BNSF’s Stampede Pass line was out of service for a couple of months after a storm in January washed out tracks near Lester and at the summit tunnel. The line was reopened about a month ago and has seen a small amount of traffic in that time.
Today. an inspection train came off the line at Auburn about 5 PM. It probably had spent the day checking the new work done on the line. At any rate, anything resembling passenger equipment on the Stampede Line always gets the heart pumping and I ran out with camera in hand to find it sitting on the north leg of the wye waiting to head towards Seattle when the Sounders gave them an opportunity.
Consist was BNSF 4770, BNSF 88 Atchison, and BNSF 87 Skagit River with the large rearward viewing window on the back end.
(Reposted from original blog)
Since last week I’ve been seeing some activity that is different from the normal meager fare on the Stampede line. The westbound grain trains have returned! The latest arrived in Auburn at 6:30 this morning complete with midtrain DPU’s.
There is plenty of grain traffic over Stampede but usually it consists of empties moving east. In fact, the typical flow of all traffic (grain and otherwise) is about 3:1 eastbounds to westbounds. The new westbounds seem to be on a daily schedule and is a departure from BNSF’s normal practice of sending grain down the Columbia River.
This change in operation most recently ocurred last spring when track maintenance on the Fallbridge Sub detoured the westbound grain traffic over Stampede. At that time, helper crews worked out of Ellensburg and would bring a set of 4 locomotives (Dash 9′s or better) to Easton where they would push westbounds over the hill to Lester. At Lester, the helpers would cut off and return to Easton. Sometimes they might even have more than one train a day to assist.
Reports indicate that the helpers have returned to Easton, since these trains won’t make it over the hill by themselves. Stay tuned and let me know if you hear anything.
(Reposted from original blog)
First snow of the season is falling at Stampede Pass and Easton, though according to the National Weather Service it should be turning to rain later today and continued rain for the next several days. Travel to the west side of the pass may be over soon for this year as the road is not maintained in the winter. Lester, which is much lower in elevation than the pass, is forecasted for rain. And more rain. It’s what keeps Western Washington green.
You can check on the winter’s snowfall by visiting the Stampede Pass weather station on the web:
http://www3.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/nwcc/sntl-data0000.jsp?site=788&days=7&state=washington
(Reposted from original blog)
East Auburn is situated at MP 102, on the western end of BNSF’s Stampede Pass Subdivision in Auburn, Washington. This was originally on Northern Pacific’s transcontinental line from St. Paul to Tacoma and Seattle. East Auburn served as a transfer point for the North Coast Limited for passengers to and from Tacoma and was a major mail handling stop. It once sported sidings, platforms, umbrella sheds and a small station but little evidence of any of this remains today, save one little-used siding with rusty 100-year-old rail.
The former station site road access on K Street SE provides a good vantage spot except that it is on the shady side of the tracks. With a telephoto lens, it offers a nice view of the east end of Stampede Wye with it’s approach signal. A similar view exists to the east which catches trains emerging from around the curve between M Street and Auburn-Black Diamond Road.
The grade crossings at both M Street and Auburn-Black Diamond Road enable shots from the south side of the tracks when the sun is high enough to clear Highway 18, which is elevated through this area. A disadvantage of M Street is the lack of clearance with the highway which makes it hard to get far enough away from the train to get much of it in your shot. Auburn-Black Diamond Road offers more space but is a dangerous location to hang around due to heavy dump truck traffic from the nearby gravel pit.
Stampede trains are far from frequent, but are worth making a slight detour to catch if you are following trains on either the BNSF’s or UP’s Seattle Subs. The last place to reasonably catch a Stampede train is at the Green River bridge, which is only a couple of miles from the BNSF Seattle Sub. Trains generally check in with the dispatchers before entering or leaving the Stampede Sub and many put their trains together in Auburn Yard so there’s usually plenty of time to get into position for a photograph.
Here’s a sampling of trains at East Auburn from the past several days:
Fri. 10/17/08 8:30 AM Westbound baretable, led by an SD40-2
Fri. 10/17/08 5:10 PM Eastbound grain empty
Sat. 10/18/08 9:05 AM BNSF 7611 East grain empty
Sat. 10/18/08 12:45 PM BNSF 6511 East baretable led by ex-Santa Fe SD45-2
Sun. 10/19/08 10:25 AM Eastbound grain empty
Sun. 10/19/08 1:35 PM Westbound manifest
Sun. 10/19/08 2:00 PM Eastbound grain empty
You may ask why, with such a small amount of traffic, do I spend so much time at East Auburn. The answer is I live only a few blocks away and can usually walk over and grab a few shots when I hear the train coming. Otherwise I wouldn’t plan to spend much time there except when in the area and a train is heading that way.
