Archive for the 'trip reports' Category

Yep, I ran into the BNSF 9316 again this week while out enjoying some afternoon railfanning with friends. This time it passed 39th St. around 5pm on Saturday which gives it an average speed of 14.5 mph. That’s up a bit from last week’s 13 mph figure. I can just hear a bean counter somewhere scream for joy!

Richard from Centralia tells me the coal trains spend about 8 1/2 - 9 hours off the main line. That includes the dumping time (just over 4 hours for this train), down time waiting for his crew to get on the train and coordinate with Trans-Alta, and down time waiting for a BNSF crew to retrieve the train and get it on the main line again. Richard gives the BNSF a 2 hour ‘pre-release’ call but BNSF doesn’t always have a crew there two hours later thanks to the vagaries of railroading and the economy.

Its been fun keeping track of this train, I wonder if I can make it 4 weeks in a row?

What is it about snow that attracts people so much?  For railfans I believe it is the struggle between the railroad and the elements and the raw effort used to keep the freight and passengers moving.  There’s something magic about seeing a train continue to roll through despite the obstacles placed in its way by mother nature.  Its almost as if the railroad is saying “to hell with you we’ve got trains to run”.

On Saturday 12/13/2008 I had the privilege to witness Union Pacific thumb its nose at 24″ of snow in the Blue Mountains of Oregon.  The storm began just after noon on Friday with light flurries and a dusting.  By 8am Saturday snow depths had reached 24″ at Huron (west of Meacham) and 12″ at Kamela.  By 3pm when I left the Kamela area there was over 18″.  How’d the railroad fair?  As you’d expect things slowed down a bit but the freight kept right on rolling.  UP was in control.

On the east side of the pass things were in control.  Near sundown on Saturday the Z-KCPD climbs up from a meet at Hilgard.

Not everything was perfect though.  Around 10am an eastbound stack train went into emergency between Nordeen and Motanic.  On a normal day the act of tying a train down is a bit of work.  Add in the snow and its a major pain in the ass.  I’m sure the conductor was not real happy to be out wandering up the right of way in 12+” of snow though given a choice I’m sure he’d take that over the alternative.  Having this train stopped for nearly 2 hours did give the snow fighters a chance to get out of Meacham and head for Huron to get clean up started.

Back in control.  The crew of the K-TALN6 was probably happy to be out of the elements and back on the move after their emergency stop at West Motanic.

Timing is everything.  After the K-PDG1 passed Meacham there was a lull in train traffic so the snow fighters and signal maintainers got their chance at putting the Huron and Camp sidings back in service.  Thanks to those guys the trains kept rolling all day long.

How’d I do?  Well, thanks to four wheel drive and tire chains maneuvering through the snow was pretty easy.  The Yukon did its job just as intended! I was regularly plowing snow with the front bumper on the unplowed road up to Kamela.  The snow was up to the running boards but I had no problems being in control.

Thanks GMC!

Stay tuned for more photos from this adventure.  Take a look at this thread on trainorders.com and this thread on rrf.com for more photos and commentary from Robert, Mike, and I.

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 Great Falls subdivision is the northern half of the main line between Shelby and Laurel. At just under 100 miles it is not as long as the Laurel sub (224 miles) but packs in lots of fabulous Montana scenery. Along the way you can find scenic features such as river canyons, wheat fields, tall trestles and grain elevators. North of Ledger access becomes somewhat limited with no roads that parallel the track. This lack of roads is primarily due to the canyons used to descend to the Marias river crossing south of Naismith. The rest of the line is fairly easy to access and photograph however.

M-LAUSWE with three SD40-2s has just departed Great Falls and passes through Manchester, MT.  This area is a mix of residential and agricultural.

For my Great Falls sub railfanning I chose several locations that would work well for a northbound train in the morning. The M-LAUSWE is on duty at Great Falls around 7am and usually departs at 8am so I had to work with that schedule. Unfortunately the southbound M-SWELAU usually traverses the Great Falls sub after dark so that isn’t an option for chasing. However in the summer and fall with grain running there is a good chance for a daytime southbound empty train. Of course detours help too!

