Dogcaught: A Railroad Blog

The BN Lives!

Steve Eshom — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:18:10 +0000

I spotted these BN center beams blowing through Cunningham, WA a couple of weeks ago. Take out the second track and concrete ties and this photograph could just as easily be from 20 years ago. I’m sure there would be less rust on the cars though.

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, burlington northern, cunningham washington, center beam, flat car

East Into the Blues

Steve Eshom — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:28:46 +0000

With friends from California in tow I headed east to help Robert show off the Blues. We made a few stops in the gorge at places along the UP that I’d never visited. Its amazing how many times I’ve driven through the gorge and have never stopped at some of these fabulous locations.

Between Biggs and Rufus

As train traffic in the gorge petered out (and the local out of The Dalles derailed at Hood River) we headed to Kamela summit for what was a reasonably busy afternoon. It was really fun to see and hear the excitement as the foreign guests witnessed their first train topping over amid the Tamarck’s changing for the season. The 10,000ft long stack train didn’t hurt anything either.

Topping over Kamela Summit

After a night in LaGrande we headed over Telocaset in mixed fog and sun. The Baker valley always seems to deliver good light in the morning! The last train on the pass was a westbound inspection train after which we ended our brief tour of the Blues.

Nothing like North Powder in the morning!

Technorati Tags: trains, railroad, railfan, photos, photography, blue mountains, the blues, union pacific

Daylight Arrival

Steve Eshom — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:19:02 +0000

Like in July when I watched the Daylight leave for Michigan, I chose to observe it locally rather than go on a big steam chase. The hassles of spending all day to get a couple of photos didn’t thrill me. My daughter Haley really wanted to see it in action again so the choice of staying local seemed to make more sense.

So where and how should I photograph the Daylight? I headed out along the Fallbridge sub just east of McLoughlin and set up in my favorite spot for pans. I have several hundred photos of the Daylight frozen in time, why not one of her in motion?

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, sp 4449, daylight, vancouver, washington

Last Summer… in 1880

Aaron Hockley — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:43:40 +0000

This past summer, our family took a roadtrip back to South Dakota to visit family. While we were there, one of our activities was to ride behind the “1880 Train” – more properly known as the Black Hills Central Railroad. It’s a tourist line running between Keystone and Hill City, South Dakota. While the train made a passenger and water stop in Hill City, I took a few photos. According to the railroad, the Black Hills Central 110 is the only articulated mallet in operation. Here’s one of my favorite shots from the trip:

A Blur

Steve Eshom — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:49:51 +0000

The past two weeks have been a blur. It all started 10/20 with the return of the 4449 from its epic journey. After photographing the Daylight I….

1. Railfanned the UP side of the gorge
2. Railfanned the Blue Mountains as far east as North Powder
3. Railfanned Providence Hill as far east as Lind
4. Railfanned the BNSF side of the gorge
5. Railfanned the Seattle sub
6. Did all the computer and audio work for the Autumn Leaf Slideshow
7. Railfanned in the gorge again with someone who helped me gain an entirely different perspective on railfan photography and writing

Needless to say last week was spent catching up on sleep and loose ends. Look for more posts around this journey of the next few weeks!

Technorati Tags: railroad, photo, photography, train, BNSF, vancouver, washington

Downtown

Steve Eshom — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:34:26 +0000

Sunday before following the activity at North Portland Jct., I found myself at the north end of Portland Union Station for the arrival of America’s Train, Amtrak’s Empire Builder. Since I moved to Vancouver in 1993 this location has grown up so to speak. Prior to this condo building it sat empty while the soils were scrubbed from its previous life as home to the Hoyt St. roundhouse.

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, portland, oregon, hoyt st., pearl district, amtrak, empire builder

DINA in the Gorge

Steve Eshom — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 22:56:25 +0000

Railroads Illustrated magazine’s A Day in North America brings railfans all over the North American continent track side on a single day each year to capture railroading as it is. For my day I headed to the Columbia River gorge with the goal of photographing a couple of places I have never spent much time at. For the most part I was able to capture what I wanted however the right trains and the right light weren’t always at the same location at the same time. I guess that’s the challenge of railfan photography even when its not DINA.

