BNSF was running an Engineering Special over Stampede Pass on Wednesday 8-11-10 and I had arranged to have the day off work. The train was scheduled to leave Ellensburg after 9 AM. I left home about 06:30 AM under very overcast skies that started to clear east of Easton. At Ellensburg I got on the Canyon Road and made my way towards Thrall. A friend had told me one of the buildings in the small cluster was the former NP depot. It was about 08:00 when I stopped and took a few photos of the older looking structures. Neither looked like it was a depot though.
I then started into the canyon. I figured I would get a ways in before seeing the passenger train but it was running early. The flash of silver cars across the river before Umtanum took me by surprise! I turned around and headed back to Thrall where the BNSF 7503 leading seven cars passed by.
I was watching for former NP cars and the second car behind the ES44DC had “Stampede Pass” on it. NP car!
This was purchased as Northern Pacific 10-6 sleeper 364 in 1950. But it wasn’t a North Coast Limited car back on home rails I later found out. It and the 365 were acquired for use on the SP Coast Line pooled trains.
As the end of the train passed by I took a back shot with the William Barstow Strong bringing up the rear.
I paced the train into Ellensburg following the ex-NP sleeping car most of the time trying to picture it in two tone green. The inbound crew called the outbound crew and they set up the crew change “at the depot”. I left the Yakima Valley Sub getting on I-90 and taking the next Ellensburg exit west to head to the Milwaukee Road overpass west of Ellensburg for my first photo of the passenger train on the Stampede Sub.
Those photos can be found here:
After leaving Pasco on the afternoon of Saturday 6-12-10 I headed straight to Gibbon, WA to get photos of the F P and derail signs at the east switch I believe to be original NP. The fouling point sign looks like it was recently repainted. Parking at the grade crossing to the west I walked up and got these photos.
I think I’ve pretty well documented these railroad signs. After getting these photos I continued on home. Not a bad Saturday for finding things that were built by the Northern Pacific!
Here is a continuation of a Stampede Pass Blog update made from a Saturday 6-12-10 trip to the Pasco area. The Stampede Sub Blog update can be found here:
http://stampedesubblog.qstation.org/?p=362
I had a few goals in mind for the day including some apparent original NP signs in the Gibbon area I had noticed after my last trip to the area but never photographed.
After leaving the Stampede Sub at Ellensburg I made my way through the Yakima Canyon hoping BNSF might run a westbound but got all the way to Pomona without seeing anything. As it was still early I decided to get some photos of Bridge 96 over the Yakima River as the sun angle was pretty good. I had been reading online the M-PASVBT was pretty regular mid-morning out of Yakima and it was 09:30 AM.
I proceeded to get some photos of the bridge including these three.
Here are some stats on Bridge 96 (96 miles west of Pasco) which is the first crossing of the Yakima River west of Yakima. NP built the structure in 1942, it’s 410′ long and 28′ high. It consists of 2-45′ DPG (Deck Plate Girders on each end) plus 2-155′ TRT (Thru Riveted Truss) center sections. I did some reading and waited until 09:55 hoping a train might cross that bridge but decided it was time to start south.
Just before getting on the I-82 freeway, I glanced over and noticed some movement towards Selah. Oh no, it couldn’t be! But yes, it was the M-PASVBT making its way west. I was able to get turned around and then heard the MP 95 detector go off and watched the train cross the bridge I had just spent nearly 25 minutes waiting at. I decided I had to get at least one good shot of this train to make up for what I had just missed but I didn’t want to go to deep into the canyon either. This location at MP 100 looked pretty good so I pulled off here and photographed BNSF 4588/4818/4975/712 going by at 10:04.
I then watched the train go by and as the rear neared I thought, “that looks a lot like a caboose” on the end of the train. Sure enough it was.
