Today's Train of Though- A Beehive (State) of Activity, May 17 2011

Today's train of thought brings us to a truncated remnant of the old Denver Rio Grande and Western in Utah.

Here, railpictures.net contributor James Belmont caught Union Pacific GP15-1 #Y555 (the 'Y' designates that it's normally assigned to Yard service on UP) leads another GP15-1 and a couple of boxcars as they tiptoe down the jointed rail of the former DRG&W Tintic Branch (now Union Pacific's Tintic Industrial Lead) in Springville, UT on a sunny August 2010 afternoon.

The line was built in stages between 1891 to 1896 from Springville to Eureka, UT (some 40 miles) to access the gold, silver, lead and zinc deposits of the Tintic Mining district. Although as recently as within the past decade the line had traffic from a grain elevator operated by the Church of Latter Day saints as well as limestone traffic, the line had pretty much been cut back to five miles.

3rd Helping of Western Sports Chowdah- Bruins Looking Slick vs Oilers; Jazz Hit Flat Note Against C's;

NBA: Ray Allen was looking pretty ageless on Monday in Salt Lake City, getting 25 points on the night including and a pivotal 3 pointer in Boston's 107-102 of a rejuvenated Utah Jazz. Paul Pierce had 21 points on the night while Kevin Garnett had 16 points and 14 rebounds.

The tenacious win is the Celtics 2nd in a row as they wrap up a 4-game road trip out west immediately after the NBA All Star break, going 3-1 to start off the 2nd half. The Celtics return home on Wednesday night to the Garden where they'll take on the Phoenix Suns at 7:30 PM ET.


NHL: After a pair of 3-1 wins against league leading Vancouver and a resurgent Calgary Flames club, the Bruins had to hold off a late rally to come away with a win in the capital of Alberta Sunday night.

The last-place Edmonton Oilers got on the board first against Boston with a goal from Ales Hemsky barely a minute into the game. Michael Ryder would provide the equalizer with five minutes left in the first, followed by Nathan Horton putting Boston up 2-1 with less than two minutes remaining.

New acquisition Rich Peverly would get on the board with a goal with two seconds remaining in the 2nd period to make it a 3-1 game. This would be Peverly's first tally as a Boston Bruin.

The Oilers showed signs of life in the 3rd stanza, with Gilbert Brule scoring for the Oilers about 3 minutes into the 3rd and the Bruins. Tukka Rask managed to turn aside a flurry of Edmonton shots late in regulation, but Rask held on for the win, stopping 15 of 17 shots faced. The win is Boston's 5th in a row- all of them on the road.

The Bruins road trip through Canada continues into Tuesday when the Bruins head back to the Canadian capital to take on the Senators at 7:30 PM ET.

SPRING TRAINING: Some disconcerting news out of Ft. Meyers as P Josh Beckett is reportedly exhibiting mild concussion symptoms after being struck in the back of the head by a ball during batting practice at City of Palms Park.

He left the field under his own power, but was accompanied by Red Sox trainers before being sent home to rest after being examined by team doctors. The team is awaiting a more detailed report on Tuesday.