Lining out at the south end of the NP Pass

Returning to your home turf after a refreshing vacation can spark all sorts of creativity. For me I look at things with a whole different view point and desire after I’m away. Before I headed to Stevens Pass last week I had almost no desire to get out of my vehicle (it is comfortable after all) and make some photographs happen. Thanks to last week’s vacation the juices were flowing and the motivation was on this week. I hope this euphoria continues for a few more weeks until my next vacation!

A late Amtrak 500 crosses the Columbia River Drawbridge

Directions

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, photo, photography, bnsf, amtrak, vancouver, washington

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

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

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

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 trains

After 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 1913

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, pengra, stampede, pass

I returned home from vacation to find Kodak decided to stop production of Kodachrome slide film. This is no surprise as clearly the demand for most film products has dropped significantly with the digital age and the fact producing Kodachrome is complex.

Being I’m over 40 years old I grew up in the era when the little yellow boxes were everywhere and Paul Simon’s hit “Kodachrome” played on the radio. In the 70s camera’s, even SLRs, were fairly simple and getting the best quality film was your first step to success after good glass. The film of choice? Kodachrome of course.

What’s the attraction for railfans? Kodachrome had vibrant colors and the slides lasted darn near forever. Both of these features helped to solidify it as the film of choice in the hobby. Being one who always wanted something better I jumped to Kodachrome and used it exclusively once I saw what print film did in my SLR.

I moved over to Kodachrome 64 slide film in 1988. My first K64 photo was Amtrak 7 entering the east portal of the Cascade tunnel on June 7, 1988. Over the next 4+ years I shot K64 and K200 in the Northwest and in Michigan finally finishing my Kodachrome run on July 24, 1992 with a Central Michigan B23-7 stopped at signal 2D at Durand.

Why did I stop shooting Kodachrome and film in general? Over the next 3 years my life changed dramatically with a move from Michigan back to the Northwest and the birth of my first child. Moreover I became increasingly frustrated with the whole film process (shoot today, mail tomorrow, results back to you in two weeks) and the limited capability to improve the image in any way without dark room equipment. I desperately wanted something more flexible than what Kodachrome and film in general offered.

Despite my feelings about its post production limits Kodachrome was magical. Yes, the colors were vibrant and accurate and capturing a good sky (quite important to railfans) was easy. I’m proud to say I used it and I still occasionally sing Mr. Simon’s song when I look out and see a deep blue sky with puffy white clouds. So with fond memories of railfan adventures with Kodachrome in the camera I say so long Kodachrome….and everything looks worse in black and white.

Addendum: While researching the Kodachrome song for this post I found several interesting interpretations of the lyrics. The funniest is that the song is actually about LSD. Apparently replacing the word Kodachrome with LSD throughout works just fine. I wouldn’t know.

The popular belief is the song was originally written to fly in the face of those that didn’t believe artists should include commercial references in their songs. Clearly with its repeated mentions of Kodachrome and Nikon this song archives that. Apparently there were several songs at the time that had commercial references in them and were banned from the radio for a time.

Another interpretation is that Paul was just reminiscing about about the good old days of the 50’s and 60’s when color photography really came into its own. Anyway you look at it, the song is great and really memorializes a great product from Kodak.

Stay tuned, the light at the end of the tunnel might just be a train!

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, track, tunnel, light

As Lon mentioned in a reply to my post last week the BNSF 9316 was pulled off the empty Rawhide coal train at Vancouver due to flat spots. This left me with a hole in my coal train monitoring for the week.

Running an hour and a half behind the C-RHMCEC coal train last week was a C-SCMCEC (Spring Creek Mine) load. The Spring Creek train was lead by an ES44AC BNSF 5892. When I arrived at the depot Sunday morning I heard the BNSF 5892 announce its arrival at Felida so this gives me another week where I can post stats on the Centralia coal train cycle.

Last week the SCMCEC passed 39th St. at 6:30pm on its loaded trek (above) to Centralia. This week Lon tells me that it passed at approximately 5:30pm giving this train an average speed of 13.1 MPH for the week.

