Between Elliston and Blossburg on the MRL’s western approach to Mullan Tunnel is a location known as Sampson with a nice view. On on overcast 6-5-92 I was on my way home from a trip to Crawford Hill and photographed MRL’s ML with units 355/356/258/354/213 climbing the grade towards the tunnel on a rather overcast day.
A little over 15 years later I am photographing the same train with with very different power on 7-13-07. A pair of SD70ACe’s led by the 4305 are pulling the ML unassisted past Sampson.
There are some pluses and minuses showing from over the years. Back in 1992 there was less brush and the creek stood out very nicely. Now it is almost hidden. But the lineside poles in the 1992 image are no longer there making for a more open scene. And having sunshine in the 2007 photo also helped! I liked the power better back in 1992 but the scenery is still as nice now as it was then.
On June 2, 2007 I photographed the Spirit of Washington brunch train coming back into Renton from Woodinville. My family and I would be riding it that evening so I wanted a photo of the train coming into Renton. Crossing the Cedar River bridge near the old site of the I-405 S-curves seemed like a good place for a photo.
A few months later the Spirit of Washington train made its last run. The state wanted to widen I-405 just south of Bellevue forcing BNSF to replace the old bridge over the Cedar River in Renton as the larger Boeing 737’s could not fit through it. Once this was done the Boeing Cars were able to access Boeings from the south end and the line was severed at Bellevue.
On Wednesday 5-20-09 I had the day off work and heard the Renton Local blowing its horns down in Renton so I went out to investigate and saw the train with BNSF 2786/2258 arriving. After switching the Boeing complex the power ran around to the south end and departed with the 2258 leading. By this time I was waiting at the new bridge to get an “after” shot. There were many clouds and it looked like the location would be in the shadows but the sun stayed out just long enough for the train to pass.
The Spirit of Washington train and the old bridge may be gone now but I have to say the two “new image” GP’s looked really nice!
In April of 1987 I first spent a few days between Pasco and Spokane. BN was replacing the NP installed semaphores with new signals to go from a one way railroad (all eastbound) to a two way as the SP&S line was soon to be shut down. From the highway 26 overpass train #120 with the BN 6711/4101/7008 is approaching Cunningham with a cut of autoracks on the headend at 10:30 AM on a cloudy hazy Tuesday 4-21-87. Note the approach signal to Cunningham is now just a bladeless pole.
While I have been back to this area many times since then I have not retaken this angle again for 22 years. Finally on Saturday 4-4-09 I had my chance. Spending a day on the Lakeside Sub I was on the overpass to shoot a westbound stopped at the end of double track when I saw an eastbound heading out of Hatton this way. Leading the BNSF autorack train with a cut of garbage double stacks on the head end is BNSF 7590/4705/4878.
Note that the power is arranged the same in both shots, front-back-front. The angle is a bit different but the location is pretty much the same with some landscape changes. Poleline is gone as is much of the sagebrush.
On 8-3-85 I photographed train #22 at Winton, WA on BN’s Stevens Pass line. This is former Great Northern territory. Leading was the 8022/3106/6824/7816. Deadheading were a number of BN passenger cars, 6 behind the power and 4 more on the rear behind caboose 12195. This is known as the Schoolhouse Crossing.
19 years later on 9-4-04 I photographed BNSF train S-TACCHI at the same location. Leading this time was BNSF 7068/PRR 6761/BNSF 7015/BNSF 6758.
A few more trees but the scene pretty much has not changed.
Here is another set of photos from the former NP in Montana. Both shots are taken in the MRL era of MRL trains just east of Thompson Falls, MT at MP 29.
1) The MRL’s Paradise Local with GP9’s 1731/1744 is headed east back to Paradise on 6-22-88 as photographed from the Highway 200 overpass.
2) A few months more than 20 years later on 10-27-08 the MRL’s Gas Local is leaving the same location now called Pipeline with units 382/4308 headed back to Missoula.
Lots of changes here. The pole line has been replaced with Pipeline (A Conoco facility) plus lots of new housing in the distance.