Between Vaughn and Power the track climbs up a .5% grade to get out of the Missouri river valley.  While the track speed is 49mph this train only made 25mph. 

To cross the Teton River and Muddy Creek the railroad uses two steel viaducts.  They are quite impressive since you can see them from top to bottom and from end to end unlike many of our trestles in Washington that are obscured by trees. As you drive the back roads into Collins you can begin to see them on the horizon.  They look odd because if you look towards the horizon you’d never guess there is a deep chasm to cross so seeing a steel trestle seemingly crossing a wheat field looks a bit out of place.  Once you arrive on the scene you can certainly see why they are needed.   

The location of these trestles is highly recommended for photography not only for the trestles but for the Collins grain elevator, the Collins (CIM) grain shuttle elevator, and a couple of interesting curves.  If there’s one place to visit on the Great Falls sub this is it!

 

Crossing the 2374′  long Teton River viaduct at Collins. 

If you want a wide open spaces photo there are plenty of opportunities on the Great Falls sub.  With parallel roads all you have to do is pull over to the side and point your camera at the tracks.  And then there are the canyons…

Winding through the canyon between Brady and Conrad.

North of Ledger access becomes more limited.  There are roads into Fowler and Naismith but there is not a way to chase trains through this segment.  There are a few ranch roads around but those are clearly posted no tresspassing.  

Station sign Naismith.  Don’t bother with your cell phone down here!

This will be my last post from Montana as I am packing up for a leisurely 3 day trip home.  Tonight there is a G-GVEVAW (Grove, MT to Vancouver, WA) grain train preparing to leave the shuttle elevator just down the road from Stanford.  I’m expecting the train to head north to Great Falls tonight and then on to Shelby and the Hi-Line tomorrow.  If all goes well on our trip home via Glacier Park I should see this train several times.

Thanks to maintenance of way projects on the Forsyth sub several empty coal trains from Minnesota power plants are returning to the Powder River Basin via the Great Falls and Laurel subs. This is of course fabulous for me since this will add to the normal manifest traffic. The first of the two detours that ran on Monday left Great Falls around 9am. Since most traffic out here runs in the afternoon and evening seeing a morning train was also a great surprise!

E BENBTM0 56 climbs through the canyon between Raynesford and Geyser. Don’t let anyone tell you this part of Montana is flat!

E BENBTM0 56 accelerates out of the 25 mph restriction as it passes the new elevator at Stanford

Later in the afternoon Great Falls kicked out the second detour.  At one point the dispatcher was dealing with 5 trains on the Laurel and Great Falls subs!  Needless to say he was busy issuing warrants and setting up meets.  To top it all off the track inspectors were doing heat runs!

E SPCSAM0 72 crosses Skull Creek just south of Stanford.

After negotiating a 10 mph restriction in the Winham tunnel (leaving me standing on the roof of the Yukon out in the 95 degree sun) the E SPCCAM0 72 rounds the sweeping curve into Windham.

On Wednesday another detour passed through Stanford around around 6:45am but I missed it.  No, I wasn’t sleeping, I was on the road to chase the M-LAUSWE out of Great Falls (more on that chase later) and couldn’t get a handle on its location quick enough.

On Sunday my family and I rode the Charlie Russell Chew Choo Cowboy poetry train.   The Charlie Russell Chew Choo departs from near Lewistown, MT and traverses some of the most fantastic scenery in Central Montana including three steel trestles and a tunnel!  Since my mother-in-law moved to Stanford I’ve been hoping to ride and finally on this visit the timing was perfect and we made reservations. 

Logo on the side of one of the RDCs.

The Charlie Russell Chew Choo runs over former Great Northern (first half mile from Kingston Jct.) and MIlwaukee Road track (the remaining 28 miles to Denton).  The Milwaukee line was a branch from Harlowton through Lewistown to Great Falls.  The line crossed some pretty rugged territory including three viaduct style steel trestles.  The GN line left their Shelby to Laurel main line at Moccasin with the purpose of serving Lewistown.  The two lines intersected at Spring Creek Jct.  Between Spring Creek Jct. and Hanover the MILW and GN shared a tall wooden trestle over Spring Creek which still survives but was last used in 1988.