So what would speed up this cycle and is it worth the investment to improve the cycle? Both of parts of that question require quite a bit of research and analysis. I’m sure the class Is do that sort of analysis on critical delivery lanes but how important is it for coal delivered to Centralia? I’m sure if the cost of providing delivery service could be improved the railroads would be interested even for Centralia coal. For now though I’m betting the 13-14 MPH average speed is close enough to the sweet spot.

Thank you Lon for the spotting notes.

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, coal, bnsf, centralia, spring creek mine

Brut·ish

Pronunciation: \ˈbrü-tish\
Function: adjective
1: resembling, befitting, or typical of a brute or beast
2 a: strongly and grossly sensual b: showing little intelligence or sensibility

SD70ACe’s sure are imposing when they are coming straight at you. Instead of the sleek, elegant lines of an F unit, they were given utilitarian features to improve their safety and performance. Their square, boxy nose is designed to maximize crew safety but arguably their worst feature somehow gives these brutes appeal.

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, vancouver, washington, union pacific, sd70ace, emd

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?

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, coal, BNSF, Centralia, Power River Basin, Rawhide

UP’s A-SENP heels into the 45mph curve at the Wildlife crossing south of Ridgefield, WA

Birders and Foamers Unite! Ridgefield South is the place!

Last Sunday when I visited Ridgefield South not only did I see three trains but I saw enumerable birders out enjoying the nice weather. I photographed the coal train from the main 2 side and after it passed a gentleman set up his gear on the main 1 side. He however pointed his very long, very camouflaged, Canon lens into the trees at a woodpecker nest. In the mean time other folks showed up and acted very interested in what he and I were shooting. Finally someone walked down and asked what all the excitement was about. I explained a southbound freight was coming while the other gentlemen discussed the nesting habits of the woodpecker he was photographing.

It was a beautiful day for the pursuit of a hobby at Ridgefield South err…ahh…Ridgefield NWR S Unit.

Technorati Tags: trains, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, UP, Union Pacific, Ridgefield, Washington, Ridgefield NWR

Two Sundays in a row I’ve run across the BNSF 9316 and its coal train. Last week (5/3) I photographed it northbound at 39th St. around 9:30am. This week it passed the same point just a few minutes after 10am.

Think about this for a minute. That train was dumped by Richard and his crew in Centralia last Sunday, taken empty back to Rawhide mine in Wyoming, loaded again, and returned in one week’s time. I calculate the average speed over the one week period at right at 13mph. That’s pretty darn good considering what this train went through….

1. approximately 2200 mile round trip
2. two 1000 mile inspections
3. multiple fuel stops
4. helpers at Helena for Mullan Pass
5. unloading at Centralia
6. loading at Rawhide
7. crew changes in Gillette, Sheridan, Laurel, Helena, Hauser, Pasco, Vancouver, and Centralia

Impressive bit of work I say…

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, coal, BNSF, Centralia, Power River Basin, Rawhide

Today is National Train Day in the United States. So, is it a national holiday? No it isn’t but maybe it should be.

National Train Day originated by Amtrak in 2008 as a what I would consider a marketing campaign. With the declaration they opened their depots, encouraged people to ride trains, and generally brought attention to train travel. In the end I’m certain Amtrak’s hope was more people would take the train thus leading to increased ridership which means more good things for them.

Since it is National “Train” Day, what about the rest of rail transportation outside of Amtrak’s intercity passenger travel? Where does rail transportation get public recognition for the sheer volume of raw materials and finished goods it hauls? Or the sheer numbers of commuters riding heavy rail, light rail, and other mass rail transit? Or the utility freight rail supplies through the transport of coal? How are the freight railroad’s needs communicated to the general public so they are not blindsided by requests for transportation dollars?