It was the BNSF 12345, the former BN 12345 that spent so many years at Easton, WA in work train service. I’m guessing it went to Pasco to get BNSF stencils. I briefly thought of following the train further west but was pretty satisfied with the shot I had just taken and continued towards Pasco. That location did help to make up for the missed bridge shot.
On I-82 I made my way to Prosser and checked out the sun angle on the ex-NP depot. As it was pretty high sun by now and a poor sun angle on the building I decided to move on and check out Gibbon. It wasn’t much better (almost direct side light) but I wanted a few shots facing west anyway. This is the east switch of Gibbon siding at MP 33 near where the branch line from Granger comes in. It was the Fouling Point and Derail sign I had noted from an earlier trip. The first shot show the back of the F P sign.
And then I photographed the derail sign. It looks so old you’d have to think it is original NP!
My plan was to stop by here again heading home as the afternoon sun angle should be really good for photographing the other side of these signs.
I had been reading that a new railroad overpass was going in at Kiona and the old Badger Canyon Road crossing was going to be removed so I pulled off to take a look. First I photographed the grade crossing at MP 24.0 before the new bridge.
I understand the railroad was shut down for one day as the new overpass went in east of the grade crossing. Here it is in place but the road has yet to be added.
These two views show the new bridge and Badger Canyon Road crossing, and the west end of Kiona siding
I am guessing that by now, as I write this on the first day of August the bridge should be close to being opened. My next and last stop on the Yakima Valley Sub before going on to Pasco was at Kennewick. It was the former NP depot I wanted to get some more photos of. The sun wasn’t too bad on the south side and I proceeded to take a number of different angles.
It was lunch time so I stopped at the Kennewick Zips for an order of Fish and Chips to go before heading on to Pasco. So far thing were going pretty good.
A followup of heading west later in the day with a stop at Gibbon will come shortly.
It sounded like Sunday May 9 was going to be a sunny day in Eastern Washington so I left home around noon on Saturday 5-8-10 and crossed Snoqualmie Pass headed for Pasco. Just past the Cabin Creek exit on I-90 I heard the BNSF 678 West call out an approach for Martin. Later I learned I had just missed a westbound baretable. I stopped at Easton for some supplies and took this one shot looking west during a brief sunbreak.
Back on I-90 I heard a faint detector go off but I could not tell which one it was. I stopped at Cle Elum to get some lunch and headed out again. Back on I-90 I heard the dispatcher talking to an eastbound just arriving at Ellensburg asking if the outbound crew were there. (Yes, was the answer) The detector I heard must have been the one west of Bristol and this also meant that westbound I heard coming into Martin had met the eastbound at Easton! Should have left 30 minutes sooner. Would have seen two trains at Easton. Drove as quickly as I could to Ellensburg and I could see covered hoppers across the field near the overpass so it looked to me the eastbound was still here. Got on the Canyon Road and drove out to Thrall to wait for it to depart. While waiting I noticed the siding here was gone! When did that happen? I had photographed a westbound grain train at this spot in 2008 and the siding was in place. This is how it looks now.
After waiting awhile longer I decided to head to the depot and find out if the train was still here or if I had missed its leaving. Yup, it was gone. Those hopper cars I saw, westbound M-PASVBT1. Three trains missed so far on the Stampede Sub! So I took off for Pasco hoping to catch up to the eastbound before it arrived there! And I did. Just before Byron I saw the rear of the grain empty rolling along. I quickly overtook the train and was ahead of it by Prosser. I then heard the dispatcher tell the BNSF 4055 East they’d be meeting the local at Kiona and it was already out of Pasco. The weather had crapped out but I wanted at least one photo of this train. I got off at Gibbon and waited near the east switch. I got a surprise later after taking a closer look at this photo.
That appears to be an original NP flanger sign to the right of the locomotive! All these years and this was the first time I had noticed it. That derail behind it might also be original NP. I plan to go back on the next sunny weekend to take a closer look. The local had BNSF SD40-2′s 6814/6812 and were already at Kiona when I arrived.