The DPU on a westbound grainer goes back to idle as 110 cars ahead the head end has passed an approach medium to east Bingen

An empty grainer sprints between tunnels 5 and 6 east of Cooks

As the day wore on rain showers became more regular and between about 2:30 and 4:30 west of Bingen it was pretty much a rain out. At 4:30 the skies cleared and the light was fabulous. I think the trains however were afraid of getting wet because they all ran away and hid. Such is life on DINA.

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, railroads illustrated, white river productions, day in north america, DINA, BNSF, columbia river gorge

Family Train

Steve Eshom — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:07:35 +0000

Sometimes little things make your day. Today it was standing outside with Haley as this auto train crossed over to main 2 at the center. She dutifully identified the railroad on each auto rack as it passed.

“Horse”
“Gee Tee”
“Bee Nnn S efF”
“Union Pa-cific”
“outhern Pa-cific”
“Cee Nnn”

The only ones she didn’t know were Providence and Worcester and Canadian Pacific. Good stuff!

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, Union Pacific, family, Vancouver, Washington

The Broadview Sub – Update

Steve Eshom — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:32:03 +0000

Trains Magazine published a news item today on the Broadview sub. According to the article coal should start shipping from the mine next week! Wish I could be there.

Here’s a couple of other interesting facts that I did not know from the Trains news wire. The first is about the station of Walter which is the junction with the Laurel sub….

BNSF and Montana local and state government officials dedicated the station in honor of Great Falls resident Walter Breuning, the world’s oldest living man at 112 and a retired railroader who worked for the Great Northern Railroad and its successor companies for 50 years. His namesake junction, called Walter, is located south of Broadview, Mont.

Bravo!

How many trains will this line see?

Within two years, Signal Peak (formerly known as Bull Mountain) is expected to produce more than 12 million tons annually, or three to four trains daily.

I’m looking forward to next year’s visit and I’m hoping the train count is as expected.

[tags] train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, BNSF, Signal Peak, Broadview, Montana, coal [/train]

A Day in the Life of Stanford, MT

Steve Eshom — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 23:57:47 +0000

L-MON8521 (Great Falls or “Lost” Local) passes through the center of Stanford, MT. Central Ave. in Stanford contains everything a resident needs: A grocery store, a restaurant, a deli, a hardware store, a post office, a gift shop, a barber shop, and most importantly, two bars.

This “selective” color version of the downtown Stanford photo was chosen from several different versions I worked up and presented to my review committee (Rachel, Tammy, and Carol). I hope you enjoy it.

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, Stanford, Montana, downtown, BNSF

Business is Down

Steve Eshom — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:19:59 +0000

Railroad business is down and this isn’t a surprise to anyone who follows our economy. My next statement won’t surprise you either. Business is down in Central Montana too. Last year at this time BNSF ran daily trains between Sweet Grass, MT and Laurel, MT. This year they are no longer daily and only go as far as Shelby, MT with a local handling the CP interchange to Sweet Grass.

M-LAUSHM, the lone through train on Thursday, crosses Otter Creek near Armington.

Looking at things from a manager perspective fewer trains and different management of power at Shelby probably are more “efficient” for the bottom line. In a tough economy, that’s what you have to do. These changes do mean delays to freight though as cars can sit at Laurel, Shelby, or Sweet Grass for an extra day before being moved to the opposite end of the line for delivery. A calculated decision I’m sure.

The lone through train on Friday, the M-SHMLAU, passes the unused elevator at Windham.

In addition to the reduced traffic cars are stored everywhere. In the back tracks at Armington, Geyser, and Stanford are enough 1970s steel coal cars to make a full coal train. Down at Cushman the passing siding is full of TOFC flats. The Lewistown Sub, which has traditionally been storage, is packed. The most telling sign of our economy is the 120+ aluminum coal hoppers stored on the Central Montana at Moccasin. Modern cars that were part of the constant growth of Powder River basin coal shipping are now just sitting.

