by Steve Eshom on July 30, 2009
As I mentioned last week I made a visit to Stevens Pass and Trinidad Hill over the weekend. The weather was expected to be hot but turned out to be cooler than expected with highs barely reaching 90 at Wenatchee. Saturday dawned with thunderstorms east of the hill which persisted throughout the entire day. Not all was lost though as one small thunder-bumper near Plain helped me produce one of my favorite images of the trip.
The Rain on Plain
The sun did pop out from time to time making for some interesting photos like the photo below.
These poor guys were really screwed by the dispatcher. She called and asked them if they could get the train started at Berne to which they replied “yes!”. Instead of maintaining track speed up the east side she stopped them on the main at Merritt. They waited for over an hour while an eastbound Z passed through the tunnel and down the hill. Upon meeting the chit chat between the trains resulted in the agreement that there was plenty of time for a Scenic meet and a flush which would have resulted in a more efficient meet. All that said, this photo would not have been possible without that delay.
Out of the Slot and into the sun
I posted some additional photos along with the group at railroadforums.com.
Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, BNSF, Stevens Pass, Wentachee River, Nason Creek
by Steve Eshom on July 22, 2009
I’m headed northeast this weekend for some time on the Scenic and Columbia River subdivisions. It should be fun as usual and the weather should be…well…hot. Hey, should I expect anything different in Wenatchee in July?
S-SEALPC climbs around the Trinidad loop in 2007
Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, wenatchee, quincy, trinidad, washington, bnsf, intermodal
by Steve Eshom on July 9, 2009
One part of me would have loved to spend the last week chasing the Daylight to Minneapolis. In this case the economic side won out over the railfan side and I settled for a few pictures around Portland and Vancouver. Here’s some of my favorites.
Prep Work
A quiet moment
On the road…at last
Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, daylight, sp4449, stream
by Steve Eshom on July 5, 2009
As I alluded to in this post I spent on time on Pengra Pass a couple of weeks ago. Pengra is one of my favorites places thanks to the long mountain grade, interesting scenery, and heavy tonnage. In addition to the usual photographs I tried to capture some additional photos to portray the essence of the pass. My hope is to combine all these photos into a segment of program for this fall’s Autumn Leaf slide show.
Read more about my Pengra visit: Summer Solstice on Pengra Pass
Pengra at its best, lush forests and lumber laden trainsAfter Pengra Pass I headed north for Stampede Pass. Stampede has always been a sentimental favorite for me because of my childhood love for the NP. Growing up I spent quite a bit of time studying the history of the pass so it became one my first efforts as a railfan. I visited in 1977, 1978, 1979, 1984, 2006, and of course 2009. In 1977 the pass was closed due to the Borup washout and in 1978 I just didn’t see anything. In 1979 I saw my first train on the pass at old Stampede. In 1984 the pass was closed again, this time due to BN wanting to be rid of it. Of course 2006, and 2009 were much busier!
Like most railfans I can see the potential in Stampede Pass and I hold out hope that all the rumors at some point come true and Stampede traffic steps up. In the mean time I still visit because Stampede still has its charm and there are plenty of great photos to be made there. Look for more on Stampede this fall at the Autumn Leaf slide show.
Read more about my Stampede visit: Relaxing on Stampede
Since 1913Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, pengra, stampede, pass
