BNSF Exploring Electrification

http://www.railwayage.com/content/view/931/121/

Great Railway Age article about BNSF exploring the idea of electrifying some of its mainlines, by getting power from utility companies who want to use the railroad right-of-way for building out their services. Sounds like a win-win to me.

Let's get EMD GE to build an homage to the Little Joe and unleash them in Eastern WA!

Electric On The Skagit River Hydro Project

Train at Skagit Project, 1947
Originally uploaded by Seattle Municipal Archives

Nice archive shot from 1947 of what appears to be electric trolley being used on the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project. The photo was posted by Seattle City Light on Flickr; one of the best parts of the Internet lately has been Creative Commons, which allows shots like this to be viewed by a new generation of rail fans. Some more experienced readers here may know where to find info about this car, but my search came up empty!

I love these old photos; black & white has so much emotion, oddly enough, even in the absence of color. For a current color picture of a more famous unit, check out "Old Number 6" in Newhalem:

http://www.railpixonline.com/SCL_6.htm

To find out more about the project visit here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Dam

Photo courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives

Yakima Under Wire - 1971

Drew Jacksich took this RailPictures.Net Photo of a GE B+B Electric with Yakima Valley Transportation in 1971. It's nice to see these photos from eras gone by. YVT is not well known, but was a subsidiary of Union Pacific (hence the colors) and abandoned by the railroad in 1985. A portion of the right-of-way still operates the Yakima Valley Trolley.

Great footage of the YVT can also be seen on a nicely priced video from Green Frog - Pacific Northwest Kaleidoscope. Check out more of Drew's photos HERE. Thanks Drew for a great picture!