Not waiting for the meet to happen I took off for Vista for an shot of the 4055 East. This is at the east switch of Vista. The “Vista Trench” is just to the west around the curve.
I figured that would be my last shot of the grain empty and continued on to Kennewick to see if some photos of the depot were possible. To my surprise the BNSF 4055 was here waiting for a signal to cross the Columbia River bridge. As I parked the train was given the signal and started towards me. Here is the BNSF 4055/4340/5003 passing the NP depot.
The sun then came out so I took some depot photos from the west end.
Been trying to think of what other NP depots this one resembles. Looks really good though.
I then stopped at Zips for some dinner (got the Fish and Chips) and headed towards Pasco. Crossing the Columbia River I noticed another photo opportunity as the NP bridge had good sun on this side. There was a parking area on the north end so I pulled off there and ate my dinner before walking out onto the bridge. I had just missed an eastbound but about 15 minutes later a westbound rail train headed out of Pasco led by BNSF 4990/1104.
Then I went back to the truck to take a drive past the engine facility. First I noticed both former NP signal bridges had finally been removed. Kind of sad, first the former NP Pasco depot torn down and now the two signal bridges. I noticed a pair of GP38-2′s nearby with good light on them so one more photo before heading off to the motel for the night.
Looking forward to Sunday morning and hopefully a clear sunny day on tap!
On Saturday, March 20, 2010 I set off for Eastern Washington since sunny weather was forecast for the whole state. My goal of the day was to photograph some of the ex-NP depots on the Yakima Valley Sub in the morning sun.
Made a straight shot past Ellensburg and down the Yakima Canyon. The sun I was expecting ended up being filtered through high clouds that got thicker the further south I drove! Soon I was past Yakima and out of Parker and decided to cross the tracks and follow the 2 lane road into Wapato. Good thing I did as I noticed a headlight of a westbound coming out of Wapato. I waited as the very slow moving train made its way towards me. I could hear EMD’s so I know it probably wasn’t a road train. It turned out to be a local headed towards Yakima. Here are some shots of the BNSF 2728/2925 as they passed by at 8:55 AM.
The train was nothing but empty yellow center beams, looked to be around 70 of them. After they were gone I headed on into Wapato. I have photos of the west side of depot in the afternoon and wanted some on the east side now. Not very photogenic with the fence and razor wire on top! But it is a former NP depot still standing so I am not complaining!
From what I understand the depot is being used by a food bank now. Continuing east (southeast actually) towards Toppenish I stopped by two small bridges at MP 76 and took a few photos of each bridge.
The NP Pocket Bridge list shows just one bridge at MP 76 and it is labeled a “Waste Canal” which must be the one with the water under it, built in 1920 at the expense of the US Indian Service. The other one is in the same tenth of a mile but is not mentioned. Anyone know if it would be an NP built bridge, or is it even considered a bridge?
As I got closer to Toppenish I was a bit disappointed to see the clouds getting thicker. The sun angle was bad for the depot at Toppenish but I did get a photo of the building I believe is a former NP section house just to the west.
I was planning to go on to Pasco but changed my mind and decided to go back to Yakima instead as the weather looked worse that direction. The sun was still out strong as I drove into town and was pleased to see a good sun angle on the big depot. I parked and took some photos of the restored Yakima depot that now houses a fine restaurant.
Just west of the depot is this building I can remember as a kid when my dad and I rode the North Coast Limited to Yakima in 1966. Can’t remember if this was the old freight house or a lunch room? I am sure someone will be able to let me know.
I also wasn’t sure if this caboose near the depot was former NP or SP&S until I took a closer look. The end handrails look like those from an SP&S caboose.
I then checked out the BNSF which was pretty much shut down today. The two former Spirit of Washington dinner train F’s were out in the open.
But the big surprise were these two CBRW GP9′s parked on the other side of the tracks. Both were at Warden near Moses Lake on my last trip there some months back. I have no idea why they are in Yakima now.
