Lander Street Separation Project

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Look for this SODO project in the future, sending vehicle traffic above the BNSF mainline instead of through it. Currently the project ranks #22 in the 69 prioritized projects ahead of the Seattle Dept of Transportation, so it's not high on the list. Reasons include a vast funding gap for the estimated $155 million project. But when completed, it will create more movement east to west through this heavily industrial part of the city.

Here's a 27MB Powerpoint download from the 5/12/2008 Seattle City Council meeting that outlines the projects:

http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/docs/download/4-1-08%20Major%20Projects%20Funding%20FINAL%20projection.ppt

Port of Seattle OKs Eastside trail deal

Agreement between Port of Seattle and BNSF has finally been signed for the Woodinville Subdivision. BNSF is choosing a short line operator for the customers still on the line, and advocacy groups are now jockeying for position as right-of-way uses by people and trains are proposed for the future. One group wants "further study" on the line's use; that group is made up of people who own property butting up against - or near to - the tracks in Kirkland. "Further Study" in advocacy speak means "We don't want trains in our back yard," or "I bought this property assuming the trains would no longer run someday."


We saw plenty of that when King County was struggling to put in a rail trail along the east shore of Lake Sammamish. Some of the property owners - once BNSF pulled the tracks - went so far as to fence across the right of way and keep the trail in court for years, under the assumption that the right of way would revert to private ownership once the line was no longer used. When that didn't happen, the fight got messy. Eventually King County won out and now the most level route between Redmond and Issaquah can be ridden by bicycle, in the shadow of the Northern Pacific.

As always, we're watching this situation closely. It's a pivotal event for the Eastside, and will have impact on the region's ability to move in, out, and around the east part of King County

Great Northern SDP40 - Then and Now

©1972 Kevin Piper

A rarity even when built, EMD's SDP40 totaled only 20 units when production ceased in 1970. The main difference that set them apart was a steam generator added to each unit for passenger train use. Other than that, they were pure 60s Diesel goodness. Kevin Piper took the above photo of Burlington Northern 9855 at Cicero IL in 1972; this was one of six built for the Great Northern as #325. That same unit, now known as BNSF 6327 and seen below in a photo taken by Aaron B. Hockley, was still in service as of 2003 in Vancouver WA.

©2003 Aaron B. Hockley

In January 2008, 6327 was seen in this photo by Steve Welch pulling freight in California:

©2008 Steve Welch

That means this unit has been riding the rails for four decades. It's entirely possible that some of the crews that operate this engine are younger than that.

Talk about longevity and recycling!

Thanks to these three guys for establishing our timeline on a rare unit! Be sure to check out more railfan photos from the trio.

• Kevin's photos are HERE
  
• Aaron's photos are HERE
  
• Steve's photos are HERE

Columbia Basin Herald

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In this article Columbia Basin Herald writes about the ongoing Moses Lake project that will link the airport to BNSF. Everyone has been pushing to fund this one, because it involves a very big airport and and region full of opportunity.

Big Orange BNSF Cranes

A person can see them from the freeway, and even from Krispy Kreme. If you're in SODO they're hard to miss. They're BNSF's big new orange cranes being used to offload shipments coming into Seattle!

A Veteran GP30 In The 21st Century

Who would have ever thought a lowly industrial foot soldier like the EMD GP30 would survive 40+ years into the 21st Century? Consider BNSF 2745, a former GP30 on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy when it was built in 1962, now a rebuilt GP39 that still racks up the miles on the BNSF system. I had the chance to catch this engine in Seattle last year, but it has also been seen in other parts of Washington and even the rest of the US.

This shot is my favorite of the 2745!

Cascade Green Rarity?

A rarity? Probably not, at least in other parts of the nation. But around Seattle these older big SDs aren't seen much.

One thing that is interesting: 12 years after the BNSF merger, we are still seeing a lot of Cascade Green left over from the Burlington Northern days. Heck, we see a lot of Warbonnet too. I can't even fathom the magnitude of the undertaking to repaint all the locomotives this company owns. And in the end there really isn't much point if you can just paint "BNSF" on the side and get back to work!

"Little-Used" Branchline Works All Week

Clearly at the crossroads in terms of future usage, the Woodinville Subdivision of the BNSF has been labeled by the media as "as little-used branch line." Whether this term was fed to the papers with a goal in mind is uncertain. However what is certain would include trains - at least one per day - and regular shots like the one above just north of the Wilburton Trestle.

The reasons behind that traffic include one big customer and a truckload of circumstance. BNSF delivers 737 fuselages to Boeing over this line from the north, because it was not able to navigate a tight corner through Renton from the south. That corner is being realigned in preparation for the railroad's upcoming sale of the Woodinville Subdivision to the Port of Seattle, which times perfectly with construction on Interstate 405 that will literally cut the line in two just south of Bellevue.

