While UP SD70ACe number 1996 is the official Southern Pacific heritage locomotive, there are still a handful of older locomotives still displaying the final red and grey paint scheme prior to UP takeover. On April 19th, the day after going to Cresson for some FWWR action, I made an even shorter morning trip from the house to UP’s Iona siding to see one of these units in the lead on an eastbound merchandise train. At 8:01 am the UP 6310 came charging east past me in the siding at milepost 261.
As the train slowed for a stop at the east end of the over 12,000-foot siding I captured this view of the nose through the bushes.
Before long a westbound intermodal “Z” train arrived coming up the main out of Fort Worth.
After the DPU on the stack train had cleared, the conductor climbed back into the 6310 from the ground and in a minute the power derail dropped and the east siding switch lined for the main.
Having earlier photographed the engineer’s side of the 6310, I was now able to capture the fireman’s side as the train rolled downhill out of the siding towards Fort Worth.
With the subject now well documented, I headed back home with a lot accomplished before 9:00 am!
