Tuesday, May 14, 2013

MP154: UP 6471 West, a short train with eight engines

Except that, of course, when you actually examine the video, people will only count seven engines.

That is to say: up front.  There is a DPU at the rear of this mixed manifest train -- which also hosts an intriguing set of new UP coil steel cars  YouTube video here.

Above, UP 6471 West (a GE C44AC with 4390 hp manufactured for UP in 2000, one of 120 such units) leads six other GE locomotives:

UP 7452 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2009
UP 5280 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006
UP 5291 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006
UP 5290 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006
UP 5274 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006
UP 5261 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006

UP 6559 brings up the rear as a Distributed Power Unit (DPU), a GE C44AC, one of only four manufactured for Union Pacific in 1997, with 4390 hp.

As always, I recommend you click here for the YouTube link and expand fully whilst listening to the sound on headphones.  The only true way to experience my train videos.

Note: you can also hear the westbound detector at 154.4 activate via my radio scanner, which I held up to the videocam.

Some screen captures from the video itself:



Timing is pretty much everything, and I capture what I can when I can.  In this video, however, I managed to exhibit a train during one of the so-called Golden Hours of Photography -- the hour involving sunrise and the hour involving sunset.  Here, it is sunset.  Pure luck, but it does make for striking and radiant colors.

And what were the last six cars?  Correct.  They were the UP version of coil steel cars, now covered.

In the meantime, be safe around the tracks and keep your family close and secure in these tenuous -- and soon to be tumultuous -- times.

MP154