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

Seattle Archive Trolley Photo, 1929

Harbor Ave SW, 1929, originally uploaded by Seattle Municipal Archives.

History - especially Seattle history - really hooks me. What's amazing is that the region has been populated long enough now to have a diverse sense of what has gone on here for centuries. It's common to locate photos now that are well over 100 years old, with scenes that can be duplicated to some degree. Today's photo, sadly, would be a tough one for Now & Then.

This photo was taken looking toward West Seattle in 1929; the house near the middle of the photo is at 3039 SW Manning Street, which still stands. The tracks - for the most part - still exist on the right. To duplicate this photo today would be nearly impossible, as the area is covered in bridges and viaducts.

Thanks to Seattle Municipal Archives on Flickr for this great shot!

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Seconda Amtrak Cascades in Vancouver BC

Amtrak #513 Cascades Departing Vancouver, BC, originally uploaded by R R Horne.

While corresponding with my buddy Oil-Electric, he wrote that another railfan north of the border in BC caught an image showing one of the first runs of the second Amtrak Cascades train visiting Vancouver. That image, by RR Horne, captures the Cascades in early morning light on its way south.

Now our northern neighbors get two Cascades a day!

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!