Thanks to a very timely heads-up from a fellow railfan I decided to try and catch this UP business special at Helper, Utah. My info. was that the special was expected at Helper at 6AM. Amtrak #6 is due at Helper at 6:37AM and I thought it might be possible to catch both of them. Eastern Utah was pounded by thunder storms with hail overnight beginning around 2AM at my home in Roosevelt and I thought it likely that the light would be poor for photography at 6AM at Helper given the cloud cover and the fact that the sun isn’t really above the Book Cliffs at that hour. But I persevered and got myself on the road at 3AM and headed for Helper. It was almost 5AM and pitch dark when I pulled into the Shell gas station in Helper to top off my tank and get more coffee. As I pulled in, a white car also pulled in and a couple of guys got out. I noticed them inside the store as I was getting my coffee and one of them had a Union Pacific cap on. Hmmm, I wondered. I struck up a conversation with one of them and Bingo; they were the outbound crew for the passenger special. They both felt that the special would probably be in Helper around 7AM. So I settled in at the Helper depot and waited to see which would show up first; Amtrak #6 or the special. It was Amtrak, right on time to the minute at 6:35. Meanwhile, a tour bus had pulled up to the depot and disgorged over 50 passengers for Amtrak. That many passengers meant a long station stop for Amtrak as they had to spot the train 3 times to accommodate all of the passengers. Unbeknownst to me, while Amtrak had #2 track occupied, the UP special pulled up quietly next to them on track #1 and stopped for its crew change. I didn’t even see them. It was still pretty dark, but getting lighter but still no sun. When the special began to pull it surprised me and I began shooting. That lead unit, UP 2696, is absolutely pristine; it ought to be, it’s only a month old. What’s the chance of 2 passenger trains being at Helper, Utah at the same time anyway?