Getting ready to depart Kingston Jct.

The Lewistown Chamber of Commerce supplies the former RDC cars and wait staff while the Central Montana Railroad provides the operating crew and locomotive.  From what I saw this is an outstanding combination. 

The CMR also maintains the track and structures also.  Because the CMR is a small operation I didn’t expect much speed wise, but other than the 10mph restrictions across the trestles we buzzed right along at 25mph.  The cross level wasn’t perfect but I’ve felt worse and judging from the amount of fresh ballast I saw dumped there are more improvements coming.

On the trip north we were served our meal and we enjoyed narration about the area.  Surprisingly we ate for the entire hour and a half it took from Kingston to Denton!  Mmmmm, prime rib!  At Denton we pulled up alongside the CMR shops and waited while the 1814 ran around the train and an air test was performed.  While we were waiting I captured a couple of CMR’s other units basking in the sun.

 CMR Power at Denton

On the return trip I was allowed to stand on the rear platform while we negotiated the Hoosac tunnel and crossed the Sage Creek trestle.   Originally the MILW line had 4 tunnels between Lewistown and Great Falls but Hoosac is the only survivor.  Hoosac allows the railroad to cross a ridge and enter the Sage Creek drainage.

North Portal Hoosac Tunnel

Sage Creek is the most inaccessible of the three spectacular bridges the train crossed.  It is also the tallest and longest.  Its remote location makes it one of the most scenic parts around this part of Montana.  Wouldn’t this be nice with a big grain train snaking over it?

Its a long way down….

 

Since Montana is still the wild west the train was held up just after we crossed the Sage Creek trestle.  Apparently this is an issue the dinner train has just about every trip.  After making lots of noise and ruckus that the crooks stopped the train, boarded, took all of our money, and rode off.   Later I spoke with the leader of the posse and he told me he’d text me when they finally caught up to the perpetrators.  At least the wild west has cell service now!

Before the crooks so rudely stole all of our money I did get a picture.  Apparently these bills are honored at all stores in Lewistown!

We had a fabulous time and thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality and entertainment on the train.  The scenery outside the window wasn’t bad either!  If you are ever in Montana, and you like prime rib and rare mileage, this is the dinner train for you!!

I’m in Montana this week visiting Stanford on my annual visit to my mother-in-law’s.   After last year, I’m surprised the state and my mother-in-law let me back in…but they did so here I am again!

On our trip east yesterday after clearing the Rockies at Rogers pass I caught a warrant for the southbound freight on the radio.  He was cleared to NSS Moccasin with a clear main track at last named point.  Sounds like a meet with the northbound at Moccasin.  Doing a bit of calculating based on the fact the northbound was at Hedgesville I was pretty sure the meet would happen around 7pm.  After a dinner stop in GRF we headed east about 7:15pm.  I figured we’d meet the northbound en route and sure enough just after Raynesford I heard “EMD 9058 north approaching Geyser”.  We pulled off at my favorite location just north of Geyser and captured the train under Square Butte.  I love the scenery here!

Continuing to Stanford we arrived for a fabulous sunset.  There’s just a touch of smoke in the air so the colors are enhanced a bit.

Look for more posts over the next week, I have several fun things planned which should make for some interesting photos.

Its good to railfan with others because you usually get another point of view…if you listen.  Take this photograph of the M-SPOEVE descending from Quincy towards Trinidad.  I’ve passed this point at least one other time but until someone said “hey this is a neat spot, check out the curves” I didn’t notice them.  Once I did I was convinced this location was alright.  Now if only I had an 8,000 ft. stack train!  I find it funny that if you would have asked me what was between the crater and WSS Quincy I would have said “oh just a long straight with a slight curve”.  Live and learn!

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Last weekend was the annual Hot Rail railfanning event on BNSF’s Scenic and Columbia River subs.  The event is given the name ‘Hot Rail’ because…well…its hot out there this time of year.  Fortunately the day time highs in Wenatchee were only around 90 so it was much more comfortable than in previous years.  Still standing on an exposed slope, in the sun, with low humidity can make you warm.  Add in a brisk .6 mile hike (each way) and you actually break a sweat.

