On the 10. august a freight train derailed in the Gotthard Base Tunnel causing both tubes to be closed for traffic. Many freight trains can no longer use the old Gotthard line due to clearance and have to use alternative routes or cannot run at all. This postal train is one of the few freight trains able to use the old Gotthard...
Southern Pacific #4449 at Portland Union Station. The locomotive will depart with an excursion train the following morning....
Spokane, Portland and Seattle #700 on the turntable at Union Pacific’s Brooklyn Yard in Portland. When this photograph was taken in September 2006, both SP&S 700 and SP 4449 were housed in the Brooklyn roundhouse. Neither the roundhouse nor the turntable remain, but 700 and 4449 now reside in the publicly accessible Oregon...
Another locomotive from Portland & Western’s collection of first generation diesels, this SD9 still shows its unmistakable Southern Pacific heritage. Built in April 1955, this loco was celebrating its 51st birthday when this photo was shot in April 2006 at the St. Helens yard.
At the time of this photo, Union Pacific 3985, a Challenger class 4-6-6-4, was the largest operating steam locomotive in existence. This locomotive was donated by Union Pacific to a museum and has been replaced in excursion service by an even larger 4-8-8-4 Big Boy locomotive....
Willamette & Pacific 2308 assists the Lewis & Clark Explorer after one of the the RDCs suffered a mechanical failure....
PPCX (SP) 6304 in fresh paint and unpowered in a freight train consist. The loco is moving south to head an excursion in Northern California. Later in the decade, 6304 operated for a few years on a short line in Idaho/Eastern Washington....
The 2005 NRHS (National Railway Historical Society) convention was held in Portland, Oregon. The highlight of the convention was a Columbia Gorge excursion double-headed by SP&S 700 and SP 4449. In this photo, the train has just departed Portland Union Station and is passing under the Fremont Bridge....
2003 built GE C44-9W #5199 leads a BNSF employee appreciation special into the Vancouver, Washington Amtrak station....
This locomotive started life in 1953 as an SD7. Was rebuilt as an SD9M and probably acquired its chopped nose during the rebuild....
GE C44-9W #4762 near Stevenson, Washington in October, 2004. This locomotive was built in 1998.
The Lewis and Clark Explorer was a tourist train that operated from Portland to Astoria, Oregon as part of the 200th anniversary celebration of the Lewis & Clark Expedition. The railroad parallels Lewis & Clark’s route along the lower Columbia River to their winter camp near Astoria.
One of Portland's two resident northern locomotives, Spokane, Portland & Seattle #700, at the point of the 2004 Santa Train. The train has just crossed the Steel Bridge and is pulling into Portland Union Station.
The only successful application of the iconic Talgo design in North America, there are only two trainsets remaining in Amtrak Cascades service.
GE P42DC #155 leads the southbound Coast Starlight into Vancouver, WA. After a short stop in Vancouver, the train will cross the Columbia River into Oregon.
Shot with my first digital camera in 2 megapixel glory. Built by the Lima Locomotive works in May, 1941 and designed to haul the Southern Pacific's famous Daylight passenger trains, 4449 is one of the most well-known operating steam locomotives in the US....
Hi Everyone! Sorry for not contributing anything this week, my life has been a little hectic so I haven't been able to post very much. BUT that's changing soon! I've just received some fresh slides in the mail and all I have to do is scan them in! So keep your eyes peeled, you'll be seeing some cool stuff very soon....
The NW5 was EMD's response to Alco's successful RS-1 roadswitcher, and was basically an EMD switch engine with road trucks and a short hood containing a steam generator. However, the formula that worked for Alco did not work for EMD and only 13 NW5s were built in 1946 and 1947....
SD9 1852 (built 5/1955) and SD9m 1853 (built 1/1953) ready to depart St. Helens Oregon, with a Portland & Western freight. Along with the usual GP38s, the Portland & Western also rostered a number of first generation diesels, most inherited from the SP.
BNSF 2834 still earning its keep as a yard diesel at Willbridge Yard, Portland, Oregon in January 2004....
