FL9

I’m taking a vacation day Friday and my wife is leaving work after lunch so we can get an early start for Sweetwater to visit my father.  This time for sure.  To seal the deal here are a few shots from there taken on August 17th, 2005.

My father and I heard the UP dispatcher discussing BNSF 7736 west in the siding at Eskota, a few miles east of Tecific.  I assumed this was a BNSF train sporting a new GEVO as we headed that way from town.  When we arrived at Tecific, the UP 5015 West came around the curve into that great afternoon low light.

We covered the last few miles to Eskota as the 5015 West met the 4627 East at Sweetwater siding.  As we pulled up to the west end of Eskota, the 7736 looked nice and clean in the siding for this roster shot.

The crew climbed down to visit as the engineer was also a photographer, primarily of NASCAR races.  We had a good talk about photogrpahy in general as he also told me this was the UP’s MFWOD instead of a BNSF train as I had originally guessed.  How he ended up with this new BNSF GEVO on the point today was anyone’s guess, but I was not complaining.  Soon the UP 4627 East flashed by as the MFWOD crew gave a friendly wave and watched their train.

The MFWOD was a low priority merchandise compared to these intermodals, and so he had to wait at Eskota for an overtaking “Z” train that met the 4627 East at Merkel.  In a little while the “Z” was seen approaching in the distance as the MFWOD crew once again took up positions for the roll by.

In less than a minute after the last view, the UP 4869 West roared by the 7736 as he rolled off the last miles to a crew change at Sweetwater before proceeding on to California.

Now it was finally the MFWOD’s turn to head on into Sweetwater, so Dad and I moved back to Tecific for one more well-lit telephoto shot as he rounded the curve.

The action was over until after sunset, so it was time for supper followed by a relaxing evening at home.