And it was especially nice as both are former Northern Pacific GP9′s! A photo and info on each can be found here:
http://www.locophotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=104240
http://www.locophotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=104242
I was doing quite well in finding and photographing former NP things today! Before leaving Yakima I photographed BNSF GP39-2 2738 tied up near the yard office. Was this building an NP structure or constructed post-NP?
I then grabbed some lunch in Yakima before heading back towards Ellensburg and then home. I didn’t make it to Pasco and it was a shorter day than I had planned, but still it was a good one as I had photographed a few things I had not thought to do before!
Saturday August 8, 2009 I took a drive over to Ellensburg to do a bit of exploring around the depot. Not much was going on as far as seeing any trains so I had a straight shot over to Ellensburg. My main goal was to check out the brick patterns around the depot to see if they were indeed brick installed by the NP. I knew the back of the depot had a brick street extending quite a ways out.
Upon arriving at Ellensburg I took this overall shot of the backside of the depot. As can be seen the windows are all boarded up.
W. 3rd Ave from N Wenas St leading to the depot has this pattern of brick.
Right at the base extending the length of the depot itself is the Herringbone pattern. A part of the yellow painted curb can also be seen in the photo.
I then took a few detail photos of the depots roof including the NP monad.
Then I photographed more of the brick patterns. I recently asked Ted Pope who worked at the Ellensburg depot in 1969 if this brick was here in the back when he was here and he said he remembered there was brick in the street at the time he worked at Ellensburg.
And a photo showing the parking lot pattern with the Herringbone up on the back platform.
Considering all the years I have been taking photos at Ellensburg I had never taken a close look at the bricks in the parking lot! I then took a photo of the east end of the depot with the very faded “Ellensburg” station sign.
Sure are lots of bricks! But are these original NP laid brick? Could be. The old wig-wag signal on display near the BNSF offices can also be seen in this photo. I once heard it came from Granger, WA on the Sunnyside Branch.
And just for fun I had to include a photo of me with those parking lot bricks. Well, it was one of the reasons I had come to Ellensburg today.
Walking out W. 3rd Ave I took this photo of the depot.
And out near N Wenas St the extent of the street lined brick can really be appreciated.
There is a great time line of the Ellensburg depot which can be found here:
http://historicellensburg.org/timeline.html
I then turned my attention to the NP caboose on display at the Railroad Park at the west end of W 3rd Ave. The Mainstreeters Fall 1987 issue had an article on NP’s wood cabooses from which is learned this:
In 1921 the group of NP 1700-1789 was built at PC&F in Renton, WA. In the same issue there is a photo of the 1714 taken at Pasco, WA in 1938. After the 1970 BN merger the 1714 was renumbered BN 10937. While I never saw the NP 1714 or the BN 10937 I am guessing it probably assigned to the Central Washington area which is why it came to Ellensburg for display after being retired. The paint had almost faded to a shade of pink but it now has a fresh coat of brown and yellow trim.
Very much an improvement over how it once looked. And the NP semaphore still stands beside it. I am pleased to say the NP is still very much evident in the Ellensburg area.
While driving I-90 east near Cle Elum on a trip to Montana July 9 the scanner picked up some activity going on around Ellensburg. There was an eastbound leaving and a BNSF local would soon be following it. I could hear the eastbound road train telling the dispatcher they would be filling out at Wymer and would roll up their warrant to let the local follow them. I decided a little detour would be OK.
After arriving at Ellensburg I headed towards the Canyon Road and waited up on the hill east of Thrall for the local after it was given a track warrant to leave Ellensburg. The detector went off and soon I could hear horns to the west. Here, the local is heading by my location at 1:55 PM into the Yakima Canyon.
Leading just two cars is BNSF 2840/2971. I then drove on to Wymer where the BNSF 7257 East was just finishing up with its pickup. Once they got going I headed to Rosa and photographed the train there.
