Name: Kicking freight cars at Delta Yard, Everett, WA, 1-11-2011 @SeattleRailFan
Uploaded: 2024-10-11T08:17:00-05:00
Duration: 8 min 17 s
Description: Kicking freight cars at Delta Yard, Everett, WA, 1-11-2011

Kicking freight cars at Delta Yard, Everett, WA, 1-11-2011

SeattleRailFan 2024-10-11 | Kicking freight cars at Delta Yard, Everett, WA, 1-11-2011

Trains in the Rain in Auburn, WA 1-23-2016

SeattleRailFan 2016-02-28 | I was down in Auburn, WA (about 20 miles south of Seattle) on rainy, overcast day. Fortunately, Auburn Station has a covered pedestrian overpass, which enables one to shoot video without getting the camera soaking wet.

Listening to my scanner, I heard a train approaching. So I trudged up to the overpass and set up for the shot.

Our first train was a short manifest freight, running south on Main 1. The lead engine was a leaded engine, CREX 1329 (ES44AC).

The rain slacked off a bit, so I went down on the platforms, where I could still shoot under cover of the overpass.

Next up was an Amtrak Cascades passenger train, running south on Main 1. The train was led by a non-powered cab car with AMTK 93 (P42DC) pushing on the rear.

Twenty minutes later and the northbound Main 1 signal went to Approach Medium then to Clear. So I setup to see what was coming.

As I waited, a track inspector came motoring down Main 2 in his Hy-Rail truck.

And our last train came into view, a garbage train led by BNSF 5004 (C44-9W). This would be an empty train, coming from the landfill in Roosevelt, WA and headed to either Seattle or Everett.

Freight:
CREX 1329 / BNSF 7955
ES44AC / ES44C4

Amtrak:
AMTK 93 / P42DC

Garbage:
5004 / 4150
C44-9W / C44-9W

A Pair of Trains in Auburn, WA, 1-18-2016

SeattleRailFan 2016-01-24 | For my first video of the year, I'm trackside in Auburn, WA - about 20 miles south of Seattle. I'm just north of Auburn Station near the W Main St crossing.

The Auburn North signal just north of me is showing Diverging Clear on Main 2 so a train is due soon.

It turned out to be an oil train led by BNSF 8215 (ES44C4). She's just coming out of Auburn Yard and is under high throttle getting up to track speed. She's loaded with North Dakota crude headed to a refinery north of Seattle.

After waiting around for 30 minutes or so, the Main 1 signal showed Approach Medium so I setup again to see what was coming.

This time it was a grain train led by BNSF 6285 (ES44AC). She would be headed for the Louis Dreyfus grain terminal in Seattle. She's definitely fully loaded as I could feel the ground shaking as she passed.

Oil train:
8215 / 5495 / 4463 / 6218
ES44C4 / C44-9W / C44-9W / ES44AC

Grain train:
6285 / 4389 / 5314 / 4539
ES44AC / C44-9W / C44-9W / C44-9W

Crew 2 departing Stacy Yard, Seattle, 11-23-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-12-14 | Today I'm outside Stacy Yard in south Seattle. It's a normal winter day in Seattle - bitterly cold and heavily overcast.

Two locos just entered the yard running light power. They hooked up to a string of cars and waited for the yard dispatcher to give them permission to head out.

Took awhile, but they finally departed. This is Crew 2, they service customers in south Seattle, Tukwila, Auburn and then go down to Tacoma Yard.

Lead loco is BNSF 1461 (SD60M). I've seen her and other SD60M's on this local job several times.
The other loco is a leased unit, NREX 5974, ex-UP. She's a SD60. When the SD60 came out, they had the conventional cab with a narrow short hood, later models like the SD60M got a full-width short hood and the wide cab or North American Safety Cab as it's also called.

1461 / NREX 5974
SD60M / SD60

Two southbound trains in Edmonds, WA, 9-7-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-11-23 | On Labor Day, I made some extra cash by running a delivery to Port Angeles for our company. I came back via the Edmonds-Kingston ferry.

As my ferry approached Edmonds, I could see a southbound train waiting at Milepost 18.
From Milepost 18 north, there are 2 main tracks. South of Milepost 18 there is only 1 main track. So it's common to see southbound trains held at Milepost 18 waiting for a northbound train to pass.

I decided to park next to the tracks on Sunset Ave and see if I could catch them departing. I had no idea how long that would be. Sometimes they stop here for a few minutes, sometimes for hours.

While I was waiting, I shot some video of this beautiful, clear fall day on Puget Sound. There were big boats, little boats, people on the beach, a couple in a canoe and - a moron trespasser. Dude walked up the tracks to get a close shot of the waiting train. I was so wishing the engineer would have lit him up with some horn. That would have scared the crap out of him!

Finally, after 30 minutes the train got permission to depart. The stack train was led by BNSF 6711 (ES44C4). She would have originated in Chicago, headed for Seattle or maybe Tacoma.

As this train was passing I could see way in the the distance another southbound train approaching so I decided to wait for it as well.

While waiting, we had another trespasser. This time it was a scruffy looking drifter, probably walked the tracks down from Everett.

The second train came coasting around the curve. Once the engineer saw he had a Clear signal, he poured on the power. This manifest freight was led by BNSF 4660 (C44-9W). Good chance this was the EVEPAS (Everett to Pasco).

Stack:
6711 / 6849 / 4775 / 9003
ES44C4 / ES44C4 / C44-9W / SD70ACe

Freight:
4660 / 8219 / 4672
C44-9W / ES44C4 / C44-9W

Three trains in Tukwila, WA, 9-2-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-10-18 | Today I'm in Tukwila, WA, just south of Seattle to catch three trains in quick secession.

First up is a northbound manifest freight, pulled by a trio of Dash-9 locos, led by BNSF 5258 (C44-9W).

Next up was a southbound loaded garbage train, pulled by two GEVO C4's, led by BNSF 6907 (ES44C4).
The C4 locos have 6 axles but only 4 have traction motors. They cost less to buy, and are used on relatively light trains where you don't need the extra tractive effort given by having 6 traction motors.

Last up was a northbound loaded oil train, led by BNSF 6907 (ES44C4). The engineer was giving lot of whistle and bell for a work crew just out of sight. They're involved in the adding of a third main track in this area.

Freight:
5258 / 4976 / 4329
C44-9W / C44-9W / C44-9W

Garbage:
6907 / 6834
ES44C4 / ES44C4

Oil:
7242 / 701 / 6542 / 7102
ES44DC / C44-9W / ES44C4 / ES44C4

Renton Rocket street running with 737 fuselages, Renton, WA, 7-28-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-09-28 | Well, fellow railfans, I have a very special treat for you today. Something you, literally, can see nowhere else.

Here is the story, which is longer than the video!

On a summer afternoon I had parked by the mainline in south Seattle. There is an overpass that I though would be a good place to catch a northbound train.

While waiting and listening to my scanner the Renton Rocket local job snuck up on me going southbound.
The Renton Rocket services customers in Renton, with its primary task of delivering 737 fuselages to the Renton Boeing plant. The fuselages are made at the Spirit Aerosytems plant in Witchita, KS and brought to Renton via rail. Search my videos for "fuselage" and you'll several of my videos where I've caught fuselages on road trains coming into Seattle as well as on the Renton Rocket job.

A devious thought came into my head: could I get to downtown Renton before the Rocket did? Why? Because for three blocks in downtown Renton, the tracks run right down the middle of a public street.
Street running is pretty rare, especially on the big Class 1 railroads. Fuselages running in the street? Can't see that anywhere else on earth but here!