In all my visits to Trinidad I’ve never ventured out around the crater.  This trip I had the opportunity to and captured the image below of the Z-CHCSSE.  What a great place!  In fact most of this trip was spent capturing images from places I’d seen but have never visited so stay tuned for more!

P.S.  This image was edited with Lightroom 2.0!  I won’t go into the details about the enhancements in this product since you can read those all over the Internet.  Instead I will say that Adobe made an already good product better.   There’s a good chance that nearly ALL of my photo editing needs will be taken care of with it.  Photoshop certainly still has a purpose and will get used but I will rely on it even less. 

I headed to the depot in Vancouver last night to capture a particular photo but the weather had other plans for me.  The severe thunderstorm that developed over the Beacon Rock area remained severe as it moved west into the Portland/Vancouver area.  About the time I wanted to set up for the planned photo the rain and lightning started in.  While I didn’t end up getting the photo I’d planned but I did come away with something interesting.

The nice thing about the Columbia River Gorge is you don’t have to photograph trains in the same spots over and over.  If you are a bit creative and like to do some walking there are plenty of opportunities.  Here’s some examples from last weekends outing with Aaron and Ross.  I’ve photographed near all these locations in the past but have never pointed my camera in these exact spots.  Oh and this was an all BNSF weekend thanks to a UP maintenance window.

Grain Through Home Valley

Afternoon Z

Burlington Northern Santa Fe!

On Saturday April 5 I made another one day trip to BNSF’s Oregon Trunk sub hoping to again capture some of the detouring UP trains.  Unlike my previous trip this time I was bound for Madras with the focus on the South Jct. to Crooked River segment.   I knew the places I wanted to visit but I really didn’t have a plan of which one I’d hit first.  I just headed towards Madras to see what happened.

As I left Warm Springs I heard the UP 8619 N get a box 7 (after the arrival of) with the BNSF 7644 S at the North Siding Switch Paxton.  A meet!   I headed for Paxton and started off with the Z-LCBR meeting the M-VAWRRB in some decent morning glow.  At this point I was faced with a choice of which train to chase.  Given its unusual for the LCBR to be on the Trunk I chased it north.  That proved profitable since a meet was set up with the UP 5355 S  (M-EURVB) at South Jct. 

Clawing into Paxton

Between Gateway and South Jct. the route drops into the Mud Springs Creek and Trout Creek canyons.  Both of these canyons are neatly carved out of the lava rock and provide the railroad a route to gain some elevation as it climbs out of the Deschutes canyon toward Madras.  Like other parts of the Trunk this part doesn’t lack for scenery!  I think the most fascinating part is a horseshoe curve that nearly turns the train 180 degrees!  The UP 5355 S proceeded to Opal City for a meet with another northbound UP manifest (M-RVPT).

Trout Creek Horseshoe

By the time I photographed the M-RVPT passing through the horseshoe the light was about right for the traditional Trout Creek trestle photo.  Since everyone has seen that photo many times I’ll share some others from this fantastic location.  As I was standing on the hillside above the trestle waiting for the M-PASKLF, I thought to myself how little fun it would be to stand on that hill on a hot August day.  I’m thinking the spring and fall would be best for the Trunk.

Grand Canyon of the Deschutes

Trout Creek

I chased the BNSF 7622 S down to the Crooked River bridge and captured the usual side shot there.  As the day wore on more and more clouds streamed over Cascades into the high desert so by the time the photo was taken the sky and lighting were quite diffused leaving things a bit drab.

Leaving the Crooked River I heard a southbound finishing a meet at Oakbrook.  Doing the math I figured I had enough time to return to Madras, fuel, and head for South Jct.   My estimates were correct and as I arrived at South Jct. the southbound H-PASBAR was finishing a Dixon meet.  That gave me 30 minutes to scope out the area for my photo.  Man was I surprised to see the second unit in the consist!  The UP 2002 of all things on a BNSF manifest.

2002 at South Jct.

