On Top Of The World
On Top of the World
Being at Soldier Summit feels like you are on top of the world physically and spiritually. It is a special place to me. When I planned this trip I wanted to come here almost as much, or more, than seeing the Big Boy. This is the high point of the Rio Grande's mainline in Utah (though not the high point in the state...more on that soon!)
At 7477 ft above sea level we are 2000 ft higher than Provo 50 miles to the west. The sandstone and scrub brush have given way to a tundra like feel and the surrounding hillsides are dotted with fir trees and stands of Aspen. The first time I came here was 1997 and though the UP was in charge the old Grande was still a very busy place and there were three trains at the summit all with scarlet and gray SP power. Now the intermodal and manifest trains are all gone and the old Grande serves only coal trains the traffic of tenants BNSF and Amtrak.
But no matter what color or type of trains it's still a magical place as attested to by the sight of this heavy westbound export coal train from Colorado just about to the apex. The helpers had cut out down at Colton (we shot them at Kyune and then doubled back - you can see them in an earlier post) and the train is cresting the summit slowly alone at about 7 PM on a stunning Saturday evening....our second day in a row that we'd made the drive over from Salt Lake. And on Sunday after chasing the Big Boy we'd drive all the way from Evanston for our third dose. The Grande does that to you. It captivates the soul and draws you back in over and over.
Someone asked me from whence the pass takes its name. It comes from a group of soldiers who were caught in an unexpected snowstorm on the summit in July 1861. These soldiers were Southerners, previously under Union General Philip St. George Cooke at Camp Floyd, on their way to join the Confederate Army. A few of them died in the storm and were buried on the summit some 21 years before the 3 ft gauge rails of D&RGW first reached this spot.
Now you know the rest of the story.
Wasatch County, Utah
Saturday May 11, 2019
On Top Of The World
On Top of the World
Being at Soldier Summit feels like you are on top of the world physically and spiritually. It is a special place to me. When I planned this trip I wanted to come here almost as much, or more, than seeing the Big Boy. This is the high point of the Rio Grande's mainline in Utah (though not the high point in the state...more on that soon!)
At 7477 ft above sea level we are 2000 ft higher than Provo 50 miles to the west. The sandstone and scrub brush have given way to a tundra like feel and the surrounding hillsides are dotted with fir trees and stands of Aspen. The first time I came here was 1997 and though the UP was in charge the old Grande was still a very busy place and there were three trains at the summit all with scarlet and gray SP power. Now the intermodal and manifest trains are all gone and the old Grande serves only coal trains the traffic of tenants BNSF and Amtrak.
But no matter what color or type of trains it's still a magical place as attested to by the sight of this heavy westbound export coal train from Colorado just about to the apex. The helpers had cut out down at Colton (we shot them at Kyune and then doubled back - you can see them in an earlier post) and the train is cresting the summit slowly alone at about 7 PM on a stunning Saturday evening....our second day in a row that we'd made the drive over from Salt Lake. And on Sunday after chasing the Big Boy we'd drive all the way from Evanston for our third dose. The Grande does that to you. It captivates the soul and draws you back in over and over.
Someone asked me from whence the pass takes its name. It comes from a group of soldiers who were caught in an unexpected snowstorm on the summit in July 1861. These soldiers were Southerners, previously under Union General Philip St. George Cooke at Camp Floyd, on their way to join the Confederate Army. A few of them died in the storm and were buried on the summit some 21 years before the 3 ft gauge rails of D&RGW first reached this spot.
Now you know the rest of the story.
Wasatch County, Utah
Saturday May 11, 2019