So I sprinted south to Renton. I figured I had a good chance to beat the Rocket because they had several well cars with garbage containers behind the fuselages. I presumed they'd drop those at the transfer facility first before heading over the Boeing plant.

I arrived on Houser Way S, where the tracks run. I drove down the street once, trying to figure the best shooting location.

I setup and waited, not knowing when they'd show up. I had my scanner on, hoping to hear the crew talking on the radio.

Finally I heard "foreman going in between, Rocket". That meant he was going in between cars to attach brake hoses or set/release handbrakes. The response was "Rocket, set and centered". That was the engineer telling the foreman that the air brakes were set and the reverser lever was in Neutral. And heard the term "Ryerson Steel" mentioned. That meant they were at Ryerson Steel, just a mile from my location.

I setup and waited for the train to arrive. They run about 10mph giving you plenty of time to view the train. You can't get much closer to a train than this! I was so close I really needed a wider angle lens to take in the cars.

Behind the locos were two coil cars. These are specialized flat cars used to carry large sheet metal coils. Ryerson receives rolls of sheet metal and turns them into various sheet products. These were empties they picked up at Ryerson.

The stars of the show are the two fuselages. This close up you can really see the details of how they attach them to the flat cars.

The fuselages are numbered 5558 and 5559. This means they're the 5,558th and 5,559th 737 Next Generation planes made. There were 1,988 of the original 737's made.

You may be able to hear some people talking in the background. There were some tourists behind me at the intersection. Once they saw the fuselages, they started taking pictures and chattering like mad at the scene before them.

Checking production lists on sites like Planespotters shows that 5558 was delivered on Sept 3rd to Lucky Air of China, tail #B-6016, it's a 737-800 variant.
Here she is on first flight: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FgXcDB6LHPY/VdabPEoZGuI/AAAAAAAAAPU/IUsZm_o-vZU/s1600/lucky.jpg
Here she is painted, landing at Shanghai: img.planespotters.net/photo/639000/original/b-6016-lucky-air-boeing-737-84pwl_PlanespottersNet_639869.jpg

5559 was delivered on Sept 9th to United Airlines, tail #N62889, it's a 737-900 variant.
Here she is painted: http://img1.jetphotos.net:8080/img/5/9/3/8/42592_1441746839.jpg

Who knows, one day you may be riding on a plane that you saw arriving to the plant where it was assembled!

Wicked cool, eh?

2269 / 2347
GP38-2 / GP38-2

Three freight trains southbound on Main 2, Kent, WA, 7-27-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-09-16 | Today I'm in Kent, WA, about 15 miles south of Seattle. I've set up just south of downtown. From here I can see the southbound signals at CP Willis, which helps me know if a train is approaching.

First up is a garbage train on Main 2, led by BNSF 7039 (ES44C4). This train originated from either Seattle or Everett and is headed to the landfill in Roosevelt, WA.

Next, I heard a crew calling Centralia North Dispatch looking for permission to come off the Industrial Lead onto the main and head south for Auburn Yard and Tacoma Yard. The Industrial Lead is a long siding that connects to Main 2 about 3/4 mile north of me.
This is likely either Crew 7 or Crew 9, they serve customers in this area. On the scanner they reported their train as: 2 loads, 42 empties, 2195 tons and 3342 feet.
And, the engineer of BNSF 1461 (SD60M) gave me a wave as they passed, which is always appreciated! Nice to see these old BN units still working hard.

Last up was a manifest freight, also on Main 2. Leading was CREX 1307 (ES44AC). This is a leased unit, I see these around here all the time.

Garbage:
7039 / 7548
ES44C4 / ES44DC

Local:
1461 / 1425
SD60M / SD60M

Freight:
CREX 1307 / 4587 / 4014
ES44AC / C44-9W / C44-9W

Five trains in Tukwila, WA, 7-22-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-08-28 | Today I set up in Tukwila, WA, 10 miles south of Seattle to see if could catch a train. As luck would have it, I caught 5 trains in two different locations. Sweeet!

I started out at the Tukwila passenger station. An oil train led by BNSF 7399 (ES44DC) was first up, headed northbound on Main 1. This is a loaded train, full of oil from North Dakota. To add some interest, I did something you can't do just anywhere - I started filming on the west platform then ran for the underpass and finished the shot on the east platform.

I then moved north to the other side of I-405 and setup trackside. I barely got set up when a southbound vehicle train came past me on Main 2. BNSF 8218 (ES44C4) was on point.

Fifteen minutes later BNSF 7680 (ES44DC) came around the curve northbound on Main 1. This was another loaded oil train.

Twenty minutes later came a northbound manifest freight on Main 1. The engineer of BNSF 7190 (ES44C4) gave me a little horn as he passed. Thank you!
While the train was passing, SDRX 923 (MP40PH-3C) came whizzing past me pulling a southbound Sounder commuter train on Main 2.

Whew, that was some day! Of the 14 freight locos, all but one were GE.

Oil 1:
7399 / 9029 / 4502 / 4472
ES44DC / SD70ACe / C44-9W / C44-9W

Vehicle:
8218 / 6727 / 7787
ES44C4 / ES44C4 / ES44DC

Oil 2:
7680 / 4521 / 4105 / 7505
ES44DC / C44-9W / C44-9W / ES44DC

Manifest freight:
7190 / 4498 / 4422
ES44C4 / C44-9W / C44-9W

Sounder:
SDRX 923 / MP40PH-3C

Garbage train southbound in Seattle, 7-20-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-08-18 | It's a nice, warm summer day in Seattle and I'm trackside at the Horton St crossing south of the city. The Main 3 signal went green so a train is due soon.

Around the curve comes BNSF 7854 (ES44DC) pulling a southbound garbage train. This is likely the INBROO (Interbay to Roosevelt) loaded with garbage going to the landfill in Roosevelt, WA. As always, garbage trains smell really great on a hot day!

7854 / 4369
ES44DC / C44-9W

Vehicle train on Seattle waterfront, 7-13-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-07-28 | Today I'm hanging out on the Seattle waterfront. It's a hot day and I'm loving the cool breeze coming off Puget Sound.

Listening to the scanner, I hear a train leaving Balmer Yard headed my way.

The train turns out to be a vehicle train led by BNSF 7250 (ES44DC). She would have just come in from Chicago loaded with autos from plants in the Midwest. The autos will be unloaded at yards south of here, then loaded with autos from Asia to take back to the Midwest.

I tried a variety of shooting locations, moving down the sidewalk to get different views. As she passes me, she takes a little S-curve before entering the old GN tunnel under downtown Seattle just out of sight.

7250 / 4369
ES44DC / C44-9W

Garbage train southbound at S. Horton St, 6-18-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-07-19 | I was hanging out on a warm summer day next to the mainlines near the Horton St crossing. I saw the Main 3 signal at CP Spokane St show Approach Medium so I knew a train was approaching.

Through the heat haze came BNSF 5185 (C44-9W) pulling the INBROO (Interbay to Roosevelt) garbage train southbound. This train takes garbage from the Seattle area to the landfill in Roosevelt, WA. As you might imagine on a warm day - garbage trains stink!

5185 / 4876
C44-9W / C44-9W

Vehicle train at North Portal, Seattle, 4-15-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-06-15 | I was hanging out on the downtown Seattle waterfront listening to my scanner. From the conversation between Dispatch and a train crew I deduced their train was leaving Balmer Yard and would be coming my way shortly.

I set up my camera on the sidewalk on Alaskan Way to see what was coming. Around curve came BNSF 7582 (ES44DC) bringing a vehicle train southbound on Main 2.

An interesting, symmetrical loco lashup here - two BNSF units and two from Norfolk Southern. Each pair consists of 1 Dash-9 and 1 Evolution Series and each pair face opposite directions.

