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The Utah desert is, without a doubt, one of my favorite places to shoot trains anywhere. There is such a raw beauty to the desert, as seen here with the eastbound Zephyr makes its way through some curves near Floy. The amazing Book Cliff create a fantastic backdrop for the scene.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
The eastbound Rocky Mountaineer is briefly stopped on the main track here at Grand Junction. While no passengers get on or off the train here, it is a crew change point for the Rocky Mountaineer. The fresh crew will take the train east from Grand Junction to Glenwood Springs.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
Running with four units (setup 2x2), this westbound coal load is actually moving pretty quick across the Utah desert. The red rocks of Ruby Canyon are visible in the distance. The train is ultimately headed for Intermountain Power in Utah. Intermountain Power is planning to shift away from coal in 2025.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
It has been a generally cloudy morning, but the sun decided to break through here at Woodside, as the Provo-Denver crosses over the Price River. Love it when everything just comes together!
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
After running through Ruby Canyon, the tracks start to make a climb up toward a summit at Thompson Hill. You can see the red rocks and the far west end of Ruby Canyon in the distance.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
Running right on time, the westbound Zephyr is slowly pulling into the station at Grand Junction. Several passengers wait on the platform, ready to board the train for the continued trip west.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
After a quick crew change, the Rocky Mountaineer passes by the Grand Junction station and is on its way east toward Glenwood Springs. It is scheduled to arrive between 7pm and 8pm. Tomorrow, it will make the trip east to Denver.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
The eastbound Zephyr is trying to make up a little time this morning as it is currently running roughly two hours behind schedule. With the Book Cliffs as a backdrop, the train is moving at around 70 MPH across the Utah desert. A BNSF manifest is in the siding at Elba, waiting for the arrival of the Zephyr.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
Six units lead BNSF's Provo-Denver through the middle of the Utah desert on the Green River Subdivision. It is shots like this why the Utah desert has become my favorite place for rail photography. There is always a risk when shooting out there that no trains will run all day. That absolutely can happen. But even when you are lucky enough to catch one train, you can do some pretty fantastic things with it!
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
There are some truly magnificent views amongst the dirt mounds in the Utah desert between the sidings of Floy and Solitude. BNSF's Provo-Denver is making its way through S-Curves in the area, as those impressive dirt mounds build up from the ground The Book Cliffs and Green River are visible off in the distance.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
Passengers aboard the California Zephyr are hopefully enjoying the incredible views of the Utah desert under crystal clear skies this morning. The train is making its way east toward its next station stop in Grand Junction, CO.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
This westbound coal load has taken the siding at Sagers to wait on an eastbound BNSF oil train. A derailment about a week ago at West Solitude still has a 10 MPH slow order out in the desert, delaying all trains that have to run through there.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
BNSF's Provo to Denver manifest went on duty in Provo at 0200 (2am). Nearly six hours later, the manifest is headed east between Wash and Mounds.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
Just before crossing over a greaser, which helps lubricate the tracks and wheel flanges to slow the wear and tear on the rails, the Rocky Mountaineer crosses a cattle guard. The train will pass underneath UT-191 just ahead, right near the Canyonlands Airport.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
The eastbound California Zephyr is running about an hour late, partly due to some CTC issues between Helper and Green River. The train slowly approaches the very nice platform and its station stop at Green River.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
Some maintenance of way work at Sagers resulted in the Rocky Mountaineer briefly stopped and then running through the siding. Now back on the main, the GP40-3s are throttling up as the train really bites into the 1% grade on the climb up Thompson Hill, kicking out a little exhaust for their effort.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
With the Zephyr now past and the sun now hiding behind clouds to the west, it is this coal loads turn to head west. The two units on the head end "put their backs into it" as they throttle up to start the climb toward Helper and Soldier Summit.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
When the Rio Grande Zephyr was running, the stop at Green River, UT was considered a flag stop. Meaning the train would only stop if it was known in advance that there were passengers to drop off or to pick up. When Amtrak's California Zephyr took over for the Rio Grande Zephyr in April 1983, Green River became a regular stop for the Zephyr. That is still true today in 2025. The westbound Zephyr has just completed its stop at Green River, and is now passing a waiting coal train on the main track.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
UP's DS-378 is doing a great job of keeping the Zephyr moving, running around a loaded coal train at Green River. With its station stop now complete, the Zephyr is re-entering the mainline to continue the charge west.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com
The Rocky Mountaineer GP40-3s lead the train west across the Green River in the oasis in the desert that is also named Green River. The eight car train is headed for Salt Lake City as part of a test run for expanded service in 2026.
©2025 ColoradoRailfan.com