Uploaded September 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
As I was pulling out of Klamath Falls, OR, on US 97 early one morning in September, 2007, I spotted a UP TOFC train in the distance heading toward California. Hoping to get some stills with my digital SLR, I started to accelerate my Mustang in hopes of catching it before it got out of site. A quick glance in my rear view mirror told me to cool it as I spotted an Oregon Highway Patrol vehicle about a quarter mile behind me. I carefully reached the speed limit of 55 and continued to slowly gain on my target. After following me for about two miles, the patrol car turned off on a side road leaving me free to catch up to the train.
I pulled off the road right at the California/Oregon border and jumped out to get some shots. To my surprise the third unit in the consist was one of the new UP heritage units, this one painted to honor the Denver and Rio Grande Western which was acquired by UP in 1989, thus the number on the locomotive.
I managed to get shots of the train at Grass Lake, Mott Siding just south of Mt. Shasta and at the Amtrak station in Dunsmuir where it stopped for a crew change. Due to the limited track speed for trains traveling the Sacramento River Canyon, I was able to also get shots at the sweeping curve at Lamoine and on the trestle across Lake Shasta at Lakehead.
As I was pulling out of Klamath Falls, OR, on US 97 early one morning in September, 2007, I spotted a UP TOFC train in the distance heading toward California. Hoping to get some stills with my digital SLR, I started to accelerate my Mustang in hopes of catching it before it got out of site. A quick glance in my rear view mirror told me to cool it as I spotted an Oregon Highway Patrol vehicle about a quarter mile behind me. I carefully reached the speed limit of 55 and continued to slowly gain on my target. After following me for about two miles, the patrol car turned off on a side road leaving me free to catch up to the train.
I pulled off the road right at the California/Oregon border and jumped out to get some shots. To my surprise the third unit in the consist was one of the new UP heritage units, this one painted to honor the Denver and Rio Grande Western which was acquired by UP in 1989, thus the number on the locomotive.
I managed to get shots of the train at Grass Lake, Mott Siding just south of Mt. Shasta and at the Amtrak station in Dunsmuir where it stopped for a crew change. Due to the limited track speed for trains traveling the Sacramento River Canyon, I was able to also get shots at the sweeping curve at Lamoine and on the trestle across Lake Shasta at Lakehead.