But for the time being these fuselage trains run past my current employer almost every day on their way south through Kirkland. What does the future hold for this line? It depends on who you talk to; options for commuter service, rail trails, continued freight service, and residential development surround this line like sharks. Everyone close to it seems to want a piece of this right-of-way for their purpose. I watch the news regularly for stories from "the front" about the line, and some surprise development seems to pop up quarterly.

But while the leaders talk, the trains still run. It's indeed a wonderful site.

David and Big Engine

When possible, David and I head out on Sundays to visit the playground and take pictures of trains. Usually this trip will also include Krispy Kreme, as an incentive for David to join me. Yesterday the weather was great, albeit cold, for being out of the house and enjoying what January in Seattle has to offer. I would have never expected an up-close encounter with the BNSF...

After making our usual rounds through SODO, we headed down to prime photo opportunities along Airport Way South where the BNSF often stores their big diesels. The time was late afternoon, with low-horizon sun shining straight on the side of four engines sitting quiet. Since sunshine is unusual for our area, I took the opportunity to snap as many photos as I could with as many setting combos as possible on my Olympus digital. As an added bonus a GP28 ambled by on its way south. Photo ops were everywhere! After taking a few more I headed back to the truck, where David was taking photos of the GP28 through the window, to see how his pictures looked. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the GP28 was now headed back our way on another track. The conductor got out and threw the switch to put the old diesel on a siding and the engine rumbled down the line next to us. The conductor waved and walked over to the truck.

"How would like to take a look inside that big engine over there?" he said, pointing at BNSF 5490. While David was kind of shy about doing it, I grabbed this chance to say "YES!" and the three of us headed towards the engine.

Turns out the crew used BNSF 1521 - affectionately called "an old junker" by the Conductor - for getting down to the big line of engines, so they could turn them around for a return trip to Chicago. As we got closer we could see there was still snow on the front, plus an unexpected view of something bloody. "Looks like they hit a cow or something," said the conductor, pointing at the greyish hair and goo stuck to the hitch. David took a big step to get up on the nose of 5490; the Engineer said, "he looks like a railroad man already!"

Inside the engine, the conductor pointed at a big black button on the control stand. "Press that button," he said to David. 'HONK!! ...ding...ding...ding...ding...'

"Now press the yellow button there," he said. David did and the bell stopped.

The Conductor talked about what it took to run this big engine and how engines like these were all computerized now. He explained that they would be taking this line of four engines up to a Y in the track and turning it around. The crew would run this train from Seattle to Wenatchee, at which point another crew would take over. Was this engine always designated as the lead for this run, I asked? He said because this one was equipped with video equipment that it ran ahead of the others, which were not outfitted yet. I asked him if he made trips to Chicago.

"Used to do that, but now I just work in the yard. Money's better out on the road, but it's no life for a family man."

The view out of the cab was without equal; it also made my truck look like a Matchbox die cast. The GE C44-9w engines are truly big...bigger than anything out on the road according to the Conductor. We thanked the crew for their hospitality and took a few more pictures before we headed back to the truck. Eventually the Engineer got the fourth and third engines in the line fired up, and the big diesels ambled off to the north for a turnaround. We were able to pace them for a short while as we headed north ourselves.

David and I enjoyed this trip more than most, and for good reason!

Kingdome - Then and Now

Today's Then and Now segment celebrates the mainline running past what used to be called The Concrete Cheeseburger - King County's own Kingdome Stadium. John C. Benson took the above "Then" photo in 1981 in a spot that is now occupied by an exit ramp from I-90. BN 98 (here's another picture from 1977) was an EMD SW1 built prior to 1950 for the Great Northern Railway, based on the shape of the cab. The final days of this unit are unclear, but SW1 switchers were operating on U.S. railroads well into the 1990s

The "Now" photo was taken as close to the original spot as I could get without leaving my truck (and two sons) in a dangerous spot at the off-ramp:

Qwest Field is built in the footprint of the Kingdome after it was imploded in 2000, a mere 24 years after it hosted the first Seahawks game (they lost). This is a very busy part of the BNSF mainline through Seattle; commuter trains, Amtrak, and freight all run the same tracks, with 50+ "movements" per day being common!

Roster Shot Shenanigans Part I

What do you do when a good shot is ruined by urban flair, like a power pole?

Well forget the Photo Of The Week award and do something with the snapshot anyway!

Photo editing courtesy of Tux Paint, which is an open-source kid-friendly art program. My son loves it, and I'll say that leaf stamp sure comes in handy here!

