by Steve Eshom on March 21, 2012
I’ve had a long history with Providence Washington which started when I explored the area extensively during my college years. It was right at the time when BN was in the process of shutting down the SP&S and moving everything over to what is today’s Lakeside sub. It was exciting times for the line since it was going to be THE route between Pasco and Spokane. I loved it!
I didn’t get to visit much while school was in session but at breaks I made Providence summit my stop. I would leave Pullman early and arrive at Providence for some serious train watching. I’d tear up and down the Lind-Hatton road finding just the right spot. I explored all the back roads and visited a few access roads. My most favorite spot was the summit though. I could sit there for hours listening to the scanner, studying, reading, or just staring out the window. It was a peaceful place without parallel for me.
Of course the peace would be broken occasionally when a train would pass. In the 80s when SD40-2s, GP50, and B30-7As were king, trains could be heard climbing out of Hatton and Lind. They screamed and barked for some 20 minutes or more before reaching the narrow cut at the summit. Pure music for sure! I always left my window open a crack, even in the dead of winter, to make sure I could hear a train approaching.
While I can’t go back to those days I still enjoy visiting Providence. It still has a special place despite all the changes over the years. While Dash 9′s aren’t my favorite they still make for an impressive sight and sound cresting my favorite summit.
by Steve Eshom on March 14, 2012
We are struggling mightily to get out of winter in the Northwest. It snowed yesterday in Vancouver as well as out at the ocean. For the Oregon beaches it was the first March snow storm since 1966! The consequence of this slow transition is we haven’t had nice days or even showers and sun breaks which are typical for this time of year.
An empty coal train is about to enter Tunnel 1.5 near North Bonneville, Wa. A winter snow storm has left a dusting on the ground throughout the Columbia River Gorge.
I can feel my photographer self suffering from the lack of interesting light. I’ve wanted several times to run out and photograph but the gray just isn’t motivating. I have a few images in mind but really a clear or partly cloudy day would suit them better than the rain and gray skies. Things are bad enough that a couple of days ago I found myself photographing the trees blowing in the wind because that was the most interesting thing happening. Don’t get me wrong, I like photographing that stuff but I’m in the mood for real light soon!
A change in the weather will come. It always does. In the mean time I continue to share my snowy gray day images because winter still has a hold on us.
by Steve Eshom on February 29, 2012
Many people ask me why I don’t live closer to the railroad track. I love trains after all so why wouldn’t I like to live closer?
Oh boy, that can be a touchy topic. I’d love to live where I could see trains but there are some things about that capability that makes owning a home in one of those locations more challenging. For me personally my home and family are my priority so I tend to focus on what works best for all of us. I know my family would not enjoy the noise, smells, and inconvenience of living by the tracks. Additionally I purchased a home for us to live in and a bit as an investment. I would be concerned about living next to the tracks and how that would impact my home’s value. Those are the main reasons why I’m 3 miles from the closest track.
When I drove along the Evergreen Highway on Sunday I had to laugh at the latest construction project. As the photo depicts the home has a 4 car garage with a room above (got model railroad?). The home itself is probably twice the size of the garage building. The view the home will have is interesting as they can see out to the Columbia and the Glenn Jackson bridge. Beautiful. I’d move there if I could afford it. Maybe.
Look what is in their front yard though. Yep, the Fallbridge sub and its 20-30 trains a day including coal trains, grain trains, and manifests. All the heavy stuff rolls right by here. I’m quite certain that the house will pound when a flat wheel on a loaded 186K lbs. car goes by but fortunately for them most trains move quickly by this location thanks to the number of grade crossings in the area. That means the middle of the night wake ups shouldn’t last more than a minute and the ground pounders will only rattle the china momentarily. I guess I’ll find out if the noise is too much for the new owners when a sound wall goes up.
I do wish the new owners the best of luck with their beautiful new home. Enjoy.
by Steve Eshom on January 25, 2012
Most of the snow from the January 15th snow storm fell west of Bingen. The result was I spent the day west of Bingen too! Snow in the gorge has been pretty sparse lately so I wanted to take advantage. Most of the morning I hung out around North Bonneville photographing Amtrak, several BNSF westbounds, and two eastbound UP trains. The gorge is pretty narrow and cluttered with trees around North Bonneville. I knew I wanted a wider view to demonstrate what the snow looked like so after lunch I drove to Dog Mountain to wait for an eastbound.
Since it was Monday maintenance was out in full force so I took a quick trip to Underwood during a lull to see what the White Salmon River looks like after the Condit Dam breach. I’ve read many people’s complaints about how the breach has ruined one of the best salmon fishing locations in the Gorge. I will agree that the river is choked with muck but since the October 26, 2010 breach we really haven’t had any high water. Once we have a few heavy rains it appears a river channel will reappear there. Now, what will happen with the back water areas? Good question. I’m sure mother nature will show us.
I arrived back a Dog Mountain about the same time and eastbound stack train was going through Stevenson. Perfect. I climbed the hill and gathered in the photo I was looking for.
by Steve Eshom on January 18, 2012
Aaron and I will be making some behind the scenes changes to dogcaught.com over the next week. The result is you may experience some outages or unusual responses. Don’t worry everything will be as it was and we’ll get back to our normal content.
As a teaser here’s a photo I took on Monday while I visited the Columbia River Gorge. We received a bit of snow down to the river level on Sunday so I ran out Monday to take advantage. This image is the DPU of a west bound grain train crossing Cascade Dr. in North Bonneville, Wa.
