Working on the port side

Scotty has been soldering the extra wires to the port switches and is now installing them along with Burt assisting.

 

The most important leg of the switch tree is the one that goes to the port's adjustable leveler for the tides and other factors that a level connection cannot be used. We can now figure out if we want to have a three track or a two track barge system depending on the need the have that end piece in use. I think a 2 track system is all we need. The track will be level with steel planking.

 

Big Mike Applegate promised to stop by during the holiday season with time off from the Kracking of North Dakota. Mike must be admiring our 3 tier system of having different railroad systems included in the scenery without anyone noticing what we acomplished.  Too much railroad.?...Nahhhhh!

 

I made today a pre-merger day with 2 of my three SP&S Alco Century C-424s making the rounds on the Blue Main.

 

It's good to hear Alcos growling again as they had an distintive sound that you knew what was coming bafore they got to the photo spot. Tom had his EMD switcher running the other way.

Open House Model train show

 

                     What a weekend!

TURKEY, FOOTBALL ...AND MODEL TRAINS!

   SAT. NOV 30th - 1 to 5 pm

The Queen has returned!

My traveling buddy for many years is Bruce Butler and he finally got his marvelous NP 4-6-6-4 Challenger back after I was able to change the number of the loco to one he remembers as a youth in Spokane's Parkwater yard and surrounding area. The 5139 was a Spokane engine and when you buy an engine of this caliber it should be what you remember it as.  Now we need to talk about a little weathering? 

 

Bruce is an engineer for the Eastern Washington Gateway out of Cheney, Washington but tonight he is just a kid taking photos of his new model locomotive. Bruce at one time owned an NP GP7 or was it the other way around that the loco owned him as every spare minute and dollar he had was dedicated to the rebuild of it!

 

It looks even better making its way around the layout with a string of my cars pulling the grades and crossing trestles.

 

Not exactly prototype but the caboose is a treasure at the Evergreen club as it is the only thing we have in rolling stock from our dear departed member Roy Wyatt. The Apache Pass Railroad was Roy's own creation.

 

We had a number of guests including kids and they all wanted to see steam engines run. So we run steam engines for them!  Where's the caboose on Burt's train? Did anybody notice the photographer shooting the photo of the train on the bridge? Where's a cop when you need one? At the donut shop?

 

 

 

Holiday Schedule

HOLIDAY SCHEDULES

Evergreen Railroad Modelers (Spokane Valley) will host two holiday open houses for visitors, families

and friends. The first is on Saturday, November 30th, and the second is on Saturday, December 28th. Both are

from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The layout is located at 18213 East Appleway, in the Greenacres Shopping Center,

Spokane Valley. Visit their webpage at http://evergreenrr.blogspot.com/ for more information about the club's

activities. There is lots of free parking available for visitors and the layout is easily accessible on street level.

Burning and Turning!

That caption generally refers to air combat but now it can also refer to this Northern Pacific 4-4-0 that burns wood and turns wheels with the heat from the wood turning water into steam and it makes the wheels go around. It sure was a lot better system than anything that came before it!

 

Back in the good old days of 1976 a lot of railroads came up with painting one or more locos in the Bi-Centennial colors of red, white and blue and the Milwaukee Road was no different. The 156 loco came through Spokane several times on detours on the BN as their line was tied up with a wreck or something. It's good to see it return to the rails!

 

Tom is now loading up his coal cars with coal and they look a lot better with loads in them. His Great Northern SD45 was the premier power on the railroad for a number a years before the BN merger.

 

The queen of the SP&S is the #750 E-7 that I saw the real thing many times in this color scheme in Hillyard and downtown GN station with the passenger set going to Portland, Oregon.

 

Passengers came in on the NP trains or the Great Northern trains to Spokane and transfered to the SP&S if they wanted to go to Portland, Oregon. This happened at night as my shots of it are all night shots at the station, a risky business shooting Kodachrome 25, a very slow film.

 

Spike Gorley ran the BNSF train first and then switched to the motherland loco in the form of Canadian Pacific. Someday she will have a soulmate to run with.