Home»All Photograph Galleries»Sin City Gamble - Railfreight Las Vegas, Nevada!

Something from the USA - Las Vegas, between 7am-9am usually. Before the rest of the day on the strip and around. A Union Pacific hotspot given the railroad. Though some rather 'large' rarities out there as well. With stabling for crew and cargo checks still happening in downtown Las Vegas (near Main Street station, working south on the three track stretch) every day a different set of trains could be found stabled up here. Not to mention those passing. Highlights; well a Union Pacific standard cab SD40 out of store had to be one of them. Rare as hens teeth these apparently. Then came the big boys of the fleet with several SD70, ES44AC, ET44AH; AC44CW, AC4400, AC45CCTE, AC4460CW, ES44 and AC60. A real mix though this is a given as most UP trains run with three-five locomotives on the front and most times one on the rear so variety is huge! Another highlight was AC4400 (6248) showing off old Southern Pacific livery with UP 'patch' As of the end of 2015 only 174 units in the UP fleet retained this livery and as far as I'm aware that figure could well be down to nearer 100 by now. So a nice find. Then come the hire in locomotives well off home railroads, with 7355 and 8370 from BNSF (again rare as hens teeth in these parts) and 9415 from Norfolk Southern. Interestingly the BNSF pair were with the UP SD40 and two other UP 'big boys' shunting onto a train which then became one of the most sought after combinations - found completely by chance. A final 'worth a mention' goes to Union Pacific '7076' - one of the big boys and not a rarity if it wasn't for the fact I saw and photographed it in 2013 in the 'more shabby' Union Pacific original livery, whereas fast forward and it's now proudly wearing the American flag and latest livery. Indeed it was very welcome to see it again. Given the Union Pacific network involves 32,100 miles of railroad, and they operate a fleet of just over 8,000 locomotives across 23 US states. The chances of seeing this one twice anyone? Here is till next time; though I feel it's a tough one to beat! Enjoy!