Zephyr Assistance
Dave Straight photo
With some extra assistance, Amtrak's San Francisco Zephyr hustles along near Hudson, CO around 1980. Providing the help is Union Pacific SD40-2 8096, one of the road's "Fast Forty" high-speed units. It was built by EMD in 1979 and was only about a year old when this view was taken. Trailing behind are a pair of Amtrak SDP40Fs, which by this time were on their way off the Amtrak roster. UP 8096 would be renumbered to 3605 in 1981. It would be retired in 2001 and sold to CEFX, who would number it 3159. The unit would be part of the CEFX lease fleet until the early 2010s when it was sold to Norfolk Southern, becoming their 3451. It was sold to LTEX in 2020.
Hudson, CO
Circa 1980
Train of the Day
5/22/25
Zephyr Assistance
Dave Straight photo
With some extra assistance, Amtrak's San Francisco Zephyr hustles along near Hudson, CO around 1980. Providing the help is Union Pacific SD40-2 8096, one of the road's "Fast Forty" high-speed units. It was built by EMD in 1979 and was only about a year old when this view was taken. Trailing behind are a pair of Amtrak SDP40Fs, which by this time were on their way off the Amtrak roster. UP 8096 would be renumbered to 3605 in 1981. It would be retired in 2001 and sold to CEFX, who would number it 3159. The unit would be part of the CEFX lease fleet until the early 2010s when it was sold to Norfolk Southern, becoming their 3451. It was sold to LTEX in 2020.
Hudson, CO
Circa 1980
Train of the Day
5/22/25