The southbound was headed for Round Butte for a meet with another northbound UP manifest (another M-RVPT).  Again doing the math I figured around a couple of hours for the northbound to arrive.  That allowed me time to enjoy dinner (yes, food at South Jct. is BYOB) and take a walk around the recreation area to scope out photo locations.  As it ended up the two spots I liked either required good light or for it to be dark enough to allow for about 20-30 second exposure.  With the streaming clouds and occasional showers it was clear that good light wasn’t going to happen so I hoped for a delay so it would be darker.  I got neither so my last photo of the day was a compromise based on the conditions.

After dark at South Jct.

That does it for my Trunk adventures for now.  I do have to say I’m hooked on this unique operation so I expect to be back again.

The nice thing about the section of the Trunk between Dike and Nena is the access.  You can easily pick up a train south of Dike and then give chase south towards Maupin.  Train speeds vary from 25-35 mph and with all the bends in the river the road often takes a shorter route.  In that stretch there is 17 miles of gravel road that is in generally good shape plus another 10 miles that is paved.  I did that with the UP 5423 south which I caught at Sinamox, the bridges and Sherar, and finally at a river access near Maupin.  The road south of Maupin is not in very good shape and 15 to 20 mph is about the max so chasing is out of the question.  The UP 5423 ran away from me on that stretch though I nearly caught when it went into a 10 mph restriction north of Nena.  With good planning though you can get a shot north of Maupin and then muddle along the road south and get one more.

The Deschutes is a popular fishing river.  Since it was a beautiful day there were several fisherman and a couple of drift boaters on the river.  I’m sure most of the time the fisherman don’t pay any attention to the trains but this one actually gave it a glance.

The Z-BRLC crosses the White River north of Maupin.  This spot is in good light all day from sun up to sun set.

Clear block!  BNSF 4171 North illuminates the rock wall at MP 45.1.

With UP’s Cascade line shut down due to the massive slide at Frazier I took an opportunity to head over to the Oregon Trunk to photograph some of the regular and detour trains.  Other than a couple of random photos at Moody and a 4449 excursion to Bend I’ve never spent much time exploring the details of the “Trunk”.  Since driving between various points can be time and gas consuming I chose to concentrate Saturday’s exploration to the segment between Dike and Nena (approximately).  This section has a public road all along it and is pretty ‘easy’ to photograph since everything is right out in the open. 

For the day I saw 7 trains!  Here’s the breakdown…

North:
2 UP
1 BNSF

South:
2 UP
2 BNSF

Over the next week or so I’ll post some of the photos as I have time to post process them.  For now here’s a couple that really reflect on the area.

Just after sunrise in the canyon, UP’s Z-LCBR winds its way north at the confluence of the White River and the Deschutes.
Mt. Hood looms above.

The Oregon Trunk between OT Jct. and Gateway traverses canyons formed by the Deschutes, Trout Creek, and Mud Springs Creek.  These rivers have cut their way though the rock giving the railroad a pre-made path from the Columbia to Central Oregon.  UP’s Q-PWRV takes advantage of this as it winds along the Deschutes 3 miles north of Sherar.

Last week on my way home from my weekly tour of Vancouver railfan hangouts I noticed the Vancouver Land Bridge was open and folks were wandering all around it.   I’ve been watching this project and keeping an eye out for how it might be used to see to never before photographed areas of the Fallbridge sub. 

Before I dive into the trains, what the heck is the land bridge all about?  The Vancouver Land Bridge is “a 40-foot wide, earth covered arch over Washington State Highway 14 providing pedestrians, bicyclists and non-motorized vehicles with scenic vistas and safe passage from the Vancouver National Historic Reserve to the Columbia River waterfront”.   Unfortunately the berm that the railroad rides on from Eighth Street to east of Eavan cuts off the bulk of eastern downtown from the Columbia River water front.  The land bridge combined with the existing underpass for Old Apple Tree Park are one of the many steps planned to break down this barrier and reconnect Vancouver with the Columbia.   

What is the Vancouver Land Bridge?

When I arrived at the park this morning two trains were imminent, Amtrak 27 and an eastbound Tacoma stack train.  I expected 27 to be the full 7/27 consist today so shooting it from the land bridge seemed like a good plan to get all or most all of the train in the photo.  I climbed up the bridge to the “River” rotunda and scoped out the situation.  The views are quite good from here though since the land bridge is on the north side of the tracks caution will have to be used with the lighting.  In the summers when the sun rises and sets quite far north I’m expecting early morning and late evening photos will be fairly decent.  The tracks are on a WNW-ESE orientation so only time will tell how this will work out.  I did laugh to myself when I thought about 200 railfans lining the fence the next time the 4449 heads east! 

