Honoring America's Armed Forces
Last October, Union Pacific unveiled "The Spirit"... ...and I saw it for the first time Wednesday. I learned that UP 1943 was leading a Union Pacific Office Car Special (OCS) out of Ridgely (Springfield) early that afternoon and realized I had a good chance to catch it before going to work. I decided to wait at Amtrak's Uptown Station in Normal. There aren't many good places to shoot video or stills in the city, but I decided upon this spot as it enabled me to get out of town quickly. The train passed my position at 2:04pm. A quiet zone is now in effect, so the lowering grade crossing gates were the only sign of its approach. UP 1943 and UP 7943 led ten passenger cars toward Global 4 (Joliet Intermodal Terminal) and ultimately, the Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago. You can read more about this locomotive here . - David P. Jordan