Union Pacific 817 leads a trio of GP30s, including a rare GP30B, eastbound up the .82 percent approach to Hermosa Tunnel, apex of Sherman Hill and highest point on the railroad’s transcontinental main line. On June 18, 1964, the photographer is standing ankle-deep in cinders here, tangible proof of the days just five years before when Big Boys still marched up this grade. UP bought 152 of the 2250-hp GP30s, 40 of them B-units (only UP had them) just two years after steam ran its last. All enjoyed long, useful lives. The 817 was leased for a time to Utah’s Kennecott Copper, rebuilt completely in 1978, and remained on the UP roster until June, 1985