7582 / 5398 / NS 9372 / NS 7645
ES44DC / C44-9W / C44-9W / ES40DC

Southbound freight in Kent, WA, 4-7-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-05-23 | Today I'm at Burlington Green Park in Kent, WA - about 20 miles south of Seattle. It's threatening to rain so I'm positioned in the gazebo, just in case.

BNSF 8104 (ES44C4) leads a southbound freight train past me on Main 1. Likely this train is headed to Pasco.

The 4th (a GP) and 5th (SD40-2) locos in the consist are not seen on mainline trains these days. They are probably DIT (Dead In Train), being moved from the Seattle area to somewhere else down the line.

8104 / 6654 / 1473 / 1508 / 1668 / 9806
ES44C4 / ES44C4 / GP28M / SD40-2 / SD70MAC

Northbound freight train in Tukwila, WA, 3-26-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-04-29 | We had a nice sunny spring day here in the Pacific NW and I'm in Tukwila, about 15 miles south of Seattle.

Listening to my scanner, I heard a train was coming northbound. I crossed over to the west side of the tracks to get the afternoon sun at my back.

BNSF 5303 (C44-9W) came into sight leaning into the curve, bringing a manifest freight under the I-405 overpass headed for Seattle. The 2nd loco was a UP unit.

For those may be wondering, the track directly in front of me is the UP Main.
As the camera pans you can see some of the infrastructure that railroad use - signals on their masts, signal bungalow, station sign "CP Tukwila". The gray boxes to the right of the signal bungalow is an AEI (Automatic Equipment Identification) reader. It reads RFID tags on railcars to help the railroad know exactly where railcars are in their system.

5303 / UP 5306 / 4075
C44-9W / AC45CCTE / C44-9W

BNSF and UP trains in Tukwila, WA, 3-24-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-04-16 | I'm trackside today in Tukwila, WA. The UP main is closest to me, the BNSF mainlines are the ones farther away.

Listening to scanner traffic, I'm expecting a northbound BNSF train any minute. A UP train is coming southbound at some point as well.

First up is BNSF 4551 (C44-9W) leading a northbound grain train. Mostly likely this is a loaded train headed to the grain terminal in Seattle.

While I was filming and facing south, I heard the distinctive thrum of a two-stroke diesel behind me. Seconds later, UP 7600 (AC45CCTE) came rocketing past me pulling a stack train.

Trivia note: The trailing UP unit, #6918 is an interesting unit. At the height of the horsepower wars between GE and EMD in the '90s, GE was going to produce a 6,000hp engine to go in a loco called the AC6000CW. There were teething problems with the engine so GE built 106 locos for UP with the older 4400hp engine. The engines in these locos were to be swapped out for the 6000hp version once the bugs were worked out. This never happened so the locos stayed with the 4400hp engine. UP classifies these now as a AC4460CW.

4551 / 4837
C44-9W / C44-9W

UP 7600 / 4214 / 6918
AC45CCTE / SD70M / AC4460CW

Three trains at Auburn Station, WA, 3-17-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-03-29 | Today I hung out at Auburn Station in Auburn, WA and caught three trains.
The weather was (not surprisingly) off and on rain so I started out on the covered pedestrian overpass at the station.

First up was a southbound manifest freight. She came down Main 1, then took the Auburn North crossover to Main 2. BNSF 780 (C44-9W) was the lead loco.

Sorry for the background noise. There was a crew powerwashing the platforms. The supervisor was watching for approaching trains and gave two blasts on an air horn to tell his crew to stop the power washers and stand clear of the tracks. Good safety procedure.

There was a Form B restriction in place in the area for some trackwork being done just to the south.
To the right of the tracks you can see the truck containing the foreman that was in charge of the Form B. You can also see the red flags next to the track that mark the limits of the Form B area.
All trains approaching the Form B area must call the foreman and obtain permission to enter his limits. Needless to say, this makes railfanning much easier as you get a heads up on the scanner when a train approaches.

The train slowed down as she was pulling off the main and into Auburn Yard. I ran down the stairs to the platform to get a good angle on that action.

The rain slacked off so I was able to stay on the platform to shoot.

Next up was a southbound Amtrak Cascades train. AMTK 23 (P42DC) was in the lead as she rocketed past the station.

The final train was a vehicle train led by BNSF 4681 (C44-9W). Behind was a faded SD and a Norfolk Southern loco that was way out of her normal territory.
This train was on Main 2 and also slowed down as she entered Auburn Yard. She came to a complete stop, I assume to line a switch. As the brakes released the train started rolling backward. I knew would result in a hellacious bang as the slack was taken up when the engineer throttled up. I wasn't disappointed - it was a mighty BANG! Hope the cars inside the autoracks were strapped down tight!

Freight:
780 / 1078
C44-9W / C44-9W

Amtrak:
23 / 470
P42DC / F59PHI

Vehicle:
4681 / 8949 / NS 8038
C44-9W / SD70MAC / ES44AC

Short stack train northbound in Kent, WA, 3-16-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-03-27 | Today I'm at Kaibara Park in downtown Kent, WA (about 20 miles south of Seattle. Across from the park is the old Kent passenger station and just north is the new Kent station.

BNSF 5029 (C44-9W) pulls a short stack train past me headed northbound towards Seattle.

5029 / 8481 / 8049 / 4156
C44-9W / SD70ACe / ES44C4 / C44-9W

A trashy day on the Seattle waterfront, 3-4-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-03-19 | I found a bit of time to railfan on a sunny late-winter afternoon. My location is the SAM (Seattle Art Museum) overpass on the Seattle waterfront.

Just south of me a couple of welders were working on repairing a switch on Main 2. As I arrived, they were clearing out of the way as a MOW (Maintenance of Way) crew needed to pass through.

The MOW crew was driving what is called a "slot train". It's basically a long articulated gondola. It's commonly used to clear debris from the tracks. The excavator can travel the length of the train, scooping up debris and placing it in the train.
In this case, it's full of old ties, likely left from a previous tie crew that was in the area replacing ties.

A few minutes after the slot train passed, an empty garbage train approached northbound on Main 1. BNSF 4400 (C44-9W) was the lead loco.

After the empty train passed, the welders went back to work on the switch. The Renton Rocket local job then popped around the curve on Main 2. I expected them to cross over to Main 1 but Dispatch held them at the North Portal signal.

Sure enough, a few minutes later I spotted a train approaching southbound on Main 1. That's why the Rocket got held up, they had to wait their turn.
The southbounder turned out to be a loaded garbage train coming either from Balmer Yard in Seattle or Delta Yard in Everett and headed to the landfill in Roosevelt, WA. Lead loco was BNSF 5095 (C44-9W).
The overhead view lets you see that the 40ft containers carry garbage and are covered with tarps. The 20ft containers carry contaminated soils and debris.

Empty:
4400 / 7450
C44-9W / ES44DC

Loaded:
5095 / CREX 1314
C44-9W / ES44AC

Boeing 737 fuselage train in Monroe, WA, 2-22-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-02-24 | I hadn't been able to railfan much at work lately. So I decided to head out on a nice sunny Sunday afternoon to see if I could catch a train.

I went to a new location in Everett that I haven't been to before. After about 90 minutes of sitting around with nothing happening, I saw a westbound train pop out of the Cascade Tunnel headed my way. I use ATCS Monitor to allow me to see what's happening on the railroad.

The train was 80 miles away from me, so I decided to move east about 15 miles to the small town of Monroe to catch it there.

I set up trackside and waited. I figured the train would be a stack train or a vehicle train, as they're common on this part of the Scenic Sub.

