by Steve Eshom on July 7, 2011
The Northwest experienced some late snows and unusually cool temperatures (not cold temperatures) this spring. The result is snow remains in the mountains in places it usually disappears from in May. As part of my Pengra Pass adventure I wanted to hang around tunnel 6 (North Cruzatte) a bit. That wasn’t going to happen this time unless I hiked in thanks to a 2′ deep drift blocking the forest road to the tunnel. Sure I had 4 wheel drive and a shovel but I really didn’t want to spend the time clearing the road. Plus a bit of hiking showed me that the drift right off FR 5884 was not the only battle I’d have to fight.
In this photograph of brand new UMAX containers on the I-PDCIR (Portland, City of Industry Repo train) at South Cruzatte the snow still shows through the trees on Judd Mountain. What you can’t see is all other drifts tucked around under the trees. There’s plenty of melting yet to come in the Cascades.
This will be my last post on the Oregon Cascades for a bit. On to Providence Hill….
by Steve Eshom on February 1, 2011
Sunday out near Camas it was clear from the trees that we still have some more winter to go. I shouldn’t complain because there are others in the country who have it much worse. In fact I’m sure the folks on the train from the mid-west were happy to see our mild Northwest winter.
by Steve Eshom on January 19, 2011
The only thing I don’t like about the annual tracks in the snow weekend is that it has to end. There’s something about chasing trains around the pass that is relaxing and rewarding all wrapped up in one. Add in some awesome railfan friends (and their friends!) and leaving is no fun. I hate to say farewell to my friends the pass but the realities of life are that I don’t make any money railfanning and photographing. So with that thought I have to say goodbye to Stevens every January.
For the past few years the Tracks in the Snow crew stayed at the Cascadia Inn in Skykomish. Henry and his crew do an exceptional job of taking care of us and catering to our needs. The hotel is always very clean, the food very good (especially the prime rib special!), and the drinks plentiful. On top of that the staff is very friendly and welcoming to our group. On Friday night after a wonderful Salmon dinner with couscous, green beans, and garlic bread I stepped outside to capture the hotel while a rolling meet took place in the Skykomish siding.
Dark shadows are the only thing on the fruit trees west of Monitor, Wa. In about 4 1/2 months the trees will be in a splendid bloom and by early September the harvest will take place. The cold, snow, ice, and low winter sun will long be forgotten by then. Soon after though the cycle of the seasons will kick in again and winter will be back.
The early bird gets the worm. On Sunday after heavy rain and warm temperatures through the night rivers were swollen and lapping at their banks. When I arrived at Money Creek just after 6am the Skykomish seemed to be much louder and urgent than the night before. When I compare an image shot just 12 hours before to this one it was clear the river had risen around 2ft. Gone were the ripples of underlying rocks and a couple of trees around the center abutment disappeared. The snow melt was on and in a violent way. Trains continued to roll, that is until around noon when BNSF issued a flash flood warning to two trains slowing them from Gold Bar to the Cascade tunnel. By Monday the pass was closed for a few hours in the middle of the day to let maintenance crews drop rip rap in a few locations. Such is the difficulty of mountain railroading.
This brings to an end the presentation of the bulk of my Tracks in the Snow images.
by Steve Eshom on January 18, 2011
I spent most of yesterday afternoon cleaning up my camera gear and my vehicle after my wet weekend on Stevens Pass. Thankfully all my gear performed flawlessly in the damp conditions and other than the AF/MF switch getting caught in no mans land once (thus preventing the camera from obtaining focus and taking an image) everything went smoothly. I couldn’t be more impressed with how Canon gear holds up to our Northwest winter.
This series of images is from Friday where east of Winton the rain was much lighter and towards the end of the day the sun made an appearance through the clouds streaming across the summit of the Cascades. I guess this is a circumstance where the rain shadow worked to my advantage.
On Stevens Pass Amtrak’s Empire Builder (trian #7) usually arrives westbound around 7am. In the summer a good sunrise photo can be made of this train but in the winter it is still over an hour before good daylight. On 1/14/2011 Amtrak met an eastbound freight at Merritt and then began its ascent of the hill. At 7:10am it passed through the area known as “The Slot” illuminating its surroundings with the artificial light from the headlight briefly bringing a brightness to a deep canyon in the Cascades.
In the past few weeks BNSF has moved a number of westbound baretable trains to the Port of Seattle. It seems one moves every third day. These equipment repositioning moves help the railroad reposition cars when the movement of containers is not equivalent eastbound and westbound. While these moves don’t generate any revenue they are certainly necessary so that the next revenue generating train can run.
Railroads and rivers are frequent neighbors. These days so are homes and rivers. West of Wentachee, in one of the richest fruit growing regions in the U.S., homes are sprouting up just a quick as the weeds. Home owners have the privilege of great views of the Wentachee River and surrounding hills like this home east of Cashmere. Of course they have a great view of the railroad too though I’m sure most home owners would just as soon do without the extra noise and unsightly rusty bridges.
by Steve Eshom on January 17, 2011
Wow, was it ever wet this weekend! I knew there would be rain but I guess I didn’t realize how soaking it would be. Between Baring and Merritt the rain came down harder than a normal Western Washington rain. Instead of small drops they were large and copious. As usual the worst weather makes for the most interesting photos so despite the rain I feel I was able to capture some very nice images.
At Merritt there is plenty of snow on the ground. The warm temperatures and rain have caused the snow to fall from the trees leaving them to look no different than on a chilly spring day. Douglas Fir trees always look great with their branches laden with the latest blast of snow. Alas this year that situation was just not to be.
Just down the track a few miles we ran into a gentleman clearing the parking lot for the ski trail parking. The layers in the snow show just how many times this area has been coated but the slushy wheel tracks in the lot show the true condition of it. That poor snow blower was having a tough time spraying saturated snow.
On Thursday night, my travelling partners Robert Scott and Scott Lothes drove down to the Miller River bridge west of Skykomish to attempt a photo of an eastbound freight climbing up from Baring. That evening the Miller river was already over its banks with overflow crossing the Old Cascade highway in a dip. Just like the desert southwest washes this dip allows the excess flow of the river to cross the road without destroying the it. I’m sure this is a much more cost effective means to handle the occasional flood on such a lightly used road. By Friday evening the road was officially closed though many locals and law enforcement forded the deluge in the dip anyway. Of course the early 20th century era railroad bridge was not affected by the high water.
