These photos, taken at and near Potash, site of a potash mine, were the result of a lucky co-incidence. In 2004 I made my first driving trip to Moab and on this day I was at nearby Potash, relishing the fantastic scenery. I had driven from Moab down Potash Road (SR 279) on my way to explore a rough dirt road commonly but unofficially called “Shafer Trail.”

At Potash I had parked my car next to the railroad grade crossing by the entrance to the mine. As I stood next to my car, examining the terrain with binoculars, a couple drove up in a car. We chatted. The conversation turned to trains. They were railfans from Colorado. They had heard on their scanner that the weekly potash train was headed this way in less than an hour.

I couldn't believe my good fortune! I knew about the train but had no idea what its schedule was, so seeing it had not entered my mind. But this good news created a dilemma for me: should I waste an hour waiting for the train to show up and lose valuable time from my planned exploration, or continue exploring and miss the train? I decided to wait for the train. After 40 minutes of twiddling my thumbs, I was rewarded with the sights you see here.

At the time these pictures were taken, the name of the potash-mining company was “Moab Salt, LLC” (seen on the sign in this photo. Since then the company renamed itself “Intrepid Potash LLC.”