To my surprise, it turned out to be a Boeing fuselage train! Lead engine was BNSF 6519 (ES44C4). With two engines and only four fuselages, this is one seriously over-powered consist. With 8800hp and less than 500 tons in tow, it must have accelerated like a Ferrari!

Delivery of the fuselages are very time-critical. The Boeing plant in Renton, where the 737 is assembled, doesn't have a lot of space to stockpile fuselages so they must arrive on schedule.
Most of the time, these fuselages are found on the head end of a regularly scheduled stack or vehicle train. Sometimes, though, a special fuselage train must be used to make the delivery on time.

6519 / 5203
ES44C4 / C44-9W

Crew 2 southbound in Kent, WA, 1-7-2015

SeattleRailFan 2015-02-03 | I stopped by Kent Station in Kent, WA (about 20 miles south of Seattle) to see if anything was going on.

On my scanner I heard Crew 2 talking with Centralia North Dispatch. They were looking for permission to leave the Industrial Lead and head south to Tacoma. That means they were due to come right by my location. Excellent!
The Industrial Lead is a long siding that parallels the mainlines. Glacier Park Yard and several industrial spurs connect to this track.

As a bit of trivia, they noted their length as 9100 feet and 5200 trailing tons. Trailing tons is the weight of the train excluding the locos.

I went out on the platform and a few minutes later was rewarded by the sight of the train slowly coming down the Industrial Lead. The lead loco was BNSF 1441, an old SD60M still in Cascade Green.

The train didn't accelerate to full track speed as she passed me. I assume that is because the Lead track has a lower speed limit. The engineer had to wait for the end of the train to clear the Lead before getting up to full mainline speed.

Crew 2 is a local job that works industries between Seattle and Tacoma. From what I've seen, they move autoracks that are setout up in Seattle down to the Orillia Auto Facility north of here, service the few industries in the Kent area and also transfer cars down to Auburn Yard and Tacoma Yard.

1441 / 2695
SD60M / GP39-3

Trains in the fading sunlight at Edmonds, WA, 12-3-2014

SeattleRailFan 2015-01-01 | OK, this is a bit of a story...

It was a cold winter day, late in the afternoon in Edmonds, WA (about 20 miles north of Seattle). The sky is clear so I'll have good light right up until the sun goes down. I'm parked by the beach hoping for a train. Sat there for close to two hours - nothing.

I saw the northbound signal in front of me go green. At this time of the day, I'm sure that's for the afternoon Sounder commuter train. Not going out in the cold just for that.

The light continues to fade. Finally at about 4pm I decide to wait until 4:20. I figure by then if I don't see a train, it'll be about too dark to shoot.

At 4:20, I shut off the scanner and prepare to leave. I look once more to the north - and there is the headlights of an approaching southbound freight way in the distance. Just in time! It's several miles away, so it'll take 10 minutes or so to get to me.

So I get out of the car and onto the beach. I get some shots of the sunset, a ferry docked at the Edmonds dock and some seabirds having a block party in the surf.

At this point, I'm not sure I'll even end up with any good footage. Here's why.

The BNSF mainline is two tracks from Seattle up to Edmonds. It goes down to one track through the city, then right in front of me (at Milepost 18) it goes back to two tracks.

I know from experience that it is very common for southbound freights to come down to MP18 then sit there waiting for the northbound Sounder or Amtrak Empire Builder to pass before continuing on. Passenger trains have priority at this chokepoint.

I don't have much light left, so if the freight sits here for very long - I'm out of luck.

I hear the horn of the arriving Sounder train as it stops at Edmonds Station. That's a good sign. If the Sounder leaves before the freight arrives, hopefully the freight won't be left sitting for long.

The Sounder has Cab Car 303 leading, with SDRX 903 (F59PHI) pushing on the rear.

Shortly after they pass, the freight rounds the curve, moving slow with the headlight dimmed in anticipation of stopping at the MP18 signal.

She stops there for about 5 minutes until the signal goes green. Any longer and I wouldn't have got the shot. The camera makes it look much lighter than it was - it was really getting dark. The darkness makes for a grainy picture and plays havoc with the autofocus as well.

The southbound stack train was led by a leased unit, CREX 1204 (ES44AC) with a CSX loco behind.

Sometimes patience pays off - if I'd left 1 minute earlier I wouldn't have got this video!

CREX 1204 / CSX 595 / BNSF 4381
ES44AC / AC44CW / C44-9W

EVESPO departing Everett, WA, 11-18-2014

SeattleRailFan 2014-12-20 | On this cloudy winter day I found myself just south of Delta Yard in Everett, WA (about 30 miles north of Seattle) waiting on a train.

Around the curve came the EVESPO (Everett to Spokane, WA) manifest freight. She was moving slow, having just exited the yard. She came to a stop just after passing me. Not sure why. There isn't a signal or switch nearby. Just don't know.

BNSF 4858 (C44-9W) is the lead loco. Trailing is an ex-BN SD60M, now owned by Progress Rail but still in BN's Cascade Green colors and a Norfolk Southern unit as well.

This short train features an eclectic mix of cars, including a flatcar loaded with telephone poles, covered gondolas with lead/zinc ore concentrate enroute to a smelter in BC and a couple of bulkhead flatcars with some seriously big aluminum billets on board.

4858 / PRLX 8139 / NS 8709 / 4551 / 8288
C44-9W / SD60M / C40-8 / C44-9W / ES44C4

Garbage train meets the Coast Starlight, Seattle, 10-21-2014

SeattleRailFan 2014-12-07 | This morning I'm adjacent to the BNSF mainlines in south Seattle, just north of Spokane St.

Approaching northbound on Main 1 is an empty garbage train returning from the landfill. Lead engine is BNSF 277 (SD75M). These old Warbonnet locos are common on the garbage trains. This is the ROOEVE (Roosevelt, WA to Everett, WA).

Just as she hits the Horton Street crossing, Amtrak's Coast Starlight comes flying southbound on Main 2, headed for Los Angeles. AMTK 97 (P42DC) leads with a Dash-8 loco behind. AMTK 503 is a B32-8WH. Amtrak only has 20 or so of these engines, but we see them from time to time in this area. I think this is the first time I've caught one.

Garbage:
277 / 4863
SD75M / C44-9W

Amtrak:
92 / 503
P42DC / B32-8WH

Stack train in Tacoma, WA, 10 15 2014

SeattleRailFan 2014-11-16 | Today I'm at 21st Street Park down in Tacoma, WA waiting for a train. A rain shower arrived before the train, so I ducked under the adjacent freeway overpass to protect my camera.

BNSF 8114 (ES44C4) leads a stack train southbound past my location. The train is going slow as she pulls out of Tacoma Yard but picks up speed quickly. One of the five locos was a Canadian Pacific unit. Not uncommon to see them around here.

Once the rain shower passed, I moved to the bus stop on the other side of the street for a closer view. From here, you can see the train taking two crossovers to get on the correct outbound track.

8114 / CP 8847 / 5264 / 7503 / 7604
ES44C4 / ES44AC / C44-9W / ES44DC / ES44DC

Oil and Stack train meet at Tukwila Station, 10-13-2014

SeattleRailFan 2014-11-02 | Today I'm at the newly renovated Tukwila Station in Tukwila, WA - about 12 miles south of Seattle. The old temporary wooden platforms have given way to concrete platforms, more shelters, a bigger parking lot, etc.

Scanner traffic indicates that a northbound train is coming but I can also see that the Main 1 southbound signal is green. Hopefully, we'll get two trains for the price of one!

An oil train comes around the distant curve on Main 2. The lead loco is BNSF 5332 (C44-9W).
As she passed me, it was apparent that she was slowing down. This is unusual, as most trains just blast past the station at full track speed. Sure enough, she came to a complete stop.

