Union Pacific - Front Runner Locomotive Shop Tour

The NMRA National Convention in Salt Lake City included tours of railroad facilities. This week we visit the old Union Pacific North Salt Lake diesel shops, now the UTA FrontRunner Shops.

The shops were built in the early 1950's and originally serviced both diesel and turbine locomotives. While the locomotives that were serviced here are now long gone, the shops remain in almost the same configuration. The most modern locomotives are now shopped here. The Union Pacific still uses parts of the facility, fueling and so on. But the shops are now exclusively the FrontRunner shops.

FrontRunner uses EMD MP36PH-3C locomotives. The MP stands for Motive Power, 36 for 3,600 Horsepower, P for Passenger Service, H for Head End Power, 3 meaning Microprocessor Control System, C for Caterpillar Head End Power engine.

The prime mover on the locomotives is the 3,600 Horsepower EMD 645 V16 diesel engine that utilizes a turbocharger - supercharger system that is a gear driven supercharger at low RPM and slowly becomes a turbocharger at higher RPM.

FrontRunner is a commuter rail train operated by the Utah Transit Authority that operates along the Wasatch Front in north-central Utah with service from Ogden in central Weber County through Davis County, Salt Lake City, and Salt Lake County to Provo in central Utah County.

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