On somewhat of a whim I ended up in Connell at the same time as the Columbia Basin Railroad‘s Connell turn came into town. I didn’t know much about what they were going to so I winged it. I set up for photos at the intersection of N 2nd Ave. and Clark St. as the 5 GP and SD 9s (no, not Dash-9s) brought the train to a stop at the yard. As they switched the melody of normally aspirated 567s took me over. I pulled out my audio recorder capturing a recording as they backed the train into the interchange yard. Listen as you read the rest of the post! CBRW 9s
To get their pickup out of town the rear 4 units were placed on the CBRW main and the 171 was used to pull cuts out of the yard and then shove back on top of the other power. After building their train this way the 171 would remain on the rear for the climb up to Frischnecht. So not only did this train have late 1950′s GP and SD 9s but it also had a manned helper!
After more than 30 minutes climbing the 5 miles from Connell the train finally arrived at Frischnecht 5 minutes after the sun set. With a great reflection from the clouds, the train and elevator were lit with a fabulous dusk light that I think characterizes this part of Washington. Of course the 9s chanting along didn’t hurt the mood of the evening either!
Thursday the Connell turn made another trip into town. This time they made a “headlight” meet with the BNSF Connell turn. Essentially the CBRW put their train in the yard, tied onto the BNSF train and pulled it out of town. Very efficient.
