POTD: Two Rocky Mountain Favorites Far From Home

How do you follow the greatness of the last three POTDs by Mike Danneman? It's not impossible, but highly improbable. Yet I can't help but go for a great night shot. I have truly enjoyed rail photography's love affair with night-time exposures. The 24-7-365 nature of railroading and the natural absence of light makes for time exposures that highlight what would be missed and hide what would be obvious from a similar exposure taken in the daytime.

The Folsom local lights up the night in Sacramento, California as it makes its scheduled pick-ups and
drop-offs, far from the Rocky Mountains UP 1901/(ex-D&RGW 3155) called home in its early years.
Photo: Joe M

California photographer Joe M. published this photograph on his RRPictureArchives.net site in 2009. His one photo that qualifies for inclusion as POTD is Union Pacific 1901, last seen here on Tuesday when she was with her two sisters. Today, we have the former Rio Grande GP60 waiting while she takes her conductor back on board. Tools like the trusty lantern of the conductor are as old as railroading itself. A lantern serves to light the right-of-way, as it does here, as well as inspect cars and signal to the rest of his team how they should proceed. It's a long night in Sacramento, California, longer still if you dream about enjoying a cold one after your shift is done.◊

POTD: 3 In A Row - The Rio Grande GP60's

In his second appearance this week for POTD, Mike Danneman is an accomplished railroad photographer whose work shows up in books and Trains magazine with enough regularity that many photographers might envy him. Of course, he has a way of being in the right place at the right time!

GP60s 3156, 3154, & 3155 lead SP and UP locomotives head north toward Blue Mountain Crossing
between the Big Ten curves and Tunnel 1 west of Denver on its way to Salt Lake City, Utah.
Photo: Mike Danneman

As an example, he captured today's Photo of the Day in the foothills west of Denver as the three GP60s of the Rio Grande--the last locomotive units ever--hauled the Denver to Roper (Salt Lake City) manifest train up the grade toward the Moffat Tunnel on the old Denver & Salt Lake. In an interesting twist, it would seem a the six locomotives formed a recapitulation of 60 years (roughly) of the Rio Grande's ownership history with itself, Southern Pacific and Union Pacific. Regrettably, all three locomotives have been repainted or renumbered, per Utah Rails, but all are still active within the last year.

There is no doubt that it's a late 90s Denver skyline, is there?◊