2007 05 Wyoming

2007 06 03 Gillette to Denver

No film, drove south on 59 from Gillette to Douglas, then I25 to Denver. Most of the drive on 59 is through the Thunder Basin National Grassland, and for most of that the main rail line out of the coal beds runs close to US59. The number of coal "unit trains" is remarkable.

If a large coal fired power plant can produce 750 Megawatts, and (as I have read) such a plant needs about three of these trains a day to operate, this means that each train represents roughly .750 * 8 = 6.0 GigaWatt hours.

It is interesting and sort of depressing to feel how my interaction with the landscape changes once I am on the interstate system. Driving on the interstates has a lot more in common with flying than it does with really driving. You can't really stop to see anything, you're driving so fast that you don't see much anyway, and because the entire experience is so much less demanding I sort of stop looking at what I am passing and I start thinking about other things.

Here is a typical scene on the Thunder Basin National Grassland.

More trains along US59 on the way to Douglas WY.

There were three of these guys on the access road right in front ot me. Two took off, but this one let me get quite close and walked off very slowly.