Railfanning with the Smith Brothers

This past Saturday I went on an impromptu trip with Marvin and John to Pasco, Washington to visit PF&S hobby supply. That's Marvin near his car as I wait on the bridge at Sprague, Washington.

We saw a 3 unit train heading west and we thought that we could catch him at Sprague at this interesting spot. But after 30 minutes we gave up waiting for the train that had 3 BN green units, rare for them to survive after 19 years of BNSF merger.

We decided to see what was waiting for the westbound as we could see an eastbound waiting in the distance so we passed a large collection of rare vehicles including this Yellow Cab unit. Don Carneigie would be impressed!

Here's the eastbound container train waiting at the East Sprague siding...and waiting ...and waiting.

After a tour of a large hobby distribution center that makes believe it's a hobby shop in the middle of nowhere we stopped for a moment at the Pasco hump yard where foreign power was ready to go east.

Pasco has an NP 4-6-0 steamer on display and I got a quick snap of it as we passed.

Our final highlight was visiting the Pasco Industrial Park where this huge crane was still there since we visited a year ago. That blue spot is a 44 ton locomotive.

 

 

Fast times at the Evergreen

Decades old enemies pass each other on Thursday night. The GN and the NP, while owned by the same guy, James Hill, they fought each other for business especially when the GN arrived in Spokane in the early days of 1900. On the Evergreen Railroad they seem to get along with each other.

 

A similar shot was shown last week of a GN unit at this very spot but this time the cows are not standing on platforms and they have not turned into hamburger meat by a locomotive. Where's PETA when you need them to fix that fence? The Spokane International is one of my favorites!

Milwaukee Road shows up with a short passenger train perhaps it is some big wig inspecting our railroad for a potential merger with the Milwaukee?

I always look for kids with an expression on their face when a train is passing. Kids always get a good reception at our club when they show up.

Claudiu picked up 2 new GN F units with sound and DCC already installed. Our newest member is moving up in the collecting of quality stuff.

There are those 2 competitors rubbing shoulders again as more visitors observe the interactions from a safe distance!

They Had One Job

And now....a brief break from the world of model trains and real trains.....

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                                                 They Had One Job

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The new Alco C-636 comparision

Sure it has the BN number but we are discussing the yellow on this unit. Ignore the dirt.

Here is a the new C-636 in HO scale. I'm not sure I like the color of the yellow. Is it me?

Here it is next to an Atlas C-424 which is a shade lighter.

Far off places like Paradise, Wallace and Spokane?

Recently I took a trip to Montana and visited Paradise with Marvin Sheppard to see what was left of Paradise yard. They used to have crew changes here along with a tie plant, large yard and a coal dock. The Montana Rail Link now runs it instead of NP,BN or BNSF.  Taking a photo of the station from a distance makes it look  "lonely"?

The train club members in my group stopped at the Northern Pacific train station in Wallace on the way to the Missoula train Show 2 weeks ago. Its worth stopping in if you are passing this way!  That's I-90 in the background.

If I remember correctly the stately turkey could have been the nation's bird symbol instead of the Bald Eagle if Ben Franklin had his way. These guys were on the road near my son-in-laws house.

Just another train shot but what is noteworthy are the hopper cars with solar panels on them to use the electricity to open and close the doors for the ballast loads. Clever these railroaders.

Boeing planes buzz downtown Spokane on this dedicated train that moves aircraft bodies from the midwest to Everett, Washington. At least this time they did not get dumped in the Clark Fork River!

This is how you move hoppers cars in a small yard using a Trackmobile with rail wheels and rubber wheels without waiting for a real switch engine to do the work. Off Trent Avenue in Spokane if you were wondering.

Not a factory paint I would guess on this 1930 Ford Model A near the train club in the Spokane Valley. It's for sale if any of you folks are interested?

 

 

Open House! See the trains on Saturday Oct 11!