Just a minute later, a southbound stack train came hustling down Main 1 at full track speed. BNSF 5264 (C44-9W) is on point. This close to the train, the wind is enough to almost knock you over.

Once the stack train passed, the oil train started pulling again. Nice train handling from the engineer, as there was barely a jerk as he throttled up. As the DPU units passed, you could hear them pushing hard as the train continued to accelerate.

As for why the oil train stopped, I have a theory. I heard Dispatch inform the oil train of a 25mph Form A speed restriction on Main 2 several miles north of Tukwila. I'm guessing that there some sort of track work going on, perhaps with Main 1 shut down and Main 2 under restriction. That would have put the stack train on Main 2 past the work crew, then it would have crossed over to Main 1 at CP Black River to make the meet with the oil train.
The oil train would have stopped short of the Black River signal immediately north of the station. The Black River Main 2 signal would have been red until the stack train passed. Once the stack train cleared Black River, switches would have been lined for the oil train to continue. The signal would have gone green and the engineer throttled up.

Oil:
5332 / 7517 / 5043 / 4688
C44-9W / ES44DC / C44-9W / C44-9W

Stack:
5264 / 7503 / 7604
C44-9W / ES44DC / ES44DC

Eastbound stack train at Lowell, Everett, WA, 9-22-2014

SeattleRailFan 2014-10-22 | I'm at a new railfanning location today. I'm at Lowell Riverfront Park on the pedestrian overpass. This location is just a mile or so south of Everett's Delta Yard. This is BNSF's Scenic Sub mainline that goes over Stevens Pass to Spokane and points east.

Our train today is an eastbound stack train led by BNSF 4713 (C44-9W).
The loco lashup was eclectic with a mix of EMD and GE units. Two UP units were in the mix, one an old C40-8. I believe that is the first C40-8 I've caught on video.

4713 / UP 9188 / UP 5038 / 7169
C44-9W / C40-8 / SD70M / ES44C4

Vehicle train on Bridge 6.3, Seattle, WA, 9-21-2014

SeattleRailFan 2014-10-13 | It's late September in Seattle and it's 80F outside. Though it's hot, the trees are turning color as fall approaches.

I'm at the Hiram H. Chittenden Locks, aka the "Ballard Locks". They raise boats from Puget Sound up 20 feet to the level of Lake Washington.

I start with a shot of Bridge 6.3 lowering in preparation for an approaching train. The bridge, the former Great Northern Bridge 4, dates from 1914.
I got some shots of the locks, people hanging out at the adjacent Carl S. English Botanical Gardens, some boats and even a couple of sea birds paddling around.

Our train is a vehicle train inbound to Seattle from Chicago, led by BNSF 5287 (C44-9W). It brings cars made in the Midwest here to the Pacific NW, then returns full of cars that came in from Asian plants and takes them back to the Midwest.

Eagle-eyed viewers will note CSX loco 7792 was also seen in my last video. That time it was eastbound out of Seattle, this it is westbound into Seattle.

5287 / 7389 / 5397 / CSX 7792
C44-9W / ES44DC / C44-9W / C40-8W

Stack train on the Everett high line, 9-17-2014

SeattleRailFan 2014-09-28 | Today I'm in Everett, WA, about 30 miles north of Seattle.

A stack train led by BNSF 274 (SD75M) is at high throttle, pulling a stack train up the "high line".

Directly in front of my position at ground level you can see the main line. That continues up the west side of the city. The high line climbs up, then turns 90 degrees and heads east. A mile long tunnel carries the track under the city. You can just barely seen the tunnel entrance at the end of the video.
On the other side of the tunnel is Everett Station and connections to Delta Yard and the Stevens Pass main line which runs all the way to the Midwest.

This train probably originated in Seattle and is Chicago-bound.

274 / 4015 / 4037 / CSX 7792
SD75M / C44-9W / C44-9W / C40-8W

Oil train at Everett Station, 9-14-2014

SeattleRailFan 2014-09-16 | It's warm Sunday in September (86 deg!) and I'm trying a new railfanning location at Everett Station in Everett, WA. Everett is a medium-sized city about 30 miles north of Seattle.

Listening to my scanner, I know a train is coming so I head up onto the pedestrian overpass to get an overhead viewpoint.

It turns out to be a loaded oil train led by BNSF 4402 (C44-9W). This is crude oil from the Bakken formation in North Dakota headed to the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, WA.

The train slowed to a stop in front of the station. Dispatch had told them to expect a red signal at PA Junction. They were instructed to call Dispatch and she would give them verbal permission to pass the signal. I caught this radio conversation on the video as the crew was talked past the signal.

Once they started moving, I switched vantage points on the bridge. You can see the train take the crossover from the mainline to the "Short Pass" track, then onto the "C-Line" track. That track makes a 180degree turn enroute to Delta Yard. From the yard they'll continue north onto the Bellingham Sub to Anacortes.

In the background are three Sounder commuter trainsets, waiting to make their Monday morning runs down to Seattle.

4402 / 7386 / 5132 / 6720
C44-9W / ES44DC / C44-9W / ES44C4

EVESPO leaving Everett, WA, 7-11-2014

SeattleRailFan 2014-08-06 | It's a nice, sunny summer day and I'm trackside in Everett, WA - about 30 miles north of Seattle.

I'm just outside Delta Yard and the EVESPO (Everett to Spokane) manifest freight has just left the yard. She's starting to pickup speed as she heads out on the main for her journey to Spokane.

The lead engine is BNSF 7267 (ES44DC) with a Union Pacific interloper behind.

The train features DPU locos in the middle of the train, something I haven't seen before. Typically, you'd see the DPU's on the rear of the train only.

The gondolas with the white steel covers are marked with HazMat code 3077 "Environmentally hazardous substances, solid". The covers are there to keep whatever is inside from escaping into the atmosphere.

7267 / UP 5106 / 5430 / 6794 / 5345 / 4593
ES44DC / SD70M / C44-9W / ES44C4 / C44-9W / C44-9W

Garbage train meets Passenger train in Tukwila, WA, 6-17-2014

SeattleRailFan 2014-07-11 | Today I'm just south of the Black River control point in Tukwila, WA (just south of Seattle).

A garbage train has just come around the curve on Main 2 heading southbound. I can see the northbound Main 1 signal is green, so I'm hoping that perhaps we'll get two trains meeting.

The garbage train is led by BNSF 5962 (ES44AC) with 968 (C44-9W) trailing. The lack of 20-foot open top containers means this is the EVEROO (Everett to Roosevelt) train. She's loaded with trash headed to the landfill.

Just as she passes under the I-405 freeway, our northbound train shows up. It's the Amtrak Cascades passenger train being led by AMTK 140 (P42DC). Nothing like a whiff of fresh garbage to enhance your train trip!
The engineer gave a little bit of whistle as they passed. Love it! And you can see them "knock down" the signal as they pass it.

Three southbound trains in Kent, WA, 5-20-2014

SeattleRailFan 2014-06-23 | Today I'm trackside in Kent, WA near the Willis control point and we've got all sorts of action going on.

The southbound Main 1 signal changed from Stop to Approach to Clear so I know I've got a train coming.
In the distance you can see a local job just coming off the siding onto Main 2. They are waiting for the Main 2 signal to give them permission to pass the Willis control point.

The Main 1 train turns out to be BNSF 264 (SD75M) pulling a garbage train. This is likely the INBROO (Interbay to Roosevelt) taking trash from Seattle to the landfill.

As they passed the signal mast, the Main 2 signal was now showing Approach Medium for the local.

