The mid-train helper set off SSW 8375's eastbound freight returned to Minturn added to the front of a 4-unit westbound freight. I suspect this was done to reduce the number of separate trains the dispatcher needed to deal with in getting the helpers back to their base and the westbound freight down the mountain to continue its trip west.
I cannot recall if the clouds in the distance are responsible for the disappearance of the background mountains, or if my change in position was partly responsible.
I find it hard not to call the railroad here the Rio Grande, but it had been operated by the Southern Pacific for about 5 years by May of 1994, after the Rio Grande bought the Espee and then adopted the name of the larger railroad they had purchased.

Photographed by Warren Beckwith, May, 1994.
Added to the photo archive by Warren Beckwith, April 17, 2021.
Railroad: Southern Pacific.

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