Eastside Corridor Sale Approved

King County signed over the rights for purchasing the Woodinville Subdivision to the Port of Seattle yesterday:

Rail corridor plan approved

It's not over yet, but on its way. The line needs to be purchased by December 31, 2007, otherwise BNSF will offer it to private buyers. I'm not surprised, because BNSF announced they wanted to sell the line at least 4 years ago. What yesterdays paperwork does is clear the way for public ownership of the line, by an agency that can afford it. How it is used - or even dissected - in the future is still up in the air. But by the end of the year at least it should be safe from being developed into condos etc.

Yakima County railroad crossings -- Safety off track?

This Yakima Herald article quantifies how dangerous rural crossings can be:

Yakima County railroad crossings -- Safety off track?

Best quote from the article is poignant: "I don't trust that just because the lights aren't flashing that there isn't a train coming." The more of these I read, the more likely I am to look both ways - and even stop completely - before crossing tracks.

Workin' On The Railroad

Saturday December 8th - On a cold morning in SODO, a brakeman staffs the switch while a BNSF GP39M rumbles towards a side track to pick up some cars. Engine 2884 - built in 1965 as Great Northern GP35 #3040 - ran the entire length of track from Holgate down to Lander before grabbing what it needed.

In the meantime, it was good texting time for the Brakeman and his cell-phone.

Ron Sims backs off Eastside rails-to-trail deadline

There are so many unanswered questions about the Woodinville Subdivision and its future. It's nice to see activity in this matter, but there is very little consensus on the appropriate way to handle it. I disagree with the article's contention that the line would prove useless as a light-rail corridor because of its location on the Eastside. Hogwash. I align with Eastside Rail Now! on this one, believing that something in place now is better than possibly something in place in the future. More hogwash from the Port of Seattle, who say that the line is in "poor shape and not upgradeable." It's a wonder anything gets done when two public bureaucracies and one private entity all try to find a win-win...

Anyway, you can read the article and make your own decision:

Ron Sims backs off Eastside rails-to-trail deadline

Northern Columbia Basin Railroad Project

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Here's a refreshing look at how rail and its multiple uses is treated in other parts of Washington. This is a big project, based in and around Moses Lake WA. The plan's focus is to attract rail-borne business to the area and to repair the otherwise deteriorating "physical plant" in use today. All key players - Grant County, Columbia Basin Railroad, BNSF, City of Moses Lake - all agree the project should move forward, which is something I'm not accustomed to seeing from where I sit in Western WA. "Out here on The Coast" - as it's referred to from the Inland Empire - one or two people can hold up an entire project like this, using litigious or otherwise irritating means for the sole purpose of getting their way. While some of the players in the Basin Project do differ in opinion on how the new lines should look, they all seem to want the same result. Breathe in, breathe out. Ahhhh...

Moses Lake was once a Northern Pacific town. It is now served by the Columbia Basin Railroad. It's also home to the ginormous Grant County International Airport, which is the former Larson Air Force Base closed by the military in the mid 1960s. A big portion of the railroad project would provide better track to GCIA for a container facility.

Of course, even in a place where everyone can at least agree that something should be done (unlike Seattle), there are differing opinions on where the trains should run. The "Citizens Option," which would have run trains away from town and over a former NP branch line, was brought up, researched by the State, and rejected as too difficult to acquire and build since there were many homes and roads already built on top of the abandoned right-of-way.

Check out the Port of Moses Lake's official page on the project; it has huge PDFs of maps etc. to give you an idea of what's needed and what's happening:

http://www.portofmoseslake.com/Northern%20Columbia%20Basin%20Railroad%20Project.htm

This will be one to watch, because when complete it allows Moses Lake to expand its reach in the region, providing jobs and products. Sounds like a win-win to me.

Port of Seattle to Buy Woodinville Subdivision

Price: $103 million. Finally, a deal on the table that makes both advocates and critics happy. The purchase price is an eye-opener; In 2005 BNSF purchased nearly 400 miles of track from the State of South Dakota for a mere $41 million. By contrast, the Woodinville Subdivision is 42 miles long, with an eight-mile spur from Woodinville to Redmond. The value gives us on the outside an indicator of just how important this right-of-way is to the railroad, to the public, and to developers of all kinds. There's a land demand, most certainly. And selling the line to the Port means the chance of keeping rail activity in East King County is pretty good.

Not so, say some critics. Part of the plan is the tear up the existing tracks south of Bellevue and north of Renton, which would probably mean huge legal fights when it's time to put tracks back down in the future. A third private party is also trying to buy the line, for more than the Port is paying, which makes this sale even more melodramatic. In 2006 I hosted a site that outlined my concern over losing the line, in the hopes of raising awareness and keeping the tracks in place. In the end I was happy to pass the torch to groups that included heavier hitters in business and advocacy. I'm just a guy who believes in railroading as a vital industry and a traditional American icon.

