Eastern Washington Gateway - Biodiesel and Deer

From Eastern Washington Gateway 2009

In the Summer of 2008 I commented on an article about Eastern Washington Gateway testing biodiesel in one of their locomotives. Just last month I got an email from a 10 year old girl in New Mexico on the subject, asking if the test was successful. I was able to get in contact with Bruce Butler of the EWGR, who not only replied to the girl with some sweet photos but also brought us all up to date on their testing:

We are not using the biodiesel anymore as the plant where they made it has closed. To the best of my knowledge the biodiesel worked just fine in the one locomotive (8925, a EMD model SD45) that we used it in, but with the plant closing, we lost our source. I have attached a couple of pictures of the 8925. #313 shows the 8925 being fueled from a truck. You should know that these locomotives can move a lot of weight for the fuel that they use; they are much more fuel efficient than trucks.

We see a lot of deer along our railroad. For some reason, they run alongside of the train, rather than away from the tracks. I haven't hit any of them yet, but we have had some close calls. Picture #612 shows a young mule deer doing almost 30 mph alongside of the train.

We haul a lot of wheat. Picture 689 shows a loaded grain train near Hite WA. It is after harvest, so the grain fields in the picture have already been cut. Picture 589 shows the fields right at harvest time; the field on the left hasn't been harvested yet while the field on the right has already been cut. Picture 590 shows a combine at work harvesting wheat. All of these pictures were taken from the train. You get to see things that you never see anyplace else. We do have some scenic areas on our railroad; picture 105 shows a view from the Engineer's seat last winter.

Regards,
Bruce Butler

Check out Bruce's pictures from along the line. If you don't see the slideshow below, click HERE to view the photos in Picasa!




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Blog: http://www.warail.com

BNSF 1030 Night Shot

BNSF 1030 Night Shot, originally uploaded by KDavidClark.

It's not very often that these three items cross paths: The Moon, BNSF 1030, and a passing Union Pacific unit train of hoppers. I took this photo with my $35 Olympus 4MP digital. Despite the age, and so-called 'smaller' megapixel size, it has the handy feature of Night Shot - allowing for the equivalent of a 4-second open shutter.

The conditions outside that night were almost completely dark (short of the moon and stair lighting on the locomotive) and the camera had very little to even grab for auto-focus. The resulting shot had a lot of digital noise that thankfully went away when I converted it to a filtered grey scale and used the Despeckle feature in Photoshop Elements 6.

The cropping is wide and skinny on purpose; it seemed to be the type of border that called out to me based on what was in the shot!

Mile-Long Union Pacific Dead Line

It started with about 15 engines a few months ago. Tired-looking veterans in a variety of conditions. Some were faded, some were burned, and others were tagged with spray paint. They represented models owned by the UP that we rarely see here in the Seattle area. Older boxey GEs, "Triclops" SD60Ms, Snoots (SD40s with long low noses), etc. The line, now two tracks wide, is literally a mile long. Why they are there, I can only guess. My thought, considering the overall condition of each one, is that this is a dead line. Given the economy and reduced rail traffic lately, it would make sense to trim the herd of engines that have become costly to repair.

Here are three examples of what is sitting there, and media from their earlier lives:

2279, 9115, and 2371 sitting together, Sept 27 2009

UP 9115 - GE C40-8 (Dash 8-40C) Built: 12/1987

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1029152

UP 2371 - EMD SD60M "Triclops" Built: 8/1989

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=987148

UP 2279 - EMD SD60M "Triclops" Built: 4/1989

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=155040

Waiting...

"The past is behind me. My destiny is on the other side of that tank car. For now, I stand and wait."

Photo: DSC09011, originally uploaded by emilie_roulet

BNSF 6185 - Then and Now

Recently I did a piece on SD9 BNSF 1551, which is still trucking around Balmer Yard like an old soldier. Putting that post together made me think of a Interbay deadline occupant that my son and I photographed back in 2003 and 2004, also an SD9 numbered 6185. In order to get the shot, I had to climb ont the bed rail of my truck and stabilize myself against the cab - all in the effort to get the camera line above the fence between the road and the deadline (click HERE to see the location on a Google Map). Like 1551 this SD9 made it to the 21st century, only to be retired early into the decade. I had posted the pic above in an earlier post, but decided to expand a bit on this engine.

