In a haze of blue exhaust, an eastbound Union Pacific freight departs North Platte and begins to accelerate as it clears the big yard’s Yard Limit. UP U30C 2923 is teamed with a GP30, and the train is about to cross the North Platte River, for which the city is named. A clear signal on the far side of the river gives this train permission to accelerate for its journey across the plains as it heads to Omaha. UP 2923 was built in May 1972, and in February 1987 it would be retired and traded-in to builder General Electric, possibly toward a new C40-8. (North Platte, Nebraska – August 19, 1980)
