Photo(s) of the Week: North Temple Station

This week I got several emails from Steven, containing a description of the construction at Utah Transit Authority's new North Temple station.  The station recently opened for the FrontRunner line, and will eventually serve as a transfer point between FrontRunner, the Salt Lake City commuter rail, and TRAX, the Salt Lake City light rail system.  The new North Temple station is located just a short distance north of Salt Lake Central station, and is served by both Ogden and Provo line FrontRunner trains.  TRAX service will begin at the completion of the new airport line, which is scheduled to open later this year (See the UTA website for more information.).

Steven mentioned that, since the opening of the Provo line, most FrontRunner trains operate the entire distance, between Ogden and Provo, with only a few going into service or out of service in Salt Lake City.  He said that trains that either start or end service in Salt Lake City serve both stations, regardless of which line they are operating on.

Besides the airport line, UTA is currently working to extend the TRAX system south, to Draper, and building a streetcar line through the Sugarhouse area of downtown Salt Lake City.  Both projects are also expected to open later this year.  For information on all current UTA projects, please see their Frontlines 2015 website.

Besides just a description of the happenings in Salt Lake City, Steven also sent along several photographs he took at the new North Temple station.  Currently, only the FrontRunner portion of the station is in service, as the TRAX line is not yet open.

Northbound train arriving at the North Temple station.  Photo by Steven Ogden.

Southbound train departing the North Temple station.  Photo by Steven Ogden.

Northbound train approaching the North Temple station, from Grant Tower and Salt Lake Central.  Photo by Steven Ogden.

For those that are unaware, Steven is currently serving a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, based in Salt Lake City.  He has used the FrontRunner several times to travel between the offices, in Salt Lake City, and the area in which he currently serves.  While time does not allow him to contribute to the blog regularly, he still takes photographs and keeps everyone at home updated on his activities, and as seen above, the local railroads.

Photo of the Week: Old and New

I apologize for my complete lack of new blog posts lately.  Needless to say, engineer training has been keeping me quite busy!

Today, I have chosen a photo from my archives.  After I graduated from high school, several years ago, I moved to Utah to go to college.  Well, what really happened is I went to some classes, but spent still managed to spend most of my free time running up to Salt Lake City to look at trains.  Up to that point, I had never lived around the Union Pacific or any mountain railroading, so there was a lot to see.  When I first went out to Utah, the Utah Transit Authority had not expanded to include any commuter rail operations, and the light rail system was significantly smaller than it is today, but I still used the system frequently.

The photograph I settled on comes from April 2006.  The semester had just ended at school, and so I really did have nothing better to do than run to Salt Lake and look at trains.  I went up there wanting to do a few things I had not gotten during the winter.  On the bucket list for that day was to ride the entire light rail system, known as TRAX, which at that point included two lines.  One line went from the Delta Center (now the EnergySolutions Arena) to Sandy, and the other to the University of Utah.  I had been on the Sandy line many times to Salt Lake, but never the University line.  I also wanted to find the Amtrak station, which at the time was several blocks from any transit, and now is the largest central transit hub in the city, and home to the commuter trains, known as FrontRunner.  I also wanted to find some of the old stations in the city.  I knew that TRAX ended near the old Union Pacific station, which is now part of the Gateway Mall complex. Besides all that, of course, I wanted to go look at some Union Pacific trains.

During the course of that day, I managed to get several pictures of the TRAX light rail equipment while it laid over at the Delta Center (now Arena) station, which was the end of the line at the time.  The tracks ended in the middle of the street, directly in front of Union Pacific station.  The contrast between the two struck me.  The new, modern, light rail vehicles and infrastructure take up most of the view, but in the background is the old station, with its ornate stone and brick work, large windows, and enormous neon sign, that makes the former owner quite clear.  While train service to Union Pacific station ended when Amtrak moved to their current depot, the station continues to serve as a convention and event center, which can be rented out for private events and parties.  I never was able to find out why the TRAX train said "Special" on the destination signs, but it was parked on the tail track at the end of the platform, possibly awaiting a busier time of the day.

If you would like to see your photo featured as a "Photo of the Week," please email it to ogden.bros.trains@gmail.com, with a description.  We would be happy to share some of your favorite photos!

Photo of the Week: 4/13/2012

Today I'm sharing another photo from my pre-digital days. About three years ago, James and our sister were going to college in Utah, and I took a week and rode the train out there to visit them. While I was there, James and I decided to ride the UTA line to Ogden, which at the time was less than a year old. We took the trolley line from Sandy to Salt Lake City, where we transfered to the FrontRunner train to Ogden. This is a photo of the train in Salt Lake City before we left.

Most of the fleet consists of Bombardier bilevels and MP36 diesels painted in this paint scheme. They also bought some Comet cars from New Jersey Transit, which were basically rebuilt from the wheels up, and put into service. They ride like brand new cars, but the seats still have the state seal of New Jersey on the upholstery. Since I took this photo, two of the MP36s have been sold to MBTA, where they are running now.

