by Steve Eshom on April 12, 2012
On the second morning of my Montana visit a unit windmill train passed through Stanford. The south siding switch was still reversed from a meet the night before so they had to stop to line the switch and copy a new warrant. The sight of a train of blades strung out through town made quite an impression on the residents It seemed like several times over the next few days people were talking about the wind mills. Of course Stanford is already excited about the Spion Kop wind farm so the sight of blade made everyone very talkative.
It will be interesting to see where the construction materials for Spion Kop will be off loaded. Stanford and Geyser don’t exactly have the best locations for removing heavy loads from a train due to cramped quarters. I suppose a spur could be built right at the wind farm since the track passes right through. Most likely that won’t be cost effective so they will likely be offloaded somewhere with available land and access to cranes and then trucked in. A spur would be interesting though…
by Steve Eshom on April 4, 2012
This week I’m spending spring break with my family in Central Montana which of course means you all get to see some BNSF Laurel Sub action here on dogcaught. The good news is the action seems to be plentiful.
So far traffic has been much improved over the last two years. I’ve seen…
1. Daily Laurel-Shelby and Shelby-Laurel trains. During the economic downturn this symbol was cut back and it seemed there was one train in one direction each day. Back to one each way each day!
2. Windmill blades. A loaded blades train headed for Canada passed on Sunday. With the Spion Kop wind farm in the planning there will like be more blades visiting these parts.
3. Loaded coal for the Sweetgrass, MT interchange. I’m not sure where the coal goes once it reaches Canada (probably Prince Rupert) but there seems to be a train every 3 days or so.
4. Fewer slow orders. Trains are getting over the road much quicker now. The speed through Stanford has even increased from 25 to 40! Sometime after July last year about a mile of concrete ties were installed in the canyon between Armington an Raynesford.
For the rest of my visit it looks like I’ll get to see the daily manifests, a coal empty and a load, as well as the lost local on its wanderings. It should be a good couple of days of railfanning!
by Steve Eshom on March 28, 2012
16 minutes before sunrise an eastbound Union Pacific manifest train nears the summit at Telocaset, Oregon. By the time the train crosses the summit and descends to the Baker valley the sun will be up and a new day will have dawned. Right now though the train is illuminated by the twilight reflecting off the atmosphere and giving me the hint a new day is coming.
Getting up early has its rewards!
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 March 7, 2012
Amtrak 1 is not something you see everyday. According reports I’ve read, Amtrak 1, 2, and 3 have been roaming the Northwest on the Cascades trains . I never saw 2 or 3 but I did happen across 1 several few times. On the 1′s last visit I decided to grab a few photos while it was stopped at Vancouver.
What’s the big deal about 1? Good question. I supposd in this modern era where 4 digit engine numbers are most common single digits remind us times past when mom & pop railways numbered their engines in the single digits. Amtrak certainly isn’t mom & pop but the low number gives us the impression of a small, quaint operation. That’s my guess anyway…