The engineer throttles up 1441 (SD60M) and gives me wave as he passes. Love these old Cascade Green ex-BN locos.
I think this may be either Crew 2 or Crew 9. They pickup cars from Stacy Yard and South Seattle Yard. Autoracks go to Glacier Park Yard to be unloaded at BNSF's Orillia Auto Facility. They service a couple of customers in Kent, which is why they were on the siding. They then transfer cars to either Auburn Yard or Tacoma Yard.

As they pass the Willis control point, I see that the Main 1 signal is showing Approach Medium again. Wonder what's coming?

It turns out to be a short stack train led by BNSF 6656 (ES44C4).

Garbage:
264 / 236
SD75M / SD75M

Local:
1441 / 2291
SD60M / Gp38-2

Stack:
6656 / 8063
ES44C4 / ES44C4

Three trains at Tukwila Station, 5-5-2014

SeattleRailFan 2014-06-05 | Today I'm at Tukwila Station, in Tukwila, WA just south of Seattle. There is a new station under construction, as you'll see in the video.

Here the BNSF and UP mainlines are quite close, only 75 yards apart or so. For the first train, I'm standing by the UP main shooting towards the BNSF main. For the 2nd train I moved up to the station platform to get a (very) up close look. For the last train, I was standing near the BNSF main and shooting a train on the UP main.

First up is a short stack train headed southbound and led by BNSF 6651 (ES44C4). One of the DPU locos was a Norfolk Southern unit.

I heard on my scanner as the engineer checked in with the foreman in charge of the Form B restriction near the station. Form B is a track bulletin used when construction is taking place near the tracks. Trains check in with the BNSF foreman in charge of the Form B and get his instructions for passing through those limits. In this case, they were instructed to use lots of bell and whistle to ensure that workers close to the tracks had plenty of warning as the train passed.

Next, I moved onto the platform itself to get real close up shot of the next train. You can see the construction work in progress.
Train number two was a southbound garbage train led by a faded Warbonnet, BNSF 717 (C44-9W). This is the INBROO (Interbay to Roosevelt, WA) and is taking garbage to the landfill there.
Locomotives are really, really huge when you're only 5 feet away! The wind and vibrations from the rushing train really played havoc with the image stabilization feature of my camera, that's why the wavy image in some places.

I was headed back to my car when I heard a train approaching on the UP mainline so I set up quickly and caught UP 7241 (AC44CW) pulling a short freight northbound.
For the shot of the first train, I was standing under the UP overpass next to the three orange barrels.

Stack:
6651 / 6852 / 5087 / NS 1002 / BNSF 9616
ES44C4 / ES44C4 / C44-9W / SD70ACe / SD70MAC

Garbage:
717 / 258
C44-9W / SD75M

Freight:
UP 7241 / 4748 / 4403
AC44CW / SD70M / SD70M

Stack train meets coal train in Seattle, WA, 3-26-14

SeattleRailFan 2014-05-29 | I'm hanging out trackside near the Horton Street crossing in south Seattle. The Main 1 signal shows Approach Medium, heralding the arrival of southbound stack train.

She is led by BNSF 5097 (C44-9W) followed by another BNSF unit, a UP loco and then a Norfolk Southern unit. UP or NS locos on BNSF trains aren't real common but they do show up from time to time. The train isn't at full track speed as she'll stop around the corner and setout some cars for Stacy Yard.

Just as she hits the next crossing, a northbound coal train comes by on Main 3. A Citirail leased unit leads, followed by two BNSF locos in Heritage colors and the DPU in the old Executive scheme.

Now that was an eclectic bunch of locos!
Dash 9's in two flavors (4400hp and 4000hp), three versions of the SD70 (MAC, M and ACe) and a Evolution series GE.
The SD70s and Dash 9s date from the '90s, the ES from the 2000's and the ACe was built in 2013.
Three units have DC motors, 5 have AC motors.
Paint schemes include thee in BNSF H1 colors, two of which are in a series with poor quality paint that faded quickly (a "faded pumpkin"), one in BNSF "Executive" (reminiscent of the old Northern Pacific passenger train colors), a fresh shiny BNSF H3 unit, UP Armor Yellow, NS "Thoroughbred" and a grey Citirail unit.

Stack:
5097 / 9984 / UP 4580 / NS 9012
C44-9W / SD70MAC / SD70M / C40-9W

Coal:
CREX 1311 / BNSF 8808 / 9028 / 9636
ES44AC / SD70MAC / SD70ACe / SD70MAC

Grain train southbound at Black River, Tukwila, WA, 2-25-14

SeattleRailFan 2014-04-24 | I'm in Tukwila, WA, about 10 miles south of Seattle. I'm standing next to the BNSF mainline, just south of the Black River control point. BNSF 4977 (C44-9W) is bringing a southbound grain train my way.

4977 / 7451 / 1010
C44-9W / ES44DC / C44-9W

Trash and People in Mukilteo, WA, 2-10-2014

SeattleRailFan 2014-04-09 | Note the title is Trash and People in Mukilteo, not Trashy People in Mukilteo. Don't want to disparage the fine citizens of the city!

I'm once again on the beach in Mukilteo,WA, about 20 miles north of Seattle. I've selected a vantage point that gives a great view of a southbound train coming around the curve almost a mile away.

BNSF 4861 (C44-9W) leads the EVEROO (Everett to Rossevelt) garbage train. I got a wave from the engineer as they passed by! I think this is the first wave I've got from a BNSF crew. Very exciting!

I waited around and caught a nice shot of a new, as yet unpainted, Boeing 777 coming in for a landing at Paine Field up on the hill. Boeing's Everett plant is located next to the airfield. They make the 777, 767, 747 and 787 Dreamliners at the plant. Trivia: the building is the largest in the world by volume (472 million cubic feet).

Next up was a Sounder commuter train running northbound. SDRX 907 (F59PHI) was pushing on the rear with CabCar SDRX 111 on the point.

These trains are run in a "push-pull" configuration. That means there is a locomotive on one end of the train and a "cab car" on the other. The cab car is a passenger car that has a tiny little driver's compartment on the back end. This "cab" has a full set of the same throttle, brake and other controls that you'd find in the locomotive.

When the train runs north, the engineer sits in the cab car and the loco pushes the train. At the northern terminus, the engineer moves to the loco cab and the loco pulls the train south.
This is done so the train doesn't have to be turned on a wye to travel in the other direction.

4861 / 4586
C44-9W / C44-9W

SDRX 111 / 907
Cab car / F59PHI

Garbage train on the beach in Mukilteo, WA, 1-31-2014

SeattleRailFan 2014-03-24 | I'm standing on the beach at Mukilteo, WA, about 20 miles north of Seattle. It's a cold winter day, but the partly cloudy sky over Puget Sound is beautiful.

You're probably asking yourself: Is there anything crazier than a railfan standing the cold waiting for a train? Why, yes, there is.

At about 1:00 into the video you'll see a pink canopy by the beach. That is being setup for a 4pm wedding. A wedding! I'd venture to say that having your wedding on a Seattle-area beach late in the afternoon on January 31st is SERIOUSLY crazy!

The train finally shows up, led by BNSF 9161 (SD70ACe). This is the EVEROO, a garbage train originating in Everett and headed for the landfill in Roosevelt, WA.

9161 / 9813
SD70ACe / SD70MAC

Railgrinder working the rails in Marysville, WA, 1-29-2014

SeattleRailFan 2014-03-11 | I was in Marysville, a small town about 35 miles north of Seattle. I left the freeway and was headed over to State St which parallels the BNSF mainline.

As I turned south onto State St, I looked down the mainline and saw some sort of a MOW (Maintenance Of Way) vehicle farther down the track.

As I got closer I realized it was a railgrinder machine working the track, headed northbound. This was very exciting! It was my first time seeing one, as they aren't all that common.

