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

Video - BNSF & UP Meet in Vancouver WA

BNSF #4582 Meets UP #7772 in Vancouver, WA
by Tran77

Sit back for the next four minutes or so and check out the embedded video above. If you don't see it, click HERE to view directly in DailyMotion!

Video - Sound Transit Light Rail Testing

Oran Viriyincy posted this video of Light Rail testing in the Rainier Valley. It's 9 minutes of crossings, honks, bells, and traffic. Great stuff when you like trains, that's for sure!

If you can't see the embedded video below, click HERE to see it directly on YouTube.

Video - Train Report for School Project

My son was able to do a video report about trains for his class, and this is the result. He picked the media, took a lot of the photos and footage, and even chose the song used for the soundtrack. I edited, but tried to keep his voice primary in the video. You won't find much data accuracy here; David explains switcher movements in the rail yard as "fooling around." It's cool that he has a desire to explain what he sees in terms he understands. What you will discover by watching this is that an elementary schooler knows more about things like Balmer Yard and Amtrak Cascades than a lot of other kids his age!

Bottom line: starting kids early on trains can give them a reason to explore other things like video editing or photography, two areas that my son has already expressed interest in. If you don't see the embedded video below, click HERE to watch it directly on YouTube!

Video - First Full Run of LINK Light Rail

KOMO TV Video of first full-line run of the light rail, from Westlake Center to Tukwila. Great stuff!

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.

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Video - BNSF 2125 And The Garbage Train

Here is a video I shot of BNSF 2125 assembling the Garbage Train. It was the first time I attached my video camera to a tripod, in an effort to create a smooth transition back and forth as the train moved. I still prefer hand-held for this stuff, but I'm willing to try other methods. The right-of-way is along 2nd Avenue S. at Horton Street; one can park and - mostly importantly - stand legally and safely off railroad property to watch the procession of trains. Gritty as it is, this is now one of my favorite spots for train watching.

2125 is officially an EMD GP38AC built in 1971 as #648 for the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway, better known as The Frisco. This railroad was merged in to Burlington Northern in 1980, and the engines were spread across the system.

It's nice to see these merger machines still in service, almost 40 years after being built! For the record, up close this thing sounded awesome. I can imagine it in the great Frisco red & white paint scheme at some time in history.

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Video - SDRX 904 Pushing Sounder

4/17/2009 - I just barely got out of my truck when this Sounder started blowing its way through the Spokane Street crossing. A quick power finger and a steady hand caught it on video heading north to King Street Station!

Video - Seattle Double Stack Train with Helper

Here's a little video of a Union Pacific double stack train that I shot along Airport Way South at Norfolk Street last January. It was the first time I ever saw something run through Seattle with a helper engine on the back end. While the train took a full four minutes to pass my location, I trimmed 2 minutes out of the middle of the footage because the whole thing looked the same; I may like trains but four minutes of sitting in a computer chair watching a unit train pass on the screen just isn't my thing. On a nice day this location will yield a stunning view of Mt. Rainier looking to the south. This day was more typical of Seattle winter - grey and 40 with some snow still on the ground.

Heading up the train is UP 7727 - a GE ES44AC. UP currently has over 700 of these. This particular engine really gets around; I found pictures on the Internet from what appears taken surfside in California and then also another in Illinois. I guess it's no surprise these things accrue a million miles with little effort.

Video - Train Meet in Seattle

Captured this video footage along the BNSF Mainline of a Train Meet between Spokane and Horton Streets in Seattle. It was a surprise meet between the southbound Garbage Train and the northbound Coast Starlight (which appeared to be on time).

Montana has "The Night Gas." Powder River Basin has "The Coal Train." I find it funny that an eco-friendly area like Western WA is known in rail circles for "The Garbage Train." Does that resonate with anyone else?

Video - Trains and HD Motorcycles

This new Harley Davidson video shows you how railroading takes its place of prominence in an urban landscape; seamless integration, a mechanical backdrop. Nowhere, yet everywhere. Railroad tracks - and the trains who love them - serve as much of the landscaping while Harley highlights the new Iron 883 model Sportster. It does a fine job of blending two of the things I love in life, trains and motorcycles. If I had a fatter wallet, I would be doing the Iron 883 treatment to my own 883 Low!

The setting of this video? Probably Southern California based on the terrain, a license plate I saw, and the copious number of UP engines running through much of the video. Enjoy!

Video: Vintage Amtrak Commercials

Not a bad view, considering someone pointed a camera at a TV screen and recorded these vintage commercials onto YouTube! At least they used quality sound.

As a side note, I'm interested to see how Amtrak will fair in 2009 - with a new administration, uncertain financial times, pain-in-the-ear lines at the airports, and fuel currently trading at their lowest levels in years.

Video - Trains Hitting Cars

Before you cross those tracks, consider what a locomotive can do to your ride. This short video on YouTube from Pentrex gives you a good visual!

I'm a huge advocate for rail safety, so I think this one is a good thing to show kids so they can see just how much damage a train can do.

Seattle and North Coast Video - 1982

Thankfully someone caught this short line on video before its demise! The Seattle & North Coast ran on former Milwaukee Road trackage on the Olympic Peninsula and had a very small yard in Seattle for the boat ride to Port Townsend. It's a shame it didn't last, because it operated in one of the most beautiful places in the state.

This blog post at Mile 15 gives a quick history of the SCN.

Trains and Talking Twinkies

Nothing like a nourishment-sapping snack cake saving the train the Old West. Don't believe me? Watch the commercial!

Last Run of the Dinner Train to Woodinville

This isn't earth-shattering video, but for a railfan in the right place at the right time it was nice to catch the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train on its last run from Woodinville to Renton on July 31, 2007. The right-of-way between Renton and Bellevue - at the time of this writing - is being abandoned (I think it's a bad idea, but that's a whole other subject that I have already fought). Without the right-of-way, the Dinner Train had to relocate. It is currently running from Tacoma out towards Lake Kapowsin in the shadow of Mount Rainier, with plans to operate a total of three: Tacoma, Snohomish/Woodinville, and Vancouver WA.

Now that's my kind of trifecta!