For me National Train Day could be an opportunity to whisper in the American public’s ear about these very issues. I think an organization like the Association of American Railroads has a golden opportunity to piggy back off what Amtrak started and raise awareness about the value railroading provides to this country (the AAR did issue a press release where two sentences are dedicated to this). My hope is each year National Train Day grows. Absolutely Amtrak should keep up what they are doing with it however I’d like to see it expand to other agencies from the AAR down to regional transit agencies so the value of all forms of rail transportation can be shared.

Happy National Train Day!

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, photo, photography, national train day, Amtrak, AAR

We are having beautiful weather in Vancouver today! At 2:30pm the temperature is 72 headed for 75. The sun is out and spring is really springing as trees all over the area are greening up! The next few days should be fabulous too so I’m expecting some foamers to be out.

This morning’s train watching was pretty good with fabulous weather and decent train traffic including a bit of an unusual Sunday move. UP’s Z-LCSE rolled off the Columbia Draw just before 10am. This train usually works Brooklyn on Sunday morning which means it doesn’t pass through Vancouver until much later. It was nice to see the Z train in Vancouver for a change.

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, spring, vancouver, washington, union pacific

It always seems to take a major disaster to get people’s attention. I’m no different. I’ve been putting off creating a household inventory for, oh, 20 years now. After a good friend and his wife had their camera gear stolen from their vehicle I decided I’d better take their advice and put together an inventory of the gear I use when I’m railfanning.

Using the KISS principle I threw together a simple spreadsheet that contains the columns shown above. I then methodically proceeded through the camera bag documenting all the pieces including CF cards, extra batteries, remote cables, and lens hoods. I obviously included serial numbers where applicable. In many cases I filed away the original receipts in the fire safe so I pulled those out and documented the date of the receipt so I could locate it quickly.

After an hour and a half I had a complete inventory of my camera and radio gear that I use while railfanning. Its not a household inventory but is one step towards one. My hope is this data slowly rots in the fire safe and I never have to use it. If I do need it though I’ve got it all in one place.

How’s your inventory?

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, gear, inventory

I’m lucky to have a wife who is a talented decorator. Tammy also respects my interest in trains and about 10 years ago she decided the family room would be decorated in a railroad theme. Soon it became known as the train room. She chose decorations from my collection of railroad artifacts including a station sign to act as a valence, several historic prints from around Vancouver as a focal point over the fire place, and some art from J. Craig Thorpe to represent some of my favorite train themes.

During our recent flooring project the train room was disassembled and stored so we could repaint. While Tammy considered what would go back she saw me playing with a triptych in Lightroom. She casually asked if there were three photos we could create an on the wall triptych with. I said sure and went about created a collection in Lightroom to give her my selects. Looking at the results we brainstormed various themes including tunnels, steam, and scenes from the Northwest.

Tammy settled on a steam theme and as of tonight three of my photos consisting of details from the CW 10 and the SP&S 700 now hang in the ‘gallery’ section in the train room. I guess this qualifies as my first ‘gallery’ exhibition and I’m thrilled! Here is one of the photos she used:

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, photo, photography, decorating, gallery, cw 10

A while ago I posted possibly my last SD40-2 photo. It just happened to be a UP SD40-2 so I thought I’d better give the BNSF a chance so here’s the last BNSF Santa Fe SD40-2 I photographed.

BNSF 6723 leads the M-PASINB west at Towal, WA on October 26, 2008. Is this the last BNSF SD40-2 I’ll photograph?

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, BNSF, SD40-2, EMD, towal, washington

Last week while in Old Town I spotted a pair of TriMet’s new Siemans Avanto light rail vehicles. They were on a test run, acting as a blue line train. The photo isn’t the greatest (windshield glare, anyone?) but this was the first time I’d seen a pair of these units on a test run in the daytime.

I didn’t see a manifest train today. I saw: 3 grain, one Z, one bare table, one herder, and 2 Amtraks.

To be fair I left as the M-PTFI was departing Lake Yard and the M-PTLPAS was lining out at 39th St. So, the regulars were there, they were just a bit behind.

BNSF 799 awaits it next assignment on the tail track in Vancouver

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, photo, photography, bnsf, economy, washington