Union Pacific Storing Locomotives near Salt Lake City

Deseret.com: Why a $600 million herd of iron horses has been put out to pasture in Salt Lake City

Brief, fair-use quote per forum policy:

SALT LAKE CITY — If a railroad locomotive is an iron horse, then a vast herd of them has been put out to pasture in Salt Lake City.

They’re lined up, nose to tail, waiting to go nowhere — at least for now. By some estimates as many as 200 railroad engines — each one costing about $3 million — have been sidelined over the last year or so in a Union Pacific rail yard just north of downtown Salt Lake City.

And it has nothing at all to do with the new coronavirus.

A company spokeswoman for Union Pacific refused to answer detailed questions about the unusual sight, but Kristen South wrote in an email to the Deseret News that the engines are “being stored” due to a companywide efficiency program that kicked in during 2019.

To the labor union representing Union Pacific’s engineers and conductors, the idling of so many powerful engines highlights an ongoing threat to jobs and a growing concern about railroad safety.
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Any specific details for condition of these locomotives? Any potential buyers, or railroads who could be able to buy a few of these SD70s?

They’re in economic conditions storage. BNSF has 80 units on deadline at Murray Yard, North Kansas City MO. same story, different owner. When the economy upticks, these units will come out of storage.

BNSF also has a hundred or so stored at Gillette, WY and visible from I-90.

Equipment shortage now: JOC.com

Shippers who use Union Pacific Railroad equipment in Southern California have seen spot quotes skyrocket more than 40 percent since June 1 due to the most severe equipment shortage in two years, according to four intermodal marketing companies (IMCs).

There doesn’t seem to be a single reason for the shortage, according to the IMCs — who spoke on the condition of anonymity — but rather a combination of UP not having enough locomotives, flatcars, and containers in circulation amid a surge in e-commerce business.

Union Pacific, while not directly confirming the equipment shortage, said it was moving containers to meet the boost in demand. “Union Pacific has experienced an increase in demand for rail containers as the economy is opening back up,” it said. “We are actively working to position containers from storage to ensure we meet our customer commitments.”
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Yep, driving thru Wyoming a couple weeks back I saw what must have been 1000 well cars stored on the old CNW Coal Line (double track main plus sidings) between Orin and Lusk WY. With the drop in coal traffic, it's a perfect place to store equipment....

eolesen wrote: ↑Sun Jun 28, 2020 11:03 am Yep, driving thru Wyoming a couple weeks back I saw what must have been 1000 well cars stored on the old CNW Coal Line (double track main plus sidings) between Orin and Lusk WY. With the drop in coal traffic, it's a perfect place to store equipment....

What is very interesting is all the BNSF trains spotted that are using some COFC and TOFC instead of the well cars Can it be those spine cars and flat cars less than 1/2 what the cost of a well section ? The calendar time must be close to expiring so their rate is relatively cheap ? Also the single containers may be heavy enough that they cannot be stacked ?

There was been a major uptick on online shopping in this covid holiday season, So more "rent a wreck" leased trailer and containers are in service . and in some cases Stored spine cars and the smaller than 53' well cars are
yanked out and put back in service to meet demand