"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.