The UP Gila Sub is the ex-Southern Pacific Sunset Route that runs 255 miles from Yuma, AZ, to Tuscon, AZ. UP is slowly getting ready thru PTC upgrades or double tracking projects to replace any remaining ex-SP searchlight signals along this route. Roughly only 85 miles of original SP trackage is left with old signals along the Gila.
Between Dome and Wellton, there is 16 miles of original SP double track. The 2nd track was built in 1926, with the original main built by the end 1879. While it shows 2 main CTC, the trackage is signaled basically in one direction like traditional ABS. There are a few unique split curve signals in this area to where the signals are spaced apart for each track, With the Gila Mountains looming in the background in the Dome Valley, this West Colton, CA, to Englewood, TX, freight train rolls out of Dome heading east near MP 756, 20 miles east of Yuma. .
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.
