, but the Utah train didn't go any farther and I had not brought water, as I'd intended this to just be a short walk that had gone a lot longer are farther than expected, so I went back to the hotel.
The movie was filming in the office when I had first arrived and when I got back from my walk the crew was chatting with a couple of actors taking a break outside,...the woman in a man's shirt that was long enough to cover her hips and the guy in a towel.
My next walk was into town, producing photos of the nearly empty yard an underpass with faded Rio Grande lettering.
A couple of eastbound UP mainfiests came through, including one with a wrapped up Siemens LRV on a flatcar. The ballast train returned with the C&NW GE running short hood forward.
Next destination was the Utah's shops at Martin. Utah's units had a mix of Utah red/gray paint and G&W orange.
Upon my return to the hotel, an outdoor scene was being shot for the movie. Actors were sitting around a table and a chef and waiters brought food. This shot was repeated maybe a dozen times until the director was happy with it. Another UP eastbound manifest rolled up the crossing near the motel and stopped for a while, allowing me to get it from several angles, including one featuring an old truck that I've seen used as a prop in other photos.
The westbound California Zephyr was due at sunset and I shot it near the motel, across the track with a dramatic sky.
A good day for photography, even if the Utah no longer ran Alcos or F45s and the railroad through town was no longer the Rio Grande