On the last day of April, 1967, a spring blizzard is closing in as the PVSC, UP’s daily Provo-Salt Lake City local, eases down the hill behind GP9 297 and a string of motive power worthy of a mainline freight. Within a few hours the snow here will be ankle-deep. Filling out today’s consist are cars of lumber and natural gas and loads of coil steel from the Geneva works at nearby Vineyard. The tall stack on the 297 indicates it is one of five 1954-built geeps equipped with steam generators and 800-gallon water tanks for use in local passenger trains, but by the mid-60s reassigned to freight service. UP will eventually reroute Provo-Salt Lake traffic to the nearby Rio Grande mainline, and Utah’s FrontRunner commuter line will follow the original UP alignment for the 48-mile journey to Salt Lake City.
