Interbay Yard - Then and Now

Welcome to Then and Now!

This post has two pictures, each taken from nearly the same spot but 35 years apart. The area is called Interbay Yard, which is on the BNSF mainline heading north out of downtown Seattle. In these two photos one can see the development change, but the depicted industry is more or less the same right down to the grit and grime on the outside of the loco.

The first photo was taken by Robert McDonald in May 1969, of Great Northern 425. Robert took a lot of photos back in the day. The pictures he has added to his blog Oil-Electric go back to 1958 and show historic views of our past up and down the West Coast - including British Columbia and Alaska. Thankfully for us train lovers, he took those picture with quality equipment depicting locomotives and scenery that are now only memories. His photographic record, and ability to describe each one in great detail, is a treasure to everyone who loves railroading history.

Robert calls GN 425 "absolutely dingy" because of the road grime over spectacular colors, Robert chose to shoot the picture anyway not realizing the impact it would have on a world of railfans when posted on the Internet in 2007. What he captured was a real-world vision of railroading in the late 1960s, dirt and all. We can appreciate this more than a posed photo of a clean unit.

The second photo was taken by yours truly in March 2004 of a worn-out Warbonnet with stenciled "BNSF" letters on the side. I shot the picture as the crew was leaving the unit and walking away. The photo is from the same vantage point of Robert's photograph - along the east side of Gilman Ave W. You'll see that my photo is slightly to the left of the spot that Robert snapped, but you can't miss the extensive additions of buildings both at the yard and on the streets behind the engine. In the original photo you can see Standard station, which is now the site of a bank. The roads behind the GN engine are now shrouded by two-story buildings serving small businesses and art galleries. None of this is visible in the final photo because of the erector set buildings put up on-site at the yard. But you get the idea. Lots has changed in 35 years. In this post-9/11 world this viewing area is an unsung spot for railfans, far enough from the trains for safety and close enough for pictures.

Open these photos each in a separate browser window, and then toggle back and forth between them. You'll see the development of 35 years right before your eyes. It's nice to know that I had Robert's archive to use as the "Then" photo for this series.