UTA has also announced recently that the line to Provo would be opening towards the end of this year, instead of the previously expected 2015. Provo is south of Salt Lake City, about as far away as Ogden to the north. Since I was last out there, the trolley system has opened two new lines, and more are still under construction. There are other plans to expand the FrontRunner service as well, although I don't know the details on that.

So far, every project that UTA has done have been completed ahead of schedule and under budget. Whatever they are doing, I think other transit agencies need to learn a thing or two!

Photo of the Week: Electric Railroading

Well, it would seem that Steven has been quite busy since he returned from vacation, and we did not get any photo submissions this week, so I thought I would share a few of my own.  Just a reminder, if you would like to see your photos featured as a photo of the week, please email them to ogden.bros.trains@gmail.com, and be sure to include a brief description.  We would love to see and share your photos of railroad related subjects!  We will notify you by email if your photo is chosen.

Today, I thought I would share a few photos I have taken of electric trains and transit over the last few years.  These are by no means all of them, just a few of the highlights.  We start with the Seashore Trolley Museum, in Kennebunkport, Maine.  Steven and I volunteered there for a few years, in the summers, and during that time we got to see, photograph, and operate quite a variety of historic and unique equipment.

This first photo is at Talbott Park, the end of the museum's short line.  This is car #1267, which originated in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  This one of the only cars preserved from that area, and incidentally, it was the first car ever operated at a transit museum, and the first car to operate at Seashore.  It began its retirement life at the museum in the 1950's, when a simple generator was connected to the trolley pole with jumper cables, and it moved only a matter of feet.  The line at that time was significantly shorter than it is now.  Today the car operates pretty regularly, carrying people on the three mile round trip to Talbott Park.

This is locomotive #300, on one of the car barn leads, at the Seashore Trolley Museum.  As I recall, it sat on that lead for quite some time.  Unfortunately, a lot of equipment at the museum spends a considerable amount of time sitting around.  I cannot recall the history of this locomotive, and unfortunately I am not able to find information on the museum website.  A lot of equipment at the museum had been renumbered at some point during its life, so it is possible that this has been returned to an original number, and I cannot remember what that was, or if there even was one.  If anyone knows anything about this locomotive, email us, and I'll post it on here.  This is an electric locomotive, as evidenced by the trolley pole sticking out from the roof.

Those of you who keep up with us on Facebook ought to recognize this picture, as we use it as the photo for our Facebook page.  Car #434 originated in Chicago, on the Chicago, Aurora, & Elgin, an interurban railroad that connected downtown Chicago with some of the western suburbs.  The "Roarin' Elgin," as the railroad was sometimes called, was made famous by their closure.  When railroads discontinue service, typically it goes into effect at midnight on the designated day.  The CA&E did things a little differently.  On July 3, 1957, they carried commuters into Chicago, and then discontinued service at noon, with no warning. Commuters who had used the CA&E to get to the city found themselves stranded when they got out of work in the afternoon.  The CA&E used a third rail for electric power, but the car uses an overhead wire at the museum, for safety reasons.  The car in the background of the above photo is car #1267, from Minneapolis., as it idles in the loop behind the museum visitors' center.

Now, we look at some more modern transit.  This photo was taken in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.  A TRAX train, destined for the Delta Center, now known as the EnergySolutions Arena, makes a left turn right near the landmark Latter-day Saint Temple.  The train reached its destination just a few minutes later, where it turned around and returned to Sandy, about 15 miles to the south.  Since this photo was taken, the Utah Transit Authority has added two new lines to the light rail system, purchased new Light Rail Vehicles, announced and started construction on two more lines, built a downtown transit hub, and launched commuter rail operations.  In the downtown area, three new stops have been added to TRAX, connecting the system to the transit hub at Central Station.  In addition, the FrontRunner commuter trains, Amtrak's California Zephyr, numerous bus routes, and various Greyhound and similar coach lines all arrive at Central Station.  This photo was taken five years ago.  The Utah Transit Authority has been expanding service by leaps and bounds in the last several years, and has plans to continue doing so.

In another city, half a continent away, I managed to snap a couple of pictures of the Chicago El, in the Loop area of downtown Chicago.  Most of the transit lines in downtown Chicago are elevated, as seen in this picture.  They run directly above streets, and in some cases the columns supporting the bridge are right in the middle of the street.  As I took this picture about six years ago, I cannot remember which line the train was operating on, or where it was going.  I do remember that I took the picture looking south, from the corner of Adams and Wells streets.

Continuing east, we find the Long Island Railroad, which operates both diesel and electric trains.  The line into Manhattan was electrified a century ago, when it was built, to keep steam engines out of the tunnels.  Over the past century, the electrification has expanded, but to this day the railroad is still not completely electrified.  It is unlikely that it ever will be, especially on lightly used lines.  The train in the picture above had its days numbered.  In 2008, when the picture was taken, the LIRR was nearing the end of replacing the entire fleet of electric trains.  This train was one of the few older ones left.  In the picture, the train was just starting to pull out of the Mineola station, headed east.  The Pennsylvania Railroad style signals govern most of the railroad, since the LIRR operated as a subsidy of the Pennsylvania for many years.  The signal visible in the photo indicate a clear block ahead.