Got coal train? Stored coal hoppers at Stanford.

Economic doom and gloom aside there are some positives. Despite being less than daily the trains are running longer than last year which means there is still business. Farming around Central Montana appears on the outside like it did a year ago. The wheat is ripe and being harvested, the cattle are every where and are being shipped for processing, and the grass is green and being cut for winter feed. The Great Falls local pulled a cut of 50+ stored boxcars off the Lewistown sub Thursday an whether they are headed back to service or for scrap it means something good for someone.

Healing the economy will most likely take some time so hopefully by next year’s visit operations around here will be back to normal.

The Shelby-Laurel train approaching Judith Gap.

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, BNSF, Central Montana, economy, farming, Armington, Stanford, Geyser, Judith Gap, Montana

Hobson

Steve Eshom — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:52:22 +0000

Like many of the towns in this part of Montana, Hobson is a small town of several hundred residence and contains the usual things like a small grocery store, a restaurant, and of course grain elevators! These are classic wooden elevators that haven’t seen any paint for some time so they make for a great backdrop.

Sadly I’ve passed through Hobson dozens of times on my way to other places but have never photographed there. On this trip the 9000 ton (.9 HPT) Laurel-Shelby was moving slow enough that I was able to photograph it outside of Judith Gap and make it into Hobson with enough time to set up.

M-LAUSHM at Hobson

Technorati Tags: train, photo, photography, railfan, Montana, Hobson, BNSF, big sky, grain elevator

The Broadview Sub

Steve Eshom — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:09:38 +0000

Never heard of it? You are not alone…

BNSF’s Broadview sub is a new spur into the Bull Mountain mine north west of Billings, MT. The spur was recently constructed as part of an overall upgrade to the Bull Mountain facilities. The line is 35 miles long and leaves BNSF’s Laurel subdivision at a new station called Walter about 2 miles south of little town of Broadview.

South Siding Switch Walter

While exploring the south end of the Laurel sub yesterday I took some time between trains to drive out to the mine and see what a brand new railroad looks like. As you might guess any railroad that will see coal trains will be built ruggedly and this is no exception. There are quite a few grade crossings but there are also a few overpasses and underpasses where the terrain dictates.

Broadview as seen from the overpass at MP 8.8

My goal for this visit was to take some pictures for myself of the completed line. Then a funny thing happened. The Montana branch dispatcher called the BNSF 5214 and asked what time they’d be back to the mainline at Walter. During this discussion it was revealed that the 5214 was leading a geometry train up the branch. I couldn’t believe it, all of my photos wouldn’t be sans trains!

S curve south of the Majerus Rd. overpass

The Broadview sub is easily accessible for the railfan thanks to parallel roads. Some of the roads follow a grid pattern so chasing may be a bit challenging though. Yesterday it helped that the geo train was moving slowly so I could easily leap frog and get to the next location ahead of it. I’m not sure what the final speed on the branch will be, but if its any faster than 25 mph keeping up with a train on the gravel roads will be tough. To see the line for yourself leave MT 3 at 21 Mile Rd. in Broadview. This road takes you to MP 11. Next turn north on Cushman Rd/Gooding Creek Rd then right on Majerus Rd for the rest of the line to US 87.

Crossing the valley at MP 11

I don’t know that I’ve heard a schedule for running the first train out to the mine but from the looks of it the railroad is ready. Chatting with a local yesterday he told me that the geometry train was the first thing other than ballast and rail trains he’d seen. Once the trains start to roll its likely many of us will hear much more about the scenic Broadview sub.

Almost back to the mainline at MP 6

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, bnsf, montana, broadview, bull mountain, coal, mine

Signal Aspect In View

Steve Eshom — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:01:50 +0000

UP’s PTFI was the third of three consecutive north bound UP trains on Sunday morning. The repo train rolled through the center first followed 15 minutes later by a short Z-LCSE which used the NP Pass track to get out of the way of Amtrak. The PTFI didn’t get the green light treatment though and had to sit at the center while Opie worked out what to do with the PTLPAS in front of them.