6185 started life as CB&Q 438 in 1957. Photos of 438 don't seem to exist so, thanks to Joe Hughes and #430, this is what 438 would have looked like in 1965:

Photo courtesy of Joe Hughes

By 1969 the unit may have received this paint scheme, portrayed here by CBQ 439:

Photo courtesy of Joe Hughes

BN Merger brought a new number, and it became 6185. By 1982 it was working Interbay, pictured HERE. By 2004 it was tied up in the yard and apparently done working. In April 2009, a picture was taken of the "new" BNSF 6185 in Ohio.

There aren't any details on what happened to the old SD9, but I'm certain it hasn't survived.

Photo - UP Georgetown Lo-Fidelity

Ever heard of a Holga? I hadn't until about two years ago, when the world of Lomography was introduced to me merely by chance when searching for something on Amazon.com. Since I don't want to duplicate posts, read my personal blog if you want to know more about Holgas:

http://www.clarkblog.net/2009/06/foo-photo-my-first-holga-roll.html

Anyway, the above photo was one from the first roll of film I shot with a Holga. After he viewed the resulting slide show, one of the comments I got from a high school friend was:

"I liked the slide show, all very cool pics, the train pics almost look depression era, except the locomotive is a bit too new."

If the Holga does anything well, it's paying homage to The Depression! It's a great camera to release yourself from the world of editing your shots and placing you smack dab in the world of just taking pictures. What freedom!

Photo - UP Georgetown Dustbowl

At Lucile Street, just west of Airport Way, you'll find a little piece of switching track that runs between businesses and a park, then ends abruptly at a brick building. This is the world just outside the Union Pacific's Argo Yard. Regularly you can find UP switchers moving back and forth assembling trains at this spot. The engines used are a blend of old and sort-of-old GP38s and GP15s. The number boards might change but the activity never does, day or night.

I shot this with film; 200-speed film to be exact, using a nearly 30-year old Canon AE-1 and a 135mm lens. With the dust and the cowboy hat, one might think the photo was from Texas instead of Seattle. I'm here to tell you it's the latter. Click the photo to see a larger view.

Argo Yard sits just west of the BNSF Mainline the runs under Airport Way. UP 669 was once owned by the Missouri Pacific before that road was bought out by Uncle Pete in the 1980s.

View Map of 8th and Lucile

Alaskan Way and Broad Street - Then and Now

Today's Then and Now segment isn't as extreme in terms of years as others that have been posted here. It's only a matter of half a decade. Check out the video embedded below (click HERE if you can't see it). It shows a BNSF freight heading south under the Olympic Sculpture Park.

Video courtesy of Citywalker on Flickr

Now compare it to the photos below, taken in 2005 and 2006 before the park was completed. First one - like the video - shows a BNSF freight heading south through Broad Street crossing.

Second picture shows riders getting off Metro's Waterfront Trolley. Where the bridge stands now was once the car barn for these machines. Promises back in 2005 to reinstate the line once a new car barn was built near Pioneer Square have fallen through; thankfully the trolleys are in "deep storage."

The trolley service is the element I miss the most from this spot.

View Area Map

Sunday Morning Rail Shot

09-03
Originally uploaded by Atomic Taco

Just a quiet moody Black & White shot taken by Atomic Taco and posted on Flickr.

Ferromex Sighting in Vancouver

Ferromex in the PNW I
Originally uploaded by steveeshom

Here we see the colorful southern iron of Ferromex from Mexico! After living in a sea of Great Pumpkins in Seattle, it's nice to see some variety in the Pacific Northwest.