Amtrak 27 has a full 7/27 consist thanks to the snow in the Cascades

With 27 by the S TCPLPC departed Vancouver and headed for the land bridge.  With eastbound trains you can incorporate parts of the bridge to give a context to the scene.  For the first photo of the stacker I included the curvy walkway along with some folks getting some exercise.   The fence along the track side is easily photographed over even for the most “height challenged” railfans. 

S TCPLPC passes the Vancouver Land Bridge

For the railfan purist there are other views of eastbounds including this unobstructed view from the “River” rotunda.

S TCPLPC departs Vancouver with the iconic I-5 bridge as a backdrop

The land bridge is adorned with signage to help the visitor to Vancouver’s National Historic Reserve understand the significant history of this area.  All sorts of topics are covered including transportation.  Though I have to say I think the transportation sign missed a significant use of the Columbia River that is…well…right under its nose. 

This sign celebrates the Columbia River as transportation corridor though some
obvious usages of the river canyon are left out despite their relative closeness.

As a link between Vancouver and the River the land bridge gets high marks.  It seems folks are using it since in the hour I was there 15 or 20 people passed by.  It is very comfortable with wide open spaces and natural, small to moderate landscaping.  Other than the constant noise from SR-14 the user can barely tell it is present thanks to careful visual obstruction.  As a railfan location its not bad though, like I warned above, the lighting won’t be great through 90% of clear summer days.  Cloudy days where the lighting is more diffused will prove to be the best use of this spot.   There are still some hidden gems (in fact there is a sign dedicated to one of the gems) here though.   In the end I think we have us a $12.25 million dollar railfanning platform to enjoy!

(Note: Another fan group, airplane fans, will enjoy the “Land” rotunda thanks to it proximity to Pearson Airfield)

As I mentioned in my November post I participated in DINA 2007 by visiting UP’s Brooklyn Sub.  I have posted several additional photos from the day into my gallery including “Station Stop Salem” which was published in the DINA issue.   Of course these images have a bit of a story a true Northwest railfan can appreciate.

My visit to Oregon City (Train Time at Oregon City) was probably not what most people would call fun.  It was raining.  No, not the annoying mist kind of rain, the heavy downpour kind.  Ugg.  To get a decent photo of the elevated platform the photographer has to be elevated also.  For me this meant getting onto the roof of my vehicle.   I successfully set up the tripod and took a few test shots without getting overly wet.  Once I was back in the relative dryness of my vehicle, I calculated that when I heard a horn as the train blew through downtown I could climb up and minimize my time in the rain.   When I heard horns I started the process.  In the 3 minutes the train took to get from downtown to the depot I was soaked.  Since I was committed I didn’t give up and as the train pulled in I fired away just as planned.  I returned to my vehicle completely soaked but pleased because I got the shot.  In the end I think it is my favorite photo from the day. 

Just after I left Oregon City I heard the detector south of Hito go off.  I knew I had another northbound but didn’t have a great plan of where to shoot it at.  I really wanted to shoot something on the new Pudding River bridge but there was no way I was going to get there ahead of the train.  Instead I took a few minutes to scout around Coalca and came up with “Fall In The Northwest“.  It was taken at 8:15am on a rainy October 20…so how dark was it?  Take a look at the EXIF and you’ll see quickly just how dark it was.  The outcome though was far better than I expected and it ended up being my second favorite photo of the day.

Not long after Coalca I dried out (heat on hot, fans on high) and fortunately as the day wore on the rain turned to showers.  By the time I captured #11 exiting the trees at Shedd (below) the rain stopped altogether ending a good day of railfanning.

Rarely do I say too much about railroad operations in a public forum but today is an exception. I’m sure you are all thinking the worst since this is a post about the UP. Before you go there read on.