It's hard to weigh out the uncertainty in this struggle. 100 years ago nobody would have ever figured this little line would cause so much havoc; rail service somewhere was an assumed resource. I'm happy to see a plan on the table that keeps at least some track in the ground; sure it would be nice to have a seamless rail corridor from Renton to Snohomish, on which passenger trains could help people cut their commute frustration. But I've resigned myself to at least catching some freight traffic in Woodinville and hoping for some excursion traffic as well.

Time will tell, and WARail will be here.

Heritage One Paint Scheme

BNSF 7155 is an EMD SD-40. That means it has six axles as opposed to four (which would be a "GP" series locomotive). Built in 1979 for the Burlington Northern, it has never been renumbered.

7155 was repainted in the attractive "Heritage One" paint scheme sometime in the 1990s, possibly during a rebuild. Heritage One blended colors and logos of some legacy railroads that made up the new BNSF in 1995; the cross logo on the front and BNSF font style on the side were lifted directly from the Santa Fe, while the colors were common on the Great Northern Railway (folded into the Burlington Northern in 1970). Since 1995 there have been a couple of changes to the paint scheme (called "Heritage II and Heritage III" not surprisingly).

Check out the heavy clouds behind the locomotive. Yeah, that's Seattle for you!

BNSF 9218

This type of locomotive has always fascinated me. The white face, the unique cab design, and (noticing today) the strong exhaust note. This thing is a brute.

A much better picture of this EMD SD60M appears HERE. For good reason, the cab windows gave rise to its nickname of "Triclops." You will see SD60s with many styles of cabs; this one has what's called the "North American Safety Cab," which started use in Canada.

This picture was taken just north of Qwest Field, as the train enters King Street Station heading north towards the tunnel.

Train Accident near Safeco Field

On Sunday October 1st at 9:30am my sons and I were near the BNSF crossing at South Holgate St, eating our McMuffins and waiting for trains to pass. It was an icky morning, described in our house as the type of "Splatty Rain" that seems to come at you from all directions and in all sizes. Fast food steams up the windows, especially when there are three hungry boys eating hot hashbrowns. We sat long enough for me to finish my food, electing to move the truck up closer to the crossing. When we got closer we saw lights, a bright trio on the tracks. Earlier, on our way into the area, we saw an Amtrak train sitting at King Street Station. This surely was the Coast Starlight or Cascades heading south. But the bright trio of lights didn't move. They just sat there.

"Daddy, can we go see what they're doing?" David asked me.

No, I said, because there's nowhere for us to park around there. So we headed off to find trains in another venue.

It's a good thing we didn't go there.

Turns out that a woman headed to work at Safeco Field was hit by a train while crossing the tracks, in her wheelchair. Thankfully no-one was killed, and as I write this the woman is in satisfactory condition at Harborview Medical Center. The initial reports said that her chair got stuck on the tracks. Therefore the headlines look like:

"Train accident was fourth near ballpark since 2000"
"Woman in wheelchair hit by train in Seattle"

The headlines are true in the grammatical sense, but can mislead readers into thinking the whole thing happened a certain way. Headlines often use terminology that will tug at a person to read it. "Woman" and "wheelchair" are words high on the list. Actual blame cannot be found in a headline, but from the way it's written the blame can be assumed. In this case, the assumption from the headlines can be that the "big bad railroad" is at fault for hitting a disabled woman in a crossing. Ignore due diligence, choosing rather to skim over an article or merely read the headline, and the nuances of the issue can be lost. This article is a perfect case in point.

As the story unfolds an age-old issue comes out. Reports indicate that the woman went around the pedestrian crossing gate that had just dropped down. A witness said she had just cleared the crossing when the gate closed, and that the woman was heading into the crossing. A southbound train was doing 18mph and blew a warning (it's really loud there, because of all the tall buildings to bounce sound). Whether or not the chair got stuck on the track is unclear, as the police report indicates that the locomotive clipped the back of her chair rather than it actually being stuck; that would indicate the chair was moving and not stuck. The timing of her crossing still perplexes me; it seems that there was plenty of warning, both visible and audible, to keep this person away from the tracks. The Seattle Times article on this issue points out that railroad crossings are clearly dangerous places, chair or no chair, and that the utmost safety must be considered when crossing tracks - especially on a mainline that sees "100 movements" per day on average.

The most important thing to remember in all of this is to "always assume a train is coming." Pointing blame in this accident is not as important as simply learning to be safe around trains. "Stop, Look, and Listen" still runs through my head from a song I learned in Kindergarten. Back then the Northern Pacific ran through my town, so it was an important lesson that made me fear the dirt crossing when heading up the hill to a friend's house on the other side of the tracks. Even though we have no rails around our home now, I teach the boys about the importance of looking both ways and crossing tracks safely.

I'll tell them both, later in life, how close we were to seeing a visible example of that.