As most railfans know today is National Train Day. For those of us in the Portland, OR area that means a visit to Portland Union Station to see the star of many local shows, the SP 4449 Daylight. There were other visitors like BNSF 7400, “Mt. Hood”, and UP Caboose 25198 but as you can guess the Daylight was the star of the show.
Since my daughter Haley absolutely adores the 4449 and trains in general this turns into a must do event for our family.
Portland Union Station
With Haley, Tammy, and Tammy’s Mom in tow we headed out for NTD adventure. As I expected there were plenty of people enjoying the nice weather and the trains which made the line for Daylight cab visits about 30 minutes long. We passed on that but did take advantage of tours of UP Caboose 25198 and GN Empire Builder car “Mt. Hood”. We also spent plenty of time exploring the booths around the station where Haley picked up some goodies and a couple of new t-shirts.
Waiting for the Daylight
Haley’s most comfortable when she has the full lay of the land so we headed up on the pedestrian overpass at the south end of the station to get a view of all the equipment parked for us to examine.
National Train Day – Portland
On our way out we visited the BNSF 7400. Rarely do we actually get up close and personal with locomotives so I encouraged Haley to touch the engine and look around it. We felt the vibration of the engine idling, we looked at the “big wheels”, and admired the BNSF paint. A perfect end to a great National Train Day!
If you want to read Tammy’s perspective on the day visit her blog.
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