Washington Railblog

Not sure how it's vented. It's not gated ...

2011-08-15T03:47:48.478-07:00

Not sure how it's vented. It's not gated at either end so it's possible there is simple fan equipment that pushes air from one end to the other all the time. If I find a resource on this I'll post it. Thanks.

How do they ventilate this tunnel (diesel fumes) t...

2011-08-14T19:36:14.688-07:00

How do they ventilate this tunnel (diesel fumes) that runs under downtown Seattle?

I think its a good idea to restore the pioneer tra...

2010-08-25T10:30:16.151-07:00

I think its a good idea to restore the pioneer train service even at a huge cost of restoring the track.It would be speed along the rout,so we can get to are destination on time.You can bet it will be technology that most likely will save the line!

Nice to se "Union Station!" King st sta...

2010-03-25T17:53:28.355-07:00

Nice to se "Union Station!" King st station was Great Norther & Northern Pacific. Actually, the NP terminus was in Auburn. Union Station was owned by Union Pacific RR which had the trackage from Seattle to Portland. MILW (for whom I worked as engine cre from 1955-1959 - another story) had trackage right into Union Station. There was a BIG interchange just so of seattle (Georgetown?) and for life of me, cant think of name. If you go back a few years, you will see the overhead (triolley wire) for the electrics. MILW would pull the Hiawatha backwards from Tacoma to Seattle, then run around at Union Sta to make the trian go the right direction, Then of to Black River Jct and over Snoqualmie pass. sorry if I get carried away. I DO have LOTS of stories and meories of MILW. even the Cedar Fall-Monroe.

Blaine Berg, Anc AK

... and what a pity this is the last post. I just...

2010-02-01T06:23:39.833-08:00

... and what a pity this is the last post. I just found you, friend and this blogsite looks very very interesting

Tom from faraway Singapore

Sure utilities is a possibility

2009-12-25T23:26:42.931-08:00

Sure utilities is a possibility

Aww-comeonnn! That's the old day-into-night tr...

2009-11-05T09:46:22.785-08:00

Aww-comeonnn! That's the old day-into-night trick used by Hollywood for a hundred years! Simply stack ND filters on the lens 'till it gets "dark!"

Thanks Dan! You're right about the logo. I w...

2009-11-03T21:08:10.719-08:00

Thanks Dan! You're right about the logo. I was standing thirty feet away from that monster and couldn't see a darned thing at the time.

Very nice! If you stare at it long enough, the &qu...

2009-11-03T19:10:58.933-08:00

Very nice! If you stare at it long enough, the "1030" on the cab starts to look like a GN logo.

Dan

I don't know if we'll get the Pioneer, but...

2009-09-30T10:20:50.444-07:00

I don't know if we'll get the Pioneer, but I definitely think there is a need. I'd sure use it. (We are a small hydroelectric generation company).

As for the previous post, there is no "California Jog". There is no Amtrak service at all (unless I drive 190 miles up into Washington!)

Poor engines look pretty beat. A couple of them h...

2009-09-29T15:56:01.280-07:00

Poor engines look pretty beat. A couple of them had tags on them early on, so I suspect some had been stored elsewhere. Mind boggling amount of motive power in one spot!

It could possibly be something like BNSF's LUG...

2009-09-29T15:41:39.280-07:00

It could possibly be something like BNSF's LUGO(Laid Up Good Order) fleet, although that option is more like stored in a ready to go condition. Although the UP locos you mentioned, which I observed the past week commuting to a temp job in Kent on SOUNDER, look like they are stored in an area where trespassers can get to. I hope the cabs are locked up.

It's official. Service starts on Sept 26, 2009...

2009-09-17T09:49:09.024-07:00

It's official. Service starts on Sept 26, 2009!

http://iciclecreekrealestate.com/2009/09/17/leavenworth-train-service-begins/

I spent part of the day with those guys at Trinida...

2009-07-30T17:07:21.746-07:00

I spent part of the day with those guys at Trinidad last weekend. I wish I could have gotten up on the hill with them to learn more about spectacular photography like this.

Dan

I guess I stopped paying attention some time ago. ...

2009-07-30T17:05:54.210-07:00

I guess I stopped paying attention some time ago. I did not know they were still offering video tapes!

Dan

I'm thinking this made for a really really cru...

2009-06-20T07:26:51.366-07:00

I'm thinking this made for a really really crummy day.

These are the same bozo's and bimbo's who ...

2009-06-19T16:41:20.829-07:00

These are the same bozo's and bimbo's who would be yelling "Law Suit" if they got hit by a train. There should be some way of removing these idiots from the gene pool ...... Calling Dr. Strangelove!

