Archive for September, 2008

This post could also be titled “SPOPAS Before and After”…

On January 7, 1989 on my return to Pullman and the start of my final semester at WSU, I photographed BN train 613 (Spokane to Pasco manifest) tipping over the top of Providence hill. Spring forward a few years(….ahhh….19 years).  On September 13, 2008 I again found myself at Providence, this time photographing BNSF’s M-SPOPAS doing the same thing as 613 19 years earlier.  This spot was my favorite place to take a break on the drive between home and Pullman and today it stands as one of the places I still love to visit even it if is just to reminisce.

BN train 613 reaches the summit of Providence hill on January 7, 1989.

BNSF train M-SPOPAS reaches the summit of Providence hill on September 13, 2008.

On my recent visit to Eastern Washington I spent quite a bit of time around Keystone.  In case you don’t really know where Keystone is, here’s a little aid.  I’ve long wanted to spend a bit more time here with my camera.  Keystone though is in between everything and doesn’t have a freeway exit making a visit something you have to plan.  As you can see from these photos there are all sorts of photographic opportunities here.  There’s the grain elevator, cattle pens, signals, trees, rolling wheat fields, and just the vast expanse of the area.  What an interesting place to see trains!

Early on Saturday September 13, 2008 BNSF’s H-NTWPAS blows through Keystone, WA.   Besides me the cattle were the only ones to witness this scene.

The eastbound control signals at east Keystone stand watch while the sun sets on the arid plain of Eastern Washington.

This year instead of travelling outside the northwest I travelled into to Eastern Washington for a fall railfanning adventure. It ended up as Eastern Washington instead of the planned Colorado trip due to work obligations. For some reason they want me to be at work when we turn on a new computer system…go figure.

The weather over last weekend was just fabulous. The day time highs were in the 80s and sun was abundant. As you’ll see in the photos the sunsets were just gorgeous!

East of Ritzville, WA BNSF’s Lakeside sub is finally out of the coulees it has been in since Pasco. While this area appears flat from a distance the H-PASGAL shows the Keystone area isn’t flat at all!

I really enjoy grain elevators and the one at Hatton, WA is quite interesting as it is quite ‘aged’. The H-KCKPAS shown in this photo is the third westbound train to pass this location in a few minutes. Unfortunately the defect detector at MP 104 was malfunctioning so all three took well over an hour to get from this location to Connell.

Just after sunset on Saturday the Pasco East DS has west Tokio setup for the H-CSXPAS.

The 7.01 mile Flathead tunnel looks much like its older sister the 7.79 mile Cascade tunnel though there are a couple of differences.  First the grade is .5 ascending eastbound versus 1.6 ascending eastbound.  Second the speed inside is 50 mph versus 25 mph.  Because of these factors this tunnel doesn’t tend to become the bottle neck the Cascade tunnel does.  In fact trains pass between Rock Creek (west portal) and Twin Meadows (east portal) in just under 10 minutes! Eastbounds entering the tunnel don’t have the fans blowing in their face instead the door is closed which forces the locomotives into a clear column of air.   A flush is performed after each train exits the tunnel.

 

An X-VAWCIM (Vancouver, WA to Collins, MT) roars out of the east portal of the Flathead tunnel at Twin Meadows, MT.