On Friday a westbound grain train left LaGrande with a 3X5 configuration (3 on, 5 in) and not long after leaving Hilgard stalled. This time of the year a stall on the hill with the usual power is not uncommon according to those that operate there regularly. They say it takes a couple of snow storms and cold weather before the UP remembers to have a manned helper around just in case something like this happens. After the 4022 west contacted the dispatcher about the stall it was around two minutes when the dispatcher came back with explicit and concrete directions on what to do. Two minutes? The UP responded to a situation like this in two minutes? Steve, you’re nuts, no way. Way.

The train was instructed to get the conductor on the rear end and back down between switches at Hilgard to await the arrival of a manned helper. After safely backing the train to Hilgard the train crew once again contacted the dispatcher to let him know they were stopped. At this point the dispatcher informed them a crew van was on its way from Hinkle to pick them up and a fresh crew from LaGrande would be put on along with a helper. What, the crew wasn’t going to continue west and risk dying on the road? What foresight on the part of the UP! As someone who analyzes business process for a living I was impressed with the quick and reasonably smart decision making on the part the UP. Instead of letting the crew continue, only to reach their hours of service in the middle of the canyon (Camp, Huron, Bonifer), they relieved them and set the next crew up to be successful in getting the train to Hinkle under the law. To me that is somewhat unusual these days. [Note: Some would argue the helpers should have been called and on the train to begin with. I suppose, but weighing the cost of a crew and locomotive fuel and the fact the weather was good at the time the likelihood of that occurring was not high.]

Now that I’ve said that….on Friday 12/7 Robert, Richard, and I left LaGrande around 6am and worked our way west over Kamela summit towards Hinkle We spent most of the morning photographing near the summit but it was clear our crush of trains was drying up. We continued west until we ran into the first eastbound just east of Echo. The PDG1 met a couple of eastbounds that we’d already photographed west of Gibbon so we decided head back up the hill to continue chasing it east. In nearly the last light of the day we shot it for the last time between Hilgard and Perry at one of the most interesting locations in the Blues.

PDG1’s Wild Ride

After driving up and down the road between Glover and Kamela we became very familiar with the various nooks and crannies where a person could stick their camera and grab a photo. I liked this location so I separated from the group to get this photo of an eastbound stack train between Nordeen and West Motanic. This train’s crew must’ve been bored because they spent a bit of time with the whistle after they spotted me set up on the road.

Descending Quietly

Steve wanted to shoot from the old highway bridge at Glover and since I’d already sampled that location a couple of times I decided to camp out underneath for something different. I guess since this train is dubbed the Super Fruit was fitting it have some clean power leading. Nothing like putting the best on one of the hottest trains on the railroad!

Super Fruit!

…ahhh, winter in the Blues!

Many people get “the blues” in the winter. This year I got the blues too….more specifically Oregon’s Blue Mountains.

I just returned from a three day railfan adventure along the Union Pacific in eastern Oregon where Robert, Richard, Steve and I photographed whatever UP threw at us in various weather conditions ranging from sun to snow and ice. It was a fabulous trip that not only included plenty of trains and great photos but a bit hijinks to spice it up.

Mother nature cooperated with a nice a 6″ dumping of snow Thursday night followed by some cold temperatures that held the snow in place for the weekend. Sunday morning’s 8 degree temperature at Kamela marked the lowest temperature of the trip but the 30 mph wind with a 30 degree temperature at North Powder felt much colder! Either one of them is colder than I’m used to so I’m still working on warming up.

The grade between La Grande and Kamela summit is lined with various conifers and they were loaded with snow! In this first photo a westbound manifest crawls upgrade between Motanic and Nordeen through one of the rare straight sections. For the most part railroad operations didn’t have much trouble with the weather save for one stall and a switch heater or two that malfunctioned. Both were easily overcome with manned helpers and a signal maintainer.

Winter At Motanic

East of La Grande there are few trees and the amount of snow deposit was much less. The winds out there kept things interesting with frequent snow drifts over the road. Just like on the west end things moved smoothly except for a couple of stalls and some switch heater issues. In this photo an eastbound Z train stops at the Pleasant Valley to await the arrival of an uphill manifest.

Meet at Pleasant Valley

Look for more coming soon…