Tracking West
Rescued
Recently, Amtrak's new Phase IV heritage unit had been released and made its first runs on the California Zephyr. Everything was fine on the first trip, but the second one ended in disaster. While on the Provo Sub,164 would start suffering traction motor problems which eventually led to the unit not being able to load. The trailing unit, 54, had already been suffering from loading issues due to a broken radiator. With the train now stranded in Utah, UP 7719 came to rescue the train hours later. Since there was only one fully working unit they were forced to add another locomotive at Sparks. The original plan was to add UP 5537, but this did not happen and the 6376 was added. Now departing Sparks over seven hours late, the former SP made its way west over the famous Donner Pass in the evening as it made its appearance at Yuba Pass in perfect golden light. With a friendly crew on board, this was about to be a short but fun chase in the last moments of light.
Rescued
Recently, Amtrak's new Phase IV heritage unit had been released and made its first runs on the California Zephyr. Everything was fine on the first trip, but the second one ended in disaster. While on the Provo Sub,164 would start suffering traction motor problems which eventually led to the unit not being able to load. The trailing unit, 54, had already been suffering from loading issues due to a broken radiator. With the train now stranded in Utah, UP 7719 came to rescue the train hours later. Since there was only one fully working unit they were forced to add another locomotive at Sparks. The original plan was to add UP 5537, but this did not happen and the 6376 was added. Now departing Sparks over seven hours late, the former SP made its way west over the famous Donner Pass in the evening as it made its appearance at Yuba Pass in perfect golden light. With a friendly crew on board, this was about to be a short but fun chase in the last moments of light.