Grand Junction Locals, part 2

: Sep. 11, 2017. out(west)bound Landmark Local

The dairy trains MNYRO/MRONY serving Grand Junction were switched to tri-weekly MNYGJ/MGJNY in Dec. 2018.

These might bring some changes to the local traffic at Grand Junction and its vicinity. Here, I present my record of the local traffic at Grand Junction and its vicinity as of summer 2017.
　
　
Here are the UP local trains that originate and terminate at Grand Junction:

Landmark Local is the nickname of the UP local trains serving Grand Junction westward as far as Fruita Industrial Center at “Gary” siding. Both terms “Landmark” and “Gary” are named after the historical companies who operated the refinery there. Two four-axle locomotives on the point are the norm.

Between 1957 and 1973, American Gilsonite Co. processed Uintah Basin gilsonite at the refinery located next to the siding at MP 463+1711"[1]. The name of the siding was “Gilsonite” at least in 1960 according to the D&RGW Utah industry Map[2].

In 1973, Gary Energy purchased the American Gilsonite Co. facilities and renamed it to Gary Refinery. 1989 D&RGW Grade & Alignment Charts shows the siding as “Gary”. Later, Western Slope Refining Company in 1989, then Landmark Petroleum in 1991 became the operator of the refinery. Unfortunately, the Landmark closed the refinery in 1996. The site was redeveloped as an industrial park afterward.

According to the latest information I could find on the web (2012), the outbound local train departs East Yard around 9:00 in the morning on Monday to Thursday. They will go further if there is an order. They return to Grand Junction in the afternoon between 12:00 and 3:00.

As of Sep. 11, 2017 morning, the outbound Landmark Local was consisted of:
UP GP60 #1019 and
UP GP40-2 #1348 (yes! its the former D&RGW #3126),
a bulkhead flatcar TTPX#830647 of steel plates,
a covered hopper FURX#830647,
two tank cars UTLX#206583 and TILX#318012 of alcohol,
and a tank car SHPX#221695 of butadiene,
in order.

: Landmark Local out of Grand Junction


Minturn Local is the nickname of the UP local trains serving Grand Junction eastward as far as Lacy Industrial Park at Lacy or American Gypsum Co. at Gypsum: they don’t reach Minturn anymore. Two six-axle locomotives on the point are the norm.

According to the latest information I could find on the web (2017), the outbound local train departs East Yard in the morning from Sunday to Thursday. The train only goes as far as Lacy except for Monday and Wednesday: on Monday, the train reaches Glenwood Springs between 9:00 and 11:00 with some tank cars, and on Wednesday, the train reaches Gypsum with some center-beam flat cars to handle wallboards. The train also switches soda ash plant at Parachute and returns to Grand Junction in a day.


Montrose Local is the nickname of the UP local trains serving Grand Junction southward as far as Alpine Lumber at Montrose. The other industries served by the locals are/were Foster Farms at Delta, Colorado Stone Quarries at the south of Delta, Louisiana-Pacific at the north of Olathe, Producers Co-Op at Olathe, and Russell Stover Chocolates LLC at Montrose. Two four-axle locomotives on the point are the norm.

According to the latest information I could find on the web (2020), the outbound local train departs East Yard early Thursday morning at 6:30 and returns to Grand Junction the next afternoon. The chocolate plant at Montrose operated since 1973 was closed in 2021.


: Sep. 10, 2017. out(west)bound Potash Turn

Potash Turn is the nickname of the UP local train serving Grand Junction westward as far as Intrepid Potash Inc. at Potash on Cane Creek Branch. It's the only local train out of Grand Junction to have the train symbol: LDG51B. Two six-axle locomotives on the point are the norm.

According to July 2021 Trains magazine, the outbound local train departs East Yard around 9:00 every Friday morning: it was on Sunday when I visited in 2017. They return to Grand Junction in the late afternoon of the same day between 5:00 and 7:00.

The Turn occasionally drops/picks up tank cars for Desert Mountain Corp. and locomotives assigned to UNTRA dirt trains at Brendel.