I quickly found a place to make a U-turn so I was also headed north.
I got caught at a stoplight and shot a bit of video as they were working the 88th St crossing.
I really wanted to get ahead of them so I could get a clear shot. This isn't as easy as it sounds as there are many businesses in between State St and the railroad tracks. I knew there was a Subway sandwich shop just ahead where I could drive around to the back and get next to the tracks.

I arrived just as they were working a road crossing and shot some good video of the machine in action. It was raining, so I stayed in the car and shot through the windshield.

You can see the crew working the machine back and forth, grinding the rail at a small private road crossing. The sparks from the grinding wheels are visible under the rubber shields on the sides of the machine.

=================

What is a railgrinder, you ask? It is used to restore the correct profile to the top of the rail.

The top of the rail, where the train wheels run, is not flat but has a slight curve to it with a radius on the edges. This profile, in concert with a specified profile on the train wheels, works to help minimize friction and keep the wheels from hunting side to side as they roll. Proper rail and wheel profiles saves fuel.

As trains roll over the rail, the rail wears and the rail profile changes. Train wheels locking up under braking, flatspotted wheels and such also take their toll. Part of regular track maintenance is to use a railgrinder to restore the rail profile back to specifications.

Underneath the shields on the sides of the machine are several rotating grinding wheels. Each is angled at a different angle to produce the correct rail profile.

There are different styles of railgrinders. Mainline railgrinders consist of several cars hooked together. Each car may have a dozen or so grinding wheels on each rail. This allows them to make multiple passes over the rail all at once.

What you see in the video is "Switch and Crossing" railgrinder. They use smaller grinding wheels to get into the closer tolerances found around switches and road crossings.

When a mainline railgrinder approaches a switch or crossing, it lifts the grinders off the rail as it passes the switch or crossing then lowers them back onto the rail after it clears. A Switch and Crossing grinder is then used to grind the rail near switches and crossings.

The Goldbar Turn in Edmonds, WA, 1-27-14

SeattleRailFan 2014-02-25 | It's a typical dreary, cold winter day in the Pacific Northwest. I'm hanging out next to the off-leash dog park on the beach in Edmonds, WA waiting for the Goldbar Turn to arrive. The Goldbar Turn comes down from Delta Yard in Everett to service Paramount Petroleum. Paramount makes asphalt products.

I heard the crew talk to dispatch and get permission to leave Paramount and come out on the mainline. Then they called in to say they had a stop signal at milepost 16. I'm at mile post 17.5 or so, so they are just around the corner from me.

While waiting for them to get a highball, I shot some video of what was going on around me. Speedboats, ferry boats and container ships on Puget Sound, various birds and some dogs swimming in the Sound. Only a dog would be dumb enough to swim in that freezing cold water. I got the chills just watching them!

Finally, the train comes around the curve with BNSF 2651 (GP39-3) leading a short 9-car train of tankers and BNSF 2361 (GP38-2) bringing up the rear. If you look past the train as she's on the curve, you can see the storage tanks of Paramount in the distance.

Empty garbage train in Tukwila, WA, 12-19-2013

SeattleRailFan 2014-02-10 | It's very late in the day here in Tukwila, WA, just south of Seattle. Twilight casts an odd bluish light on BNSF 986 (C44-9W) as she pulls an empty garbage train northbound.

986 / 5368
C44-9W / C44-9W

Freezing on the beach to catch a train in Edmonds, WA, 12-6-2013

SeattleRailFan 2014-01-29 | It's a really cold winter day in Edmonds, WA. 25 degrees F with a 20-25mph wind. Probably a wind chill factor of zero degrees or less.

So naturally, I'm standing on the beach waiting for a train to show up. What an idiot! Worth it, though, as a bright clear sunny day makes for very pretty scenery.

BNSF 5420 (C44-9W) leads a short manifest freight southbound, headed towards Seattle.

5420 / 6538 / 5439
C44-9W / ES44C4 / C44-9W

Freight train in the low winter sun, Tukwila, WA, 11-21-2013

SeattleRailFan 2014-01-17 | It's late afternoon and the winter sun was bright but low on the horizon in Tukwila, WA as BNSF 6238 (ES44AC) pulled a short freight northbound. The locomotive lashup included a Union Pacific interloper.

6238 / 8988 / UP 7166
ES44AC / SD70MAC / AC44CW

Hanging out above the BNSF mainline, Seattle, 11-19-2013

SeattleRailFan 2013-12-29 | Today I went up on the Amgen pedestrian bridge over the BNSF mainlines. The Amgen company built this bridge so their employees that use the bus, walk or bicycle could more easily access their building. The bridge is just north of downtown Seattle proper, and just south of BNSF's Balmer Yard. The Louis Dreyfus grain terminal is adjacent to Amgen.

It affords a great view and today we're going to get a lot of action!

First up was a northbound stack train led by BNSF 7115 (ES44C4). Trailing her was a CSX C40-8W. We don't see Dash-8 C40's here much as BNSF uses the Dash-9 C44 version. A C40 has a 4000hp engine, the C44 has 4400hp.
The DPU units on the rear consisted of one BNSF and one CSX loco. This CSX unit was a C40-8, same as the C40-8W only without the wide "safety cab".
On one side of the mainline a southbound garbage train was waiting her turn. On the other side, a grain train is parked on the D8 track of the grain terminal.

Before the stack train was gone, another inbound loaded grain train arrived and headed into the terminal. I heard dispatch instruct the crew to drop as many cars as would fit on the D6 track, then double the remainder over to D7. The train was led by BNSF 7418 (ES44DC) with a faded Warbonnet behind her.

As she pulled onto D6, the utility job from Balmer Yard came out to assist the train crew. The "utility job" is a guy in a truck that can drive to various places around or near the yard to provide train crews with help setting out cars, throwing switches, etc.
In the middle of getting some great footage of the crew setting out the cars on D6, I heard the crossing bells south of me sound off.

I turned around to see a northbound coal train approaching. She was led by BNSF 9055 (SD70ACe) backed by another shiny SD and a very faded orange pumpkin.
I went back to the grainer in time to see her park the rest of her cars on D7. Then the locos pulled away from the cars to head to Balmer Yard for servicing.
A nice surprise was that the DPU on the coal train was one of several Citirail engines that BNSF leases.

I just got back to the car, thinking I'd got a great bit of video. Then I heard another train approaching, so I got the camera back out. It turned out to be yet another grain train, led by BNSF 4566 (C44-9W). I think this is an empty, headed for Stevens Pass and back to the Midwest somewhere.

Whew! What a great day!

Stack train:
7115 / CSX 7840 / CSX 7598 / 1033
ES44C4 / C40-8W / C40-8 / C44-9W

Grain train 1:
7418 / 622
ES44DC / C44-9W

Coal train:
9055 / 9117 / 5382 / CREX 1308
SD70ACe / SD70ACe / C44-9W / ES44AC

Grain train 2:
4566 / 7653 / 5299
C44-9W / ES44DC / C44-9W

Coal Train In The Rain in Auburn, WA, 11-18-2013

SeattleRailFan 2013-12-20 | Well, it's a perfectly normal day here in the Seattle area - meaning it's pouring down rain!

I've camped out on the covered pedestrian overpass at Auburn Station, about 20 miles south of Seattle. Here I can shoot without getting soaked.

I caught a coal train coming out of Auburn Yard and onto the mainline headed northbound. BNSF 7039 (ES44C4) was leading. This is more Powder River Basin coal headed to the export facility in Roberts Bank, BC.