On July 29, 1986 southbound BN train #111 is approaching S Holgate St in Seattle, WA on the Seattle-Portland main line. Run through units SP 9333/SP 7516/SP 9325 are headed towards Portland, OR and home rails with the Seattle city skyline and the Kingdome also in the background.
Today 10-11-08 I wanted to try and retake the same photo but things have really changed here.
It looks like I took the photo of the BN train just a little further north, probably near the corner of the building now to the right in the current photo. Also the Kingdome is gone and Safeco Field and a parking garage dominates the scene. And you will no longer see through train traffic here. The mainline is now moved further to the east bypassing this part of the old mainline that once saw passage of the NP’s North Coast Limited and Mainstreeter. I am guessing all you will see here now are BNSF switching moves.
On a recent trip to Montana I had a list of old photos I wanted to check exact locations on and a couple were at Rathdrum, ID taken in January 2002. I had not ID’d the photos when I took them so these were two I wanted to check on these two this trip on my way east. Stopping at Rathdrum on the afternoon of 8-21-08 I found them both fairly quickly, actually was standing in nearly the same spot shooting both a westbound and eastbound the same day in the snow back in 2002. Here is the westbound I photographed 1-20-02. Turns out it was in the cut across from the school.
After writing down the MP (43.9) I heard a train approaching westbound. First thing to go through my mind was to get the same westbound shot again, so I did.
An H-ABEPAS (Aberdeen-Pasco) with the BNSF 8153 leading 3 SD40-2’s approaching will soon be at Hauser Yd where the MRL crew will get off and a BNSF crew will take over for the rest of the trip to Pasco. This was the first time I have heard of this symbol. Interesting comparisons of the different seasons of 2002 and 2008.
The last photos were taken along the MRL at MP 44 in Montana. Here are a couple taken a few miles west at MP 46, a bit east of Garrison, MT.
On June 7, 1989 I was photographing eastbound BN train #120 on the MRL with leased units LMX 8575/OWY 9096/LMX 8504.
On my recent July trip I photographed another train here, the H-PASSAG with BNSF units 7799/4952/5194.
The bushes aong the stream have qrown quite a bit covering a lot more of the ground. Funny that you can still make out most of same the trees/bushes on the other side of the train up on the hills in both shots.
On Sep 17, 1993 I followed eastbound BN freight #196 with units 3501/3500/8088 out of Drummond, MT at 11:59 AM and one of the locations I photographed it was at the old overpass located at MP 44.6 near Bradley between Garrison and Avon, MT.
A few months shy of 15 years later on July 13, 2008 I had followed BNSF train H-PASKCK with units 6856/8056 out of Missoula and photographed it again from the same overpass near Bradley.
Some things are the same, it was on MRL both times and EMD’s were the power for both trains. But there are some other differences as well. The trees are certainly a lot taller for one thing!
Here are some different views of BNSF’s Providence Hill taken just 10 months apart. There was a very large wildfire between Providence Hill east towards Lind in August of 2007. This is BNSF’s Lakeside Sub’s ex-NP route between Pasco and Spokane, WA.
This is what’s left of the nature preserve east of Providence Hill on 8-12-07. The ex-MILW mainlines roadbed would be towards the bottom of the hill to the right in the background.
This is the same view on June 14, 2008. Slowly returning to normal.
After the fires were out BNSF ran through some rather bleak blackened landscape. This loaded westbound grain train climbs the east side of Providence Hill a week after the fires on 8-12-07.
Ten months later on 6-14-08 another westbound grain train with a BNSF H2 and a warbonnet GE, just like in 2007. But this time color is returning to the hills.
One last view facing west towards the top of the hill of an eastbound empty grain train drifting downgrade towards Sand.
And here is pretty much the same scene on 6-14-08 of the Z-PTLCHC on its way to Chicago.
Providence Hill has always been an enjoyable place to be in the springtime. I was glad that the blackened landscape did not last real long but it did make for some interesting comparisons.