The grain empty had a warrant just as far as Pomona and I could soon hear a meet being set up between the 7257 and the BNSF 7445 West for Pomona. Now I had a decision to make. My original plan was to get to Warden, WA near Moses Lake to look for the Columbia Basin Railway. But I was not counting on a southbound in the Yakima Canyon. There were some photo locations I wanted to get out of Toppenish. But as I could see lots of high clouds to the south and noticing how dirty the BNSF 7257 was, plus the westbound was only out of Toppenish from the sounds of it and would not be to Pomona for awhile I chose to turn back to I-90. I still had the local moving down the canyon now to Pomona where it too would meet the westbound. East of Wymer I pulled off the highway and noticed a headlight coming around the curve. Nice timing!
Then it was on to I-90 and east towards Moses Lake. It turned out to be a good idea to turn back at Pomona and head straight to Warden. Otherwise I would have missed this:
This is a continuation report of my drive across eastern Washington May 1, 2009 heading to Spokane. The first part covering the Stampede Sub can be found here:
http://stampedesubblog.qstation.org/?p=251
After leaving the eastbound BNSF grain empties I had followed from Bullfrog to Ellensburg behind I scouted some locations east of Thrall to photograph the train once the new crew started it east. I did not know how far I would follow it as I could see high clouds building to the south and I was wanting to get to Cheney this afternoon to photograph the depot since there is speculation BNSF wants it moved.
One location I would like to shoot is Umtanum since I do not have a good photo taken there and it is on my list of photo location goals I would like to check off.
But first I stopped by the NP built girder bridge east of Thrall located at Milepost 121. I have many photos of trains crossing it but none of the bridge itself. Located at MP 121.2 this is Bridge 121 crossing Wilson Creek. It is 103′ long, 19′ high and was built in 1923.
I then got back in the truck and drove a short distance around the curve pulling off again. I was curious to know if there might be a good photo location looking down towards the tracks. A little scouting turned up a nice spot down the hill a bit. The 121 milepost marker could also be seen on the shot and I liked how the hillside came down to the tracks. The river in the background sure didn’t hurt either! I figured I should be able to get this shot and then get to Umtanum without a problem, if I didn’t dilly-dally. At least I would find out. Back up at the truck I waited for the detector out of Ellensburg to broadcast the train was heading my way. After it went off I started back down the hill and waited for the train to come around the hill, hearing it blow for the many grade crossings as it got closer. Then it rolled around the curve and I got the shot.
I quickly got back up to the truck and drove to Umtanum and crossed the suspension bridge well in advance of the train. I waited by the short railroad bridge and got my Umtanum photo when the train came around leaning into the curve.
I really like this shot. The scenery is nice and the engineers hand out the window as he gives me a wave in greeting makes it even better. This is why I enjoy photographing trains! I walked back across the suspension bridge and decided to return to Ellensburg and I-90 but stopped to photograph the Umtanum Recreation sign before leaving.
I have always enjoyed stopping at Umtanum and have hiked up the hillsides a number of times looking for new angle. Once back on I-90 I made my way across Eastern Washington but would see more trains once I arrived at Ritzville making my way to Cheney. That report can be found in the Lakeside Sub Blog here:
Like I have been doing on the other former NP Subdivision Blogs I am going to take a look at former NP existing buildings and bridges on various segments of the current BNSF between Ellensburg and Kennewick. On Saturday April 25, 2009 I drove to Prosser to catch the BNSF M-PASINB2 that I knew was heading west out of Pasco.
On the way I followed the tracks between Toppenish and Prosser on State Route 22. There are a number of concrete bridges built by the NP still in use between Toppenish and Mabton and after years of driving by them without taking a second look I thought I would get a closer look to see if there were any good photo opportunities around them. First one you come upon is at Milepost 64.9 and I stopped for a quick photo.
