Only about 10 minutes from sunset, this coal train bound for Sheboygan, WI, rolls off east towards the next crew change at Clinton. The train has just passed thru Calamus in eastern Iowa and is about 30 miles from Clinton. Leading is one of the UP's newer units from EMD, Tier SD70.
Tier IV locomotives are the safest, cleanest, and most fuel efficient locomotives on the rails today. Unfortunately, most of them are ugly and are as quiet as an ACS-64.
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.