UP's westbound VP special has been cruising along since leaving Clinton, but in 4 miles that good speed would come to an end. UP seemed to be in meltdown mode on their east-west main thru Iowa today. Dead trains were parked all over between Watkins and Tama, leaving crews without rides. This train would have to make a meet, then pickup 2 dead crews in the next 18 miles. Going from 96 miles in hour and 45 minutes, to just 25 miles in the next hour. Someone on the train commented when they stopped at MP 117 to pickup the last crew they still needed to make North Platte tonight and the dispatcher owed them one!
The EMD SD (special duty) series are a strong and reliable kind of locomotive which still serve America's rails today. They have proved themselves reliable by clocking in several million miles of freight service over several decades.
