Sitting in its usual spot in the Fourth South Yard on Union Pacific's Provo Subdivision is "Snowflake," the Utah Transit Authority's lone freight locomotive. UTAX 901 is an RP39-2C, and it began life at Louisville & Nashville GP40 3025 - and then it became Seaboard System 6821 and CSX 6821 before being rebuilt for the Virginia Railway Express in 1991. The engine's 16-cylinder diesel engine was replaced with a 12-cylinder engine, allowing the addition of Head End Power (HEP) for passenger service. UTA acquired it primarily to switch industries cut off from the Union Pacific's trackage, as the UTA prefers their mainline to be isolated as much as possible. On this August 25, 2017 morning, "Snowflake" (the moniker having been applied to it by both railroad crews and railfans) was being used for training newly-hired railroad workers, who (as I photographed the 901) were learning how to replace a broken coupler knuckle on a nearby freight car.
