The EWG grain train we spent so much time with on the previous day was scheduled to be handed off to the BNSF in the afternoon. First though they had to put on BNSF power and configure it for DP. Apparently this train was to go over Napavine hill so BNSF wanted the train DPed to make the climb smooth. We decided that our morning target would be the EWG DP operation.
We headed to Marshall for first light since the EWG wouldn’t be underway right away. As we sat in the rig and waiting for a couple of trains to arrive the pre-sunrise temperature fell to 31. It was cold! Fortunately the sun was warm so standing outside for a brief few minutes wasn’t too bad.
By 8:30 the EWG was hard at work putting the BNSF power onto the train. The DP was set off at Geiger Junction and the remaining two units were used to pull the train out of a sag east of Medical Lake where it was stored for the night. With only two units against a .9% grade Greg had to try it twice to get the rear end of the train up passed the junction. He succeeded and once at the junction the BNSF roadmaster helped the EWG crew configure the rear and head end DP.
Next we ended up in Spokane to take care of some business at the Apple store and at Sunset Junction Hobbies. For lunch we headed to Napa St. to watch the goings on. All that moved was the UP local shuttling cars from Erie St. to Spokane Yard. I decided to take photograph of the cross buck guarding ghost tracks in the middle of the Napa St. plant. The next few hours were some significant down time not much was moving and the high light was uninspiring.
Train traffic started to pick up towards 4PM so we headed out to Scribner and Cheney for some end of the day photographs. We ended up seeing 5 trains at Scribner in a matter of 45 minutes. The last train was the Lind Turn which was headed to Cheney and Missle base to work. It is nice to see SD40-2s still working though the road numbers (1866 and 1973) are sure odd.
After a wonderful dinner with Bruce Kelly at Gatto’s Pizza we were off to bed and the last day of our Montana adventure.
