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Union Pacific Railroad trains on the
Overland Route in Wyoming Picture Gallery

I will be covering this portion of the Union Pacific Overland Route from west to east since most of my trips across the territory were made in that direction. From the time the railroad connected with the Central Pacific to the end of the century, the UP was only able to add about 17 miles of second track. With increased traffic and the leadership of Harriman the railroad transformed the single track Overland Route to mostly double track by the end of 1918. Early semaphore signals were installed between 1906 and 1917. These were replaced with searchlight signals in the late 40s.

At the west end of the Wyoming, the first Aspen tunnel was completed in 1901 and the second Aspen tunnel opened in 1949. These tunnels are located about ten miles east of Evanston. In 1974, the Union Pacific installed CTC between Granger and Rock Springs.

The biggest changes from the original route were made over Sherman Hill west of Cheyenne. In 1901 the UP completed the first tunnel at Hermosa and added a second line between Laramie and Hermosa in 1901. This lowered the ruling grade from 1.9 percent to 0.8 percent and the new line became the eastbound main. This line was double tracked in 1978.

Double track east of the Hermosa tunnel was added in stages. The first installment was between Cheyenne and Borie in 1900, Borie to Buford in 1902, and then Buford to the first Hermosa tunnel in 1917. In 1918, the UP completed the second tunnel at Hermosa. It also added GRS lower quadrant signals on double track between Pine Bluffs, NE and Archer, WY; Buford and Hermosa, WY; Wamsutter and Point of Rocks, WY. Since the second line between Laramie and Hermosa was east of the original line and was the preferred route for eastbound trains, the railroad operated left hand between those points.  In 1919, it added signals to 27 miles of double track between Leroy, WY and Evanston. It also added a 19 lever mechanical interlocking at Aspen, WY, added a 17 lever mechanical interlocking at Altamont to control traffic through the single track tunnel, and added a 17 lever mechanical interlocking at Granger, WY. By the end of 1919, the UP had 641 miles of single track and 905 miles of double track with automatic block signals. The new Harriman Line was completed between Speer and Dale Junction in May 1953. This reduced the grade to 0.82 percent and became the preferred route for heavy westbound trains. This also put that portion of the railroad into left hand operation. So now the dispatcher has to shift trains entering the region between Cheyenne and Laramie from right hand running on double track to left hand running and then return these trains to right hand running before they leave the region. The dispatcher must also get faster trains around slower going over the mountain. With three tracks between Cheyenne and Laramie you might think that would be easy since the UP added CTC between Cheyenne and Laramie in 1978. But with ongoing maintenance work and other unpredictable events, choreographing the dance that trains have to do to keep things moving and you have a massive headache.

Evanston, WY
Leroy
Granger
Peru
Green River
Rock Springs
Baxter
Point of Rocks
Wamsutter
Creston
Rawlins
Walden, CO
Kings Canyon
Hermosa
Dale Junction
Otto
Borie
Wycon
Greeley, CO
Cheyenne
Archer
Egbert

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