Utrainia's relationship with Japanese railway technology is well known, but recently a new face has been sighted in Utrainia:
What is this splash of orange with the super-hero mask you ask?
It sure doesn't look very Japanese. Nope, this is the TGV: Train à Grande Vitesse. French technology (from 1981!) is now rolling the rails in Utrainia. (The platform at Raparapa might need some yellow safety striping installed.)
They say there is nothing better than Summer in Utrainia. I'm inclined to agree. Coming home one evening I saw some activity down at the grain elevator. I pulled off the road, grabbed my camera and went off to investigate.
Turns out the hot new kids in town were doing a spot of shunting, and the lighting was just perfect.
I clicked off a few shots and then headed for home. A friend in a chopper (a Robinson R22 I believe) forward this to me, I'm surprised I'm not in the shot!
New motive power is rare is rare here in Utrainia, but this morning I got word that some very eagerly awaited locos were heading out for a test run. I made a quick call to the San Luis and Rio Grande yard office and found out their plans for the day. Seems they were scheduled to haul the prestigious Ski Train! To see the Ski Train running was great news, but with a pair of fresh SD90/43s on the front! Oh boy!
I immediately put all other plans on hold, topped up the car with gas and hit the road. I knew exactly where I could catch it, a nice little clearing up north where the double track turned into a single track section. As I got closer I noticed the weather closing in and soon there was snow at the sides of the road. Luckily I had chucked my All Weather Railfanning Crate in the back with plenty of warm socks, mittens, arctic-grade jacket and so forth. Winters here in Utrainia are known to be unforgiving, so it pays to be prepared.