Burlington Northern 6138, shown here in it's h...

2009-06-18T13:21:04.624-07:00

Burlington Northern 6138, shown here in it's hideous "Cascade Green" color scheme, nee CB&Q 438:
http://www.trainpix.com/bn/EMDORIG/SD9/6185.HTM

As predictable as the swallows returning to Capist...

2009-06-14T09:49:41.082-07:00

As predictable as the swallows returning to Capistrano, the yamer about BNSF electrifying certain traffic corridors has returned.

Converting the freight rail system to electric trains from today's all diesel environment might seem like a far off notion, but BNSF Railways' Matthew Rose says they are starting to explore this new frontier.

New frontier? Doesn't Mr. Rose remember the Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul and Pacific? Hardly a "new frontier."

In my opinion such prattle is mere cocktail hour talk; don't be surprised if Mr. Rose doesn't remember you in the morning.

If his rambling ideas pan out, BNSF's still early planning efforts could help produce historic change for North American freight railroads. Rose, The Great Pumpkin's chairman, president and CEO, says his company in "in talks with electrical power line builders about stringing or burying transmission lines in some of BNSF's inter-city corridors."

With those line-easement leases emerging as a possible new revenue source, (quite a different notion from stringing caterary,) BNSF officials are also weighing how to electrify the carriers mainline track system and asking equipment makers about locomotive that could run both under electric and diesel power.

Hello! You can ask me, Mr. Rose. Fairbanks-Morse built the P-12-42 for both the Boston & Maine and the New Haven. And General Motors Division built a fleet of 60 FL-9's for the New Haven. Both had "electric and diesel power." (Traction motors could care less where the juice comes from.)

What rubbish. The true student of catenary systems know that construction costs would be astronomical and take years in the planning and execution.

Don't hold your breath. You will see high speed rail around the Tehachapi Pass Loops before a single wire is strung!

By golly, Kurt, I think you are onto something her...

2009-06-10T05:54:40.302-07:00

By golly, Kurt, I think you are onto something here with this Holga phenomenon. (Or are you on something?) At any rate, flood the screeners at Railputz. Who knows, one of them might appreciate something other than the absolutely mind numbing page after page of toaster ovens on their site!

This is no toy you play with! After all a Holga photograph by David Burnett (an award winning photographer) of former vice-president Al Gore during a campaign appearance earned a top prize in a 2001 White House News Photographers' Association Eyes of History award ceremony!

To follow up on what O-E said, that NP right-of-wa...

2009-05-10T22:29:00.000-07:00

To follow up on what O-E said, that NP right-of-way never carried an NP train, as they abandoned it right after they purchased the company that built it, the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern. This was part of the Eastern Division of that line. This section did get purchased by the WWP. There is a remaining substation visible on the line, at Jameson, with is very visible from I90 about 8 miles west of Spokane.
WWP pulled the plug on the line in March of 1922, though it continued to operate an extensive streetcar line in Spokane proper.

Dan

Nehalem #89 ( http://home.att.net/~wrpn/number89.h...

2009-05-08T23:32:00.000-07:00

Nehalem #89 ( http://home.att.net/~wrpn/number89.html ) was originally Washington Water Power #150, over in Spokane. Washington Water Power, in addition to supplying others with juice, got the railroad bug as well.

In 1904, WWP purchased the right-of-way between Spokane and Medical Lake from the Northern Pacific Railway. A canternary system was installed over the approximately 17 miles. A branch was instituted in 1907 running between Cheney Junction and Cheney.

Trains ran on two tracks, about 2 hours apart in the halcyon days of the service. WWP even sported open-ended observation cars.

WWP became the first major passenger service abandonment in the Pacific Northewest, when they saw the handwriting on the wall - that the automobile was more than a novelty, and was here to stay. The system was pulled up in 1921-22.

Here be a model of the Wash Water Power Interurban...

2009-05-08T19:45:00.000-07:00

Here be a model of the Wash Water Power Interurban Station in Cheney: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=e13e34434386783f70c46ff60869e0cb

Sad and very true.

2009-05-07T18:54:00.000-07:00

Sad and very true.

I, too, feel bad when an operation shuts down or c...

2009-05-07T17:43:00.000-07:00

I, too, feel bad when an operation shuts down or cuts back - been there, done than. The jobs never seem to come back, or, if they do, greatly modified. Beyond this, we need to know if there are other facilities in the country performing the same services. I really don't know. But if there are, and they are not cutting back or shuttering, then "natural selection" has taken place, just as Darwin predicted ...