Signal Aspect In View

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, photo, photography, union pacific, Vancouver, Washington

Chimping on the Platform

Steve Eshom — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:24:14 +0000

If photography is prohibited on an Amtrak platform without a ticket is chimping also? Names, dates, and locations to remain private to protect the innocent.

Chimping on the Platform

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, Amtrak, platform, photo policy

Yard Goat

Steve Eshom — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 03:29:04 +0000

One of the most abused and little loved locomotives on the roster is the switch engine. Yard goats are usually grungy and carry the evidence of the constant work demanded of them. To add further insult to injury railfans tend to ignore them since they don’t carry the flashiest paint jobs and are usually well hidden in the confines of the yard.

UPY 1300 works the south end of Lake Yard

Then there are the railroaders that work the yard. What job could be more difficult and dangerous than working the ground in a yard with close clearance between the tracks and equipment constantly moving? I respect those that do it safely and efficiently every day as they are a breed apart from those of us that man a desk everyday.

“Kick’em 1300″

So here’s to the yard goat and all the railroaders that work with them…

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, photo, photography, Union Pacific, Lake Yard, Oregon, Portland, switch engine, UP

Home Turf

Steve Eshom — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 23:09:46 +0000

Lining out at the south end of the NP Pass

Returning to your home turf after a refreshing vacation can spark all sorts of creativity. For me I look at things with a whole different view point and desire after I’m away. Before I headed to Stevens Pass last week I had almost no desire to get out of my vehicle (it is comfortable after all) and make some photographs happen. Thanks to last week’s vacation the juices were flowing and the motivation was on this week. I hope this euphoria continues for a few more weeks until my next vacation!

A late Amtrak 500 crosses the Columbia River Drawbridge

Directions

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, photo, photography, bnsf, amtrak, vancouver, washington

Up The Hill

Steve Eshom — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:38:06 +0000

As I mentioned last week I made a visit to Stevens Pass and Trinidad Hill over the weekend. The weather was expected to be hot but turned out to be cooler than expected with highs barely reaching 90 at Wenatchee. Saturday dawned with thunderstorms east of the hill which persisted throughout the entire day. Not all was lost though as one small thunder-bumper near Plain helped me produce one of my favorite images of the trip.

The Rain on Plain

The sun did pop out from time to time making for some interesting photos like the photo below.

These poor guys were really screwed by the dispatcher. She called and asked them if they could get the train started at Berne to which they replied “yes!”. Instead of maintaining track speed up the east side she stopped them on the main at Merritt. They waited for over an hour while an eastbound Z passed through the tunnel and down the hill. Upon meeting the chit chat between the trains resulted in the agreement that there was plenty of time for a Scenic meet and a flush which would have resulted in a more efficient meet. All that said, this photo would not have been possible without that delay.

Out of the Slot and into the sun

I posted some additional photos along with the group at railroadforums.com.

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, BNSF, Stevens Pass, Wentachee River, Nason Creek

Hot Times on the Hill

Steve Eshom — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:37:45 +0000

I’m headed northeast this weekend for some time on the Scenic and Columbia River subdivisions. It should be fun as usual and the weather should be…well…hot. Hey, should I expect anything different in Wenatchee in July?

S-SEALPC climbs around the Trinidad loop in 2007

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, wenatchee, quincy, trinidad, washington, bnsf, intermodal

Daylight Departure

Steve Eshom — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:08:53 +0000

One part of me would have loved to spend the last week chasing the Daylight to Minneapolis. In this case the economic side won out over the railfan side and I settled for a few pictures around Portland and Vancouver. Here’s some of my favorites.

Prep Work

A quiet moment

On the road…at last

Technorati Tags: train, railroad, railfan, photo, photography, daylight, sp4449, stream