Thanks Steve for the unique sighting in Vancouver 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

Photo - North Bonneville Speed Shot

BNSF Reflection.
Originally uploaded by Darrell Wyatt (out looking for work)

Found this photo by Darrell Wyatt this morning on Flickr. It was taken east of Vancouver at North Bonneville, and shows a vivid reflection of BNSF 9316, an SD70 "Big Ace" on its way east. Check out a detail pic of this unit here: http://ow.ly/5ony

Nice way to start the day, with the greens of the trees, the greys of the skies, and the oranges of commerce. Go Washington!

Photo - Graffiti On A Hopper

Taken at Interbay, with my lens sticking through a fence! While I don't condone defacing private property, I have to admit this is perhaps one of the most stunning graffiti jobs I've ever seen.

Building America

Orderly and Chaotic, all on one hopper that passed me at speed on 4/21/09. Graffiti on train cars can cause arguments for many (I'm personally against someone defacing property that doesn't belong to them). But it also can pull a person into the tag through use of color and confidence. This one, cropped with the Orderly on top and the Chaotic below, signifies more than just a tagged car. It shows - despite the mix of color and form - order continues to rise above the illegal.

Taken with a Canon AE-1 with ISO 200 Film and a 135mm lens.

Last Sounder of The Day

Shot this picture at the intersection of 3rd Avenue S. and S. Horton Street in SODO. This was the last Sounder train heading back to Tacoma for the day on April 21st. The picture is "tweaked" a bit; I removed all the power lines from the shot. I also got some help with composition and lighting from another railfan - Thanks Robert! The shot is definitely grainy; it was cheap ISO200 film, but good practice for future shots.

SDRX 904 is an EMD F59PHI, a 3200hp locomotive designed for passenger trains. Top speed is listed as 110mph.

BNSF 2759 Crossing The Duwamish

The elements of this shot developed within minutes.

While out train watching with David on Thursday night, he insisted that we go to Harbor Island. H.I. is still a bit of a mystery to me, and I'm always afraid that I will end up driving down some road with a security booth and no way out. But in the late evening light of March - thank you New Daylight Savings Schedule - I was able to see the roads of the Island a bit better than in the past. Our driving led us to SW Klickitat Way, near the bridge you see in the picture. Klickitat runs along the Duwamish River, an estuary in peril from over 100 years of industry along its banks. Efforts to clean up the river are serious and ongoing.

When we got there the bridge was up. Within seconds it started to go down. Then David saw a rumbling road switcher heading down the other side of the river, pulling a few empty hoppers. We grabbed the camera and hopped out of the truck to stand in a convenient clear spot near the tracks. Not long after, a brakeman walked across the bridge towards the switches on the other side. "Just going to get some ice cream," he smiled. We reminded him to bring two back for us.

Eventually BNSF 2759 lumbered its way over the span and I shot photos as fast as I could wind the AE-1! SODO and Harbor Island are both great places to catch urban railroading at its gritty best. Thanks to David's keen eye and persistence, we were able to get another great shot for our archives.

View Location in Google Maps

Archive Photo - UP in Pullman

Another example of motorcycles and trains...

The other day I found some negatives in the garage, black & white but with no prints to be found anywhere. They document the two motorcycles we owned at the time; I only remember vaguely taking these photos, and I would have never figured they would have any significance someday.

This particular one is significant for what is no longer there. Primarily the shot depicts my wife's 250 Rebel in 1990 along SE Riverview St, but also shows former Missouri Pacific railcars owned by the Union Pacific - presumably there after dropping coal at the university power plant. Behind it, the East Main Street bridge - then locally known as "The Viaduct." The UP no longer runs through Pullman, nor does the BNSF; both pulled out in the early 1990s and the area has been Short Line territory ever since - now under the ownership of the State and serviced by the Washington and Idaho Railroad.

For more archive shots of Pullman and other areas, visit Robert McDonald at Oil-Electric. For pictures in and around Pullman from the present day (and Washington at large), visit Mike Bjork's collection at Railpictures.net!