As of Sep. 10, 2017, the outbound Potash Turn was consisted of UP SD60 #2197 and SD40N #2031, both conventional cab units, and seventeen covered hopper cars including ACF center flow cars lettered MP and WP. It went through Thompson at around 11:30AM.

There are another two locals on Cane Creek Branch: moving low-level radioactive tailings from Emkay on Sunday to Thursday and moving sulfuric acid to Seven Mile on Saturday, as of June 12, 2021.


Aspen Turn, which served Carbondale, Woody Creek, and Aspen on the D&RGW Aspen Branch, also used to originate at Grand Junction. Two four-axle locomotives on the point were the norm.

Construction materials by a covered gondola or lumbers by a boxcar for Aspen, iron ore by drop-bottom gondolas or hoppers for CF&I at Pueblo from Woody Creek, and coal by drop-bottom gondolas or hoppers for Provo from Carbondale were the task in 1968[3]. Iron ore was produced at Pitkin Iron Corp. mine above Ashcroft from 1960 to the late 80s. Mid-Continent Resources coal from Carbondale was gone in 1991. Entire branch was sold in 1997[4].

revised, Jun. 19, 2020

revised, Sep. 28, 2020

revised, May 17, 2021

revised, Jul. 2, 2021

revised, Feb. 17, 2022

revised, Dec. 16, 2023

[1] Stemrich, James J., “Fruita Refinery”, The Confluence, Colorado Plateau River Guides;
[2] 1960 D&RGW Utah Industry Map;
[3] Zurcher, Victor, (2020) Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, Facebook;
[4] NDHolmes, (2011) Aspen Branch, DRGW.net;

: Sep. 11, 2014. Brendel, Utah
　
　
小口の車扱い貨車を連ねたローカル貨物列車も、こんにちでは洋の東西を問わず、見かけることは少なくなってきた。小口の貨物が発着する側線や引き込み線が以前に比べ随分減少したこともその一因だろう。旧D&RGW本線においてもその例外ではない。それでもまだ、コロラド州Grand Junctionのヤードを基点に幾本か、D&RGW時代からのローカル列車が生き残っている。しかし、Union Pacificにおいても、今後Precision Scheduled Railroadingの導入を拡充するとTrains Newswireで報じられていたので、予断を許さない。一昨年、今のうちと考え訪ねてきたので以下で順次紹介する。

Grand Junctionのヤードを基点とするUnion Pacificのローカル貨物列車は４系統ある。

Landmark Localと呼ばれる列車は、Grand Junctionおよびその西に位置するGaryにあるFruita工業団地を結ぶ。LandmarkもGaryも、かつてそこで操業していた石油精製所の名前である。列車は通常４動軸型機関車２両で運転される。月曜から木曜の朝９時頃Grand Junctionのヤードを出発し、午後戻ってくるようだ。

Minturn Localと呼ばれる列車は、Grand Junctionおよびその東に位置するLacyにある Lacy 工業団地、もしくはその先Glenwood Springs にある側線およびGypsumにある建材メーカーの工場を結ぶ。列車の名称になっているMinturnまではもう行かない。列車は通常６動軸型機関車２両で運転される。日曜から木曜の朝、東行きカリフォルニア・ゼファー号を追うようにGrand Junctionのヤードを出発し、月曜はGlenwood Springs、水曜はGypsum，その他の日はLacyまで運行するようだ。

Montrose Localと呼ばれる列車は、Grand Junctionおよびその南に位置するDeltaにある穀物サイロ、またはその先Montroseにある食品工場を結ぶ。列車は通常４動軸型機関車２両で運転される。木曜の早朝Grand Junctionのヤードを出発し、翌日の午後に戻ってくるようだ。

Potash Turnと呼ばれる列車は、Grand Junctionおよびその西に位置するPotashにある岩塩鉱山を結ぶ。Potashという名前は、その鉱山が以前産出していた鉱物に由来する。列車は通常６動軸型機関車２両で運転される。金曜の朝９時頃Grand Junctionのヤードを出発し、午後遅く戻ってくるようだ。