On May 27, 1987, the eastbound California Zephyr rolls near the site of Thistle, Utah. Just ahead, the train will enter a tunnel through the terrain created by a huge mudslide and resultant... (more)
The eastbound California Zephyr works its way up the Spanish Fork Canyon east of Thistle, Utah in on May 27,1987. Just over four years before and a few miles upstream, a massive mudslide cr... (more)
Train 6 exits the East portal of the Thistle tunnels with the last Amtrak ACS-64 and 14 cars in tow.
The Thistle Tunnels are twin bores under Billies Mountain in Utah, constructed by Morrison-Knudsen after a massive mudslide buried the town of Thistle in floodwater and closed the Rio Grande main ... (more)
Authentic CNW, UP, and SP Heritage Engines
SP's Minntac, Minnesota to Geneva Steel, Utah iron ore train emerges from the Thistle Tunnels through Billy's Mountain featuring the massive landslide that lead to their construction 12 years earl... (more)
Rio Grande Zephyr train No. 17 arrives in the small town of Thistle on the evening of June 19, 1976.
The first eastbound BNSF Railway officer's special tours the former Rio Grande since trackage rights were granted after the UP-SP merger in 1996. Numerous westbound specials have traversed the rou... (more)
Late afternoon finds a eastbound coal empty at Thistle as it heads for another load of Utah coal.
A short MRONY races through Thistle making easy work of the grade here.
A newer ES44AC and a clean SD70AH leads a empty coal train upgrade out of Thistle Tunnel.
With coal empties in tow, Union Pacific ES44AC No. 8207 leads two other clean UP motors over the Rio Grande's Soldier Summit in the early morning summer sunshine.
New UP ES44AC No. 8000 leads a short MRONY train near the Thistle Tunnels of Spanish Fork Canyon on June 29, 2013.