UPHS Annual Membership and Business Meeting – Because of the pandemic, we held the Annual Membership and Business Meeting on-line this year on August 29. The presentation slides are here: UPHS Member Meeting Aug 2020. Rob Leachman, Vice President and Chair of the Membership Committee.
UPHS Archives at the American Heritage Center of the University of Wyoming – The American Heritage Center is developing a digital library of the images and diagrams in the UPHS Collection at AHC. This is a long-term, gradual process; only a fraction of our images are digitized at this point. A long-run goal is to develop an indexed, searchable digital library of small scans of our images for the benefit of our membership and others. Some of the completed small scans have been posted on-line by AHC. You can take a look at https://digitalcollections.uwyo.edu/luna/servlet/uwydbuwy~107~107 .
UPHS Office Closed – Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UPHS Office in Cheyenne is now closed to the public at least through April 17. UPHS staff are continuing to answer mails and phone calls, and we will continue to prepare shipments of items ordered from the company store. We are monitoring the situation and will post updates as needed. Our prayers and best wishes go to the membership to avoid contracting this virus.
Autumn issue of The Streamliner available now! – In this issue Mel Johnson provides a detailed history of the famed Dale Creek Bridge in Wyoming. Although the UP removed the bridge over Dale Creek during the 1901 line change over Sherman Hill and replaced it with a large fill, the bridge was a significant engineering landmark on the original transcontinental railroad. Today the site is on the National Register of Historic Places. Construction of the fill over Dale Creek was also a significant accomplishment, and the issue features a photo timeline of the many stages of the fill. November 2020 marked the 60th anniversary of UP’s famous 4-8-4 844 in excursion service, and Jim Ehernberger rounds out the issue with an article explaining how the determined efforts of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club contributed to the engine’s excursion career. Available now in the company store.
New Book on Camas Prairie Railroad! – Carefully researched from railroad papers and interviews with employees, this book tells the full story of the Camas Prairie Railroad. This history presents the origins of the unique cooperation between the parent companies Union Pacific Railroad and Northern Pacific Railway, and details the many routes surveyed to the railroad’s namesake Camas Prairie and to the logging camp at Headquarters, Idaho. Includes maps of the many surveyed lines considered in Lapwai Canyon, site of the famous Halfmoon bridge. This 320-page hardbound book is complete with information on operations and equipment, maps of the full railroad and key points, and over 350 illustrations and photographs. Now available at the company store!
New book on Cheyenne facilities! – A. J. Wolff and Jim Ehernberger have prepared this fine treatise on UP facilities in Cheyenne. This book is an invaluable source of information for modelers recreating UP’s Cheyenne facilities in various eras, and it will be appreciated by UP history buffs seeking to understand UP’s Cheyenne terminal operations over the years. Hard cover, 128 pages containing more than 200 black and white and color images. Historical details are provided in each caption regarding the structures, including shops, roundhouses, servicing tracks, freight yard, stores department, depot, tower A, stockyards, etc.. The book is available now in the company store.
Next Convention – Our 2021 Convention will be held in Pasco, Washington, July 14-17, 2021 at the Red Lion Hotel Pasco Airport, 2525 N. 20th Avenue, Pasco, WA 99031. More details later.
American Heritage Center – The American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming in Laramie is featured the UPHS collection on the home page of their web site in February. Go to https://www.uwyo.edu/ahc/ [February 4, 2020]
Links have been updated under the Resources tab. In particular, a link has been added directing you to the Union Pacific Steam Club, where you can sign up and keep up to date with the steam program and its excursions. [February 27, 2019]