According to the NP Pocket Bridge List this is a 6 RCT bridge, 96″ long and 19′ high and was built in 1928. Unlike the NP concrete bridges I have photographed elsewhere that are dry this one crosses Toppenish Creek Slough. Two others also have running water passing underneath them. I continued east following the NP Pocket Bridge List spotting the bridges I came upon next and all matched what the book said. It was really kind of fun learning history hands on. There are 7 bridges between Toppenish and Satus and another two between Satus and Mabton. I stopped at the last bridge on the list at MP 59 and took a few photos of it from the east end before continuing to Prosser. It crosses a rather muddy looking Drainage Canal. I even caught a “dust devil” in the background.
At Prosser I parked in the large parking lot at the depot which is now the towns Chamber of Commerce building. Being a Saturday the offices were closed. I took a few photos of the depot to add to my collection. Info I have says this depot was built in 1948 or 1949.
And here is a photo taken on the north side of the Prosser depot with the tracks in front.
Back at the truck I learned the train I was waiting for was about 20 minutes away so I took a photo of me at the west end of the brick depot. It was such a nice day and I was really enjoying myself.
The train showed up and in following it west was able to photograph a number of the concrete bridges as the train moved slowly through a bunch of slow orders.
First is the easternmost bridge at MP 59 but from the west end. This 6 RCT bridge is 96′ long and 17′ high and was built in 1929.
Next bridge to the west is the 10 RCT at MP 60.0 which is 160′ long and just 9′ high. So long yet so short! It was built in 1919 and is kind of hard to photograph with all the brush around it. At 10 RCT it is the longest concrete bridge of its type in Washington state. The NP Bridge Book calls it an equalizer but I do not know what that means. I am guessing that BN added the railing to the bridge.
After passing through Satus I stopped at the bridge at MP 60.7 that crosses a drainage canal and photographed it.
This bridge at MP 60.7 is a 5 RCT bridge built in 1953 and the NP Bridge Book shows there may have been two bridges at MP 60.7 and 60.8 side by side here at one time, a main line and siding at each. No doubt Satus had a siding and the siding bridges were removed when the siding was taken out. There appears to be a lot of brush and small trees trackside compared to the others. I will have to explore here a bit more in the future.
I moved on to the bridge at MP 63.7 and photographed it. This bridge was built in 1928 and is a 4 RCT type, 64′ long and 14′ high. It is an easy one to spot as it is the only 4 RCT bridge between Toppenish and Mabton. It crosses a drainage ditch.
And the last bridge of our tour is the first one we photographed at MP 64.9 over Toppenish Creek. This one taken from the west end this time.
After photographing the westbound crossing this bridge I drove straight to Wapato since Toppenish was too close. I arrived well ahead of the train and took these two photos of the Wapato depot. Information I have says this depot was built in 1958. It is no longer railroad owned but apparently used by a local food bank for storage purposes. Would explain all the pallets outside. These photos were taken from the west end and south side.
I got the feeling the Wapato depot was not the safest place to hang out nowadays. I was there long enough for photos and left. I drove on to Yakima for my last photo of the day at the Yakima depot.
It is no longer railroad owned either but unlike Wapato is in much better condition and now called the Depot Restaurant and Lounge. I have never eaten here but I believe I will try it out next time I am in Yakima. My dad and I rode the North Coast Limited to Yakima on July 5, 1966 (I was 11 years old) arriving there at 5:45 PM and we waited in the depot to ride the westbound Mainstreeter home early the next morning at 01:55 AM! I have not been in the depot since. Looks like that will have to change soon.
The Yakima depot was built in 1910 as was the Ellensburg depot. There are a number of similarities between the two structures from the outside. From here I headed on home but had a pretty good day photographing former NP bridges and buildings.
