Thanks to all who viewed and responded. Yes it was rather much of a treat to be up so close and personal with the staff and the equipment. They were employing college students, male and female to do the work. The girls were actually using toothbrushes and Q-tips to clean the small brass parts before polishing--classic 'government work' at it's best!! We spent over an hour just wandering throughout the shop and machine shop where I talked with the machinist who was rebuilding a throttle assembly. Overall, a rather neat experience. Later, we were in Zion, Canyon lands, Arches, and Bryce Canyon Parks. Again, we were amazed at the lack of other visitors which provided the maximum of photo ops--no human presence to spoil the scenic views, and no Asian invasion--yet!! I guess I should post some of those images to inspire folks to get their spring plans under way. We were alone at the famous Mesa Arch in Canyon Lands for more than 15 minutes when the light was about as good as it gets--FUN.
JBruce

UHH posting

Hello fellow hoggers, time to be thinking about places to go and things to see. Last spring my wife and I visited the Golden Spike Nat. Historic Site west of Brigham City, Utah. As usual, when we travel, we like to go during the tourist off-season, which was certainly the case here last year on April 26. The site was not officially open yet, so after viewing the inside museum exhibits, the ranger suggested that since we had made the drive out to the site before the engines were running, they offered an extra attraction; if we wanted to see inside the engine house, we would be welcome there. I suspect it turned out to be far more interesting than the typical summer visit. The engines were partially disassembled and were being all polished and fancied up for the regular season visitors. We had the full run of the engine house and all the time we wanted to take photos. The superintendent was only a couple of days from compulsory retirement, so he was VERY liberal in what we were allowed to do. Here are a few of the many shots we took with Canon 60d and 70d. Thanks for looking and check out the downloads; C&C are always welcome.
JBruce