View Larger Map

Photo - Old School Signaling

You know what's cool about Public Domain? It's cool that you can use pictures like this for anything you like! Even though this photo wasn't taken in Washington, it still gives us an important visual into the past of railroading. The Library of Congress describes the scene as follows:

Indiana Harbor Belt RR, switchman demonstrating signal with a "fusee" - used at twilight and dawn - when visibility is poor. This signal means "stop." Calumet City, Ill.

Happy New Year 2009 from WARail!

Photo courtesy of Thomas J. Nanos

Well, we've sent another year packing. A tumultuous, mind-boggling, roller coaster of a year. I'm sure by some measure we've all seen impact from this 365-day test of will. 2008 is a year for the books, and definitely one for history. My hope for all WARail readers in 2009 is for safety - both physical and financial - and for endless railfanning opportunities!

Special thanks to Thomas J. Nanos for this photo of Providence and Worcester 2009, to help us break in the New Year! Sure, the P&W runs thousands of miles away from the Evergreen State, but Tom's shot of engine number 2009 is just so darn cool (I love night photography...still working on perfecting mine). P&W also likes the fact that this engine is numbered 2009, and they love Tom's photo as well; it's being used as their January shot for their company calender. Congrats Tom!

Check out Tom's blog HERE, and more of his Rail photos HERE.

Milwaukee #356 - Then and Now

Welcome to another Then and Now segment at WARail! In this post we focus on the once mighty Milwaukee Road.

EMD Serial #74610-1 was one of the many GP38-2 units built for the MILW in the early 1970s. This first Then and Now photo was taken at the Morton Depot in the summer of 1977. Morton is in the eastern part of Lewis County, near the southern end of former Milwaukee Road trackage (now owned by Tacoma Rail). MILW #356 was photographed by John Crosby, former Milwaukee Road employee and railroader. John had the sense to document a lot of MILW activity in the 1970s when he worked there; what he compiled then is now a rare look at a "Fallen Flag." This picture is only one of the many he has on file.

The second picture is of the same unit - now known as SOO 4506 - and was taken by Frank Rizzo during the summer of 2008 in North Dakota. That's 34 years to date on the rails...and counting! For those who might not know why this unit is now in SOO paint (and technically owned by Canadian Pacific), #356 was one of the many locomotives purchased by SOO Line when they bought all the bankrupt Milwaukee Road assets in the mid 1980s. For more pictures of the same unit over the years - in various paint schemes - click HERE!

In recent years there has been an awakening to the history of The Milwaukee Road and the years it served Washington. The Lost Rail blog does a great job of documenting the relics left from the line. There is a beautiful restored depot in South Cle Elum. Streets around former locations of Milwaukee Road properties are named things like...you guessed it...Milwaukee Rd, Milwaukee St, and Milwaukee Way. In Tacoma one can still see the tilted red rectangle of its logo painted on a trestle Sound Transit uses day in day out. The Milwaukee Road's "Tideflats Yard" is now the "Tideflats Division" of Tacoma Rail. The underdog of the Western rail expansion pulled out of Washington in 1980 before eventually disappearing into a paper trail around 1987. In its wake the Milwaukee left legends, stories, a kickin' logo, and a large number of Washington-based former employees spread from Port Angeles to the Idaho Border.

It's no secret that I love the Milwaukee Road. I won't hide that fact. My oldest son wears a Milwaukee Road hat because he too loves the Milwaukee Road. I even created a fictitious railroad called The Wilburton Line and based the logo on the famous angled rectangle. It's something in the colors, the versatility, and the fact that it ran here when I was in my formative years, even using trackage rights through East King County within earshot of my home.

If a person knows where to look, bits of "The Road" can be found all over Washington. Thankfully we have pictures like the ones above to see what was and what is still today!

Other Then and Now segments:

• Great Northern SDP40 - Then and Now
• Kingdome - Then and Now
• Easton WA - Then and Now
• White Pass & Yukon #114 - Then and Now
• Under Jackson Street - Then and Now
• Interbay Yard - Then and Now