Now that the re-reopening of Stampede Pass has happened there is just one westbound regular freight on the line, the M-PASINB2. This train has been called out of Pasco at 11:15 AM with an estimated departure of 13:00 lately. Planning to try and catch this train I was driving east to the Yakima Valley Sub Saturday morning 4-25-09. I had a few goals in mind this trip. To get a photo of a westbound in the afternoon at Mabton to replace a poorly exposed photo I took there in 2003. I had not seen another westbound at the right time since to retake that shot. And I was interested in all those NP built concrete bridges between Toppenish and Mabton I have ignored all these years. It is time I documented them on film!
It was a very nice sunny day in eastern Washington and I managed to get all the way to Prosser without intercepting the M-PASINB so I knew I should have a good race. I looked the old NP depot over and took some photos. It is now used by the city as it’s chamber of commerce building. Back in the truck I heard the Pasco East dispatcher give a Track Warrant to BNSF 7553 at Kiona to run to SP&S Jct. This told me the westbound had passed Kiona and was heading my way. I waited by the depot awhile and just as predicted the bells of the crossing gates east of the depot started ringing and the gates came down! The BNSF 5438 West came around the curve and into my viewfinder.
Power was 5438/4640/4192/7616/4856 and the time was 14:14. The race was on! Well it wasn’t much of a race. Coming into Byron the train slowed down to 4.6 miles of 10 MPH running! Slow orders I’d later find out. While waiting at Byron as the train slowly came my way I watched a jogger also headed west along the highway come along and pass the train! 16 minutes later the train had come 4 miles and with the smoke I was hoping they were finally through the slow order.
They weren’t. They continued to prod along slowly as I turned for the back shot.
Of course the slow speed meant it was easy to get as many photos as I wanted. Just west of Byron is a small pond with some of the old pole line still in place, without wires. It was a shot I had never taken and this appeared to be the time.
I then moved up to Mabton and waited there. The sun angle was perfect. Clouds were forming but none were threatening the sun for my shot. Past the slow order the train was finally getting up to speed and I got my planned Mabton shot.
I was quite pleased! So I headed west and got ahead of the train driving on towards Satus stopping by a small concrete bridge over a drainage canal. I waited and waited. No train. I got back in the truck and drove east and found the M-PASINB in another slow order east of Satus. But I used this to my advantage getting a few photographs east of Satus at this interesting looking homestead and silo.
I realized I had been taking too few photos at curves so pulled off just to the west for a shot of the train coming into around a curve.
And the slow speed made easy work of getting photos at the two bridges east of Satus. Here is the first at MP 59.3
And a back shot at the next bridge located at MP 60.0 which is the longest RCT bridge on this Subdivision at 10 RCT.
As can be seen it is hard to photograph with all the brush around it. Also note it is a pretty low bridge being just 9′ from the ground to the tops of the ties. At this point the train was through the slow order and started to speed up. I managed to get ahead to the original RCT I had stopped at over the drainage canal at MP 60.7!
This was one of two drainage canal crossings. I really like the running water underneath the bridge. Much better than a dry creek bed. Another small NP bridge was just to the west. This is a short 3 RCT bridge. I photographed the train here along with a back shot.
And the last bridge was the first one seen as you head east from Toppenish at MP 64.9, Toppenish Creek slough.
This is my favorite bridge as it is so easy to photograph. I even photographed trailing unit 4856 crossing it.
Such a pleasant setting! I was having a great time managing to take all the photos that I’d wanted. The train was now up to track speed so I got ahead and waited at Wapato for it to show up. The depot has always been a favorite setting. Here is a front and back view of the M-PASINB
It was 16:24 when the train went by on its way towards Yakima. West of Parker I caught up to the train again just before the highway rejoined the freeway. The train was almost here so I pulled off for these last two shots between Parker and Union Gap.
I am guessing that is the old UP line into Yakima in the foreground of the second photo. The train stopped at Pomona to wait on an eastbound but as the day was getting long as were the shadows in the canyon I decided to head for home. Even though I photographed just one train I have to say this was really a fun day on the Yakima Valley Sub!