May 19, 2006
|
|
last updated: 01/03/07
all text and photographs
on this site are
© 2000-2007 Dave Honan
unless otherwise noted
this site requires
enabling of javascript
for best viewing, a screen
resolution of 800x600 pixels
or greater is recommended
|
GorgeRail Day 1
I was out of my hotel room at 05:30 to ensure I would be trackside for sunrise. One problem:
It was overcast. But since I didn't come down here for a long weekend to do nothing, I set out
to find and photograph trains.
|
| Lyle, WA |
 |
I explored for a bit before settling on the Chamberlain Lake causeway as the location for my
first shot; I remembered this spot well from my 2003 road trip.
Eventually the eastbound M-PTLPAS2-18A showed up and was photographed.
Since there was no sun I didn't feel like chasing trains eastward, and instead moved west towards
Bingen to poke around that area. |
| Chatfield, OR |
 |
Across the Columbia River, UP 4161 was in charge of the west AGBSE-14; that's Mt. Hood in the
distance. Curiously enough, I photographed UP 4161 a few years ago when it was
fresh from the paint shop at Super Steel Schenectady, Inc.,
back home in New York. |
| Lyle, WA |
 |
Amtrak No. 27, the Portland section of the Empire Builder, hustles westward between
Lyle and Bingen. |
| Lyle, WA |
 |
An eastbound freight was waiting at Bingen for Amtrak; fifteen minutes after No. 27 passed,
FURX 8092 led the M-EVEPAS1-18A over the MP 81.7 defect detector.
After shooting this train I headed west to Cooks to meet up with Aaron Hockley and Steve Eshom,
who had graciously allowed me to follow them around as they spent the day railfanning the Gorge. |
| Mosier, OR |
 |
With maintenance crews now occupying the mainline on the BNSF Fallbridge Sub, we decided to
hop across the river to UP's Portland Sub and see what was running over there. We ended up at
Mosier to shoot the eastbound MEUNP-18 crossing an inlet of the Columbia River.
We next headed for an overlook on Old US 30 to scout out the view from on top of the bluffs... |
| Lyle, WA |
 |
We arrived to find the M-PASVAW1-19A creeping up to the holdout signal at Lyle and quickly set
up to shoot the train crossing the Klickitat River. |
| Lyle, WA |
 |
As the train proceeded past the signal at Restricted speed after getting talked past it by
the Pasco West Dispatcher, a barge slowly heads upriver. |
| Rowena, OR |
 |
In the mid-day haze, a UP potash train rolls westward between the river and I-84. The same
barge in the previous photograph can be seen in the distance. |
| Lyle, WA |
 |
As the sun finally starts to break out of the high overcast, the M-VAWBAR1-17A works
eastward past the town of Lyle.
Having accomplished what we intended, we headed back to Mosier to shoot some UP trains;
instead, we got thoroughly rained upon as a line of strong thunderstorms rolled through.
After a while, we made our way to Horsethief Lake east of North Dalles in hopes of shooting
late-afternoon BNSF westbounds, and also to meet up with a bunch of other railfans. |
| North Dalles, WA |
 |
First up was the R-NWE8451-19I, a local returning to Wishram to tie up for the day. |
| North Dalles, WA |
 |
While waiting for the next train, the sun popped out and revealed a rainbow climbing over
the Columbia River. |
| North Dalles, WA |
 |
Following ten minutes behind an eastbound manifest (not pictured here) was the
S-TCBCHC3-18A -- finally, a train in the sun! Unfortunately, BNSF ran these three eastbounds
in a half-hour, and then the railroad pretty much died because the nearest westbound was
somewhere near Pasco, so we all packed up and headed for The Dalles. |
|
|
|