7039 / 8752 / 720 / 9134
ES44C4 / SD70ACe / C44-9W / SD70ACe

Two trains meet at Tukwila Station, 11-15-2013

SeattleRailFan 2013-12-09 | Today I'm at Tukwila Station in Tukwila, WA - about 15 miles south of Seattle. A northbound manifest freight led by BNSF 5259 (C44-9W) is approaching.

I'm going handheld with the camera because today I'm going to something that you can't do at most railfanning locations. Here at the station there is an underpass that allows you to walk underneath the tracks. The only thing between you and the rails are some beefy timbers. This allows you to start filming on one side of the tracks, walk under the moving train and finish up on the other side. Pretty cool, eh?
A new station is under construction here and I don't know if this underpass will be around when the new station is done, so I wanted to get this video done sooner rather than later.

While filming, I saw the southbound Main 1 signal was green. That turned out to be for an Amtrak Coast Starlight train that snuck up on me and blew past in the middle of the shoot.

5259 / 1061 / 9573 / 1973
C44-9W / C44-9W / SD70MAC / SD40-2

AMTK 41 / SDRX 466
P42DC / F59PHI

Two trains meet on the Seattle waterfront, 10-31-2013

SeattleRailFan 2013-11-27 | On a cloudy but reasonably nice fall day, I'm on the Seattle waterfront to catch a train. The pedestrian overpass at Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park gives me a birds-eye view of the BNSF mains. This shoot turned out to be full of surprises!

BNSF 4677 (C44-9W) comes around the curve with a northbound stack train. The first pleasant surprise was seeing a KCS SD70MAC in their Retro Belle color scheme in the lashup.

Just as it appeared, I had a most unusual interruption. A still photographer came up on the overpass and set up next to to me to shoot a model against the city skyscape. You can hear them yammering the whole time I was there.

The train slowed and came to a stop. I didn't know why, so I went to the other side of the overpass to see what was going on.

Once there, I could see that they had stopped so the conductor could detrain and line the switch to put them into the D8 siding next to the grain terminal. The train was going to wait on the siding until it was their turn to continue. Since there aren't any intermodal yards north of here, I assume this train originated in in either Seattle or Tacoma and will be headed to Chicago.

Then I look up and see a southbound freight approaching in the distance. Excellent! The stack train throttled up and headed into the siding. I'm no expert, but the engineer had a nice touch on the throttle and started his train with no jerking and banging as the slack was taken up.

BNSF 6712 (ES44C4) led the southbound past us on Main 2. Another surprise was seeing a Canadian Pacific loco on that train. Don't see those very much around here.

There was one more nice surprise to finish off the video. As the stack train finished entering the siding, I caught the utility job from Balmer Yard doing his work. He lined the siding switch back for mainline movement after the stack train cleared. Great shot of him operating the switch if you want to see how a switch works.

The "utility job" is a guy in a truck that can place himself at various places in and around the yard to assist train crews in lining switches, setting out cars and such. In this case, without the utility job to help the conductor would have had to wait at the switch, line it back then walk a mile back to the front of the train.

And that ended another great day of Seattle railfanning!

Stack:
4677 / 789 / 5166 / 4192 / KCS 3920
C44-9W / C44-9W / C44-9W / C44-9W / SD70MAC

Freight:
6712 / CP 8794 / 7154 / unknown
ES44C4 / ES44AC / ES44C4 / big and orange

Ghost train in Mukilteo, WA, 10-23-2013

SeattleRailFan 2013-11-18 | This was a weird week in the Seattle as we were socked in with heavy fog for almost an entire week. It's rare for us to have heavy fog for more than one or two mornings per year. On this day, most of the fog had burned off except for a heavy layer near Puget Sound.

I was again on the beach in Mukilteo. There was bright sunshine above a layer of fog about 100 feet deep. This made for very eerie conditions. Normally heavy fog means the light level is somewhat low with flat light and no shadows. Today, though, it was very bright with defined shadows - yet visibility was less than 1/2 mile. And, the camera sees through the fog much better than my eyes - I couldn't see any of the blue sky you see in the video.

The result was BNSF 4029 (C44-9W) looming out of the fog like a ghost as she pulled a stack train northbound. Don't know the train symbol but I'd guess she originated in either Seattle or Tacoma and was headed east to Chicago.

4029 / 4910 / 6219 / 5907 / 1011
C44-9W / C44-9W / ES44AC / ES44AC / C44-9W

Oil train northbound at Mukilteo, WA, 10-1-2013

SeattleRailFan 2013-10-30 | I'm hanging out at Mukilteo Beach Park in Mukilteo, WA on a very windy October afternoon. A partly cloudy sky hangs low over Puget Sound. A couple of gulls are railfanning with me and we're all waiting on a northbound train.

Unbelievably, it's yet another oil train. That's three times in a row I've caught oil trains. That's how weird railfaning can be.

And just to be even more weird, sharp-eyed viewers will note that this is the exact same train I caught on my last video exactly one week earlier up in Burlington.
That train was an empty headed back to North Dakota led by 5690 and 661 with 4573 and 4403 on the tail. This train is full of oil headed to the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, WA and is being led by 4403 and 4573 with 661 and 5690 on the tail. Very cool!

Since I'm sure someone will ask, I believe the gulls in the video are Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus). The first one is a first-winter juvenile the other one a 2nd or 3rd-winter nonbreeding adult. Needless to say, one thing we have plenty of in the Pacific NW is gulls. Probably more of them around here than people.

4403 / 4573 / 661 / 5690
C44-9W / C44-9W / C44-9W / AC44CW

Empty oil train in Burlington, WA, 9-24-2013

SeattleRailFan 2013-10-16 | It was nice sunny fall day, with a beautiful partly cloudy sky - perfect for railfanning! I was again making a delivery to Anacortes, WA. Anacortes is home to a couple of refineries that receive oil trains.

As I approached Anacortes on Highway 20, I did not see any trains on the Anacortes Spur. By the time I left about 30 minutes later, I saw much to my delight that a train had come out of the Tesoro refinery while I was in town and was on the east end of the spur.

As I approached, I saw that the train had stopped while waiting for dispatch to authorize her to leave the spur and enter the mainline track. She was just throttling up as I passed. I knew I would easily have time to get ahead of her and catch her taking the curve onto the mainline, located in the town of Burlington. I found a parking place near the Spruce St crossing and set up for a nice closeup view.

The curve takes the train from eastbound on the spur to southbound on the mainline. This is an empty train, headed back to North Dakota to fill up with another load of crude from the Bakken formation.

5690 / 661 / 4573 / 4403
AC44CW / C44-9W / C44-9W / C44-9W

Empty oil train leaving Anacortes, WA, 9-18-2013

SeattleRailFan 2013-10-03 | After the railfanning gods kinda screwed me over last time, they decided to give me little gift this time.

I had a delivery to make in Anacortes, WA, a city about 80 miles north of Seattle. It's home to a couple of refineries that receive 5-6 trains of oil from North Dakota per week.

As I left town I glanced over at the refineries on March Point and saw that a train was just leaving the Tesoro Refinery. Excellent!

I knew I could beat it to the Swinomish Channel Bridge. I arrived at the bridge just as it was swinging into the closed position. In addition to the train, I got great footage of the bridge tender dropping the derail, then raising it after the train passes.

Afterward, I decided to chase the train down Hwy 20. I knew I could catch it as they were going 25mph or so, while I could go 60mph. So the video finishes with some shaky, handheld video shot while driving with one hand.

The lead loco, BNSF 9100, must have an interesting story to tell. Photos of it online taken in March show a pristine paint job. I think the loco was built earlier this year. By July, photos show it absolutely filthy. It looks like 100 tons of dirt were dropped on it. I don't think I've seen such a dirty engine. Time for a wash!

9100 / 5941 / 6390
SD70ACe / ES44AC / ES44AC