After waiting patiently at the West Second Street grade crossing, a Franklin County Grain Growers Assn. truck proceeds over the tracks in downtown Preston, Idaho. Veteran UP engineer Chris Wilson is familiar with this route since he has worked the Cache Valley Local for many years. Visible in the background at right is the old UP depot standing across from the turning wye, giving Preston a traditional end of branch appearance. The crew today's train is busy spotting grain hoppers in the compact yard located some 51 miles from Cache Junction, Utah where this branch connects to the Ogden Sub. mainline. Today's lead motor, GP38-2 #2575 has an interesting story to tell. It was built by EMD as the D&RGW GP40 #3053 back in Jan. 1966. It was one of only two D&RGW GP40's to receive a full SP repaint including speed lettering. After retirement from service by the UP, it received a rebuild by Boise Locomotive and was released in Oct. 1998 in it's current form as a GP38-2, and leased by Helm Financial to the Union Pacific for yard and local service.
