The two faces of Mount Whitney

BEFORE

This was how Mount Whitney looked on December 9th, 2009 or 15 months after we opened our doors at the Evergreen club. I used a large mold that

was made for texturing outdoor projects and not rock formations. Live and learn. I also used mellow tans. Burt added the road to connect the city with

the mine up on top of the hill. It all proved to be quite boring to everyone including me.  Change is in the wind!

 

AFTER

Now the mountain is higher, a bridge was used to span over the other railroad tunnels, better rock molds were used and darker colors were more

impressive. The original plan had a 3 pointed star track plan but now it has a 22 inch circle to get back off the mountain. Small trees were used to

force the perspective that the mountain seems higher and further away. Now we are talking about eliminating the rail yard and installing an industry.

Over time...everything changes.

BEFORE

This photo was taken on January 29, 2009 or 7 years ago and we had built the sub structure, laid track, installed the tunnels and the bridge is only laying on

top of the track for viewing purposes. The mountain is only partially done and a few outcropping rocks installed. Other notable issues is Glen Krause in tan

jacket was our tree maker ( very sick ) and Roy Wyatt built many of our buildings ( dark hat in background) passed away some 4 years ago.  Both will be missed.

AFTER

Now we have a nearly finished area showing Marvin's Boeing train climbing the hill on the Red Main. Blue Main is at right and Green Branch is higher up on the hill.

The rocks are in place, bridges installed, trees planted, trains running on time and life is good.

Going back in time...with model trains!

Steve Weso gathered 5 SP&S locos with about fifty 40 foot box cars to set a period train on Thursday evening. Does the FedEx truck ruin the image?

 

Scotty Smith ran our club's UP Challenger for a visiting mom and her son. The boy asked if he could see a

steam engine and gave him what he asked for.

 

Steve hart made a comeback again today with his Milwaukee Road train set with the famous 156 leading

the way. It was the bi-centennial favorite paint scheme of all the railroads.

 

The North Coast Limited gets treated with 4 EMD F units because of the additional cars added to the

famous train that the NP ran for so many years. The Quinns rode the real one twice and the secondary

Mainstreeter once in visiting Spokane in the sixties.

 

Tom Frank had his Oakway and BN power on the point of his freight passing Old Town at the port.

 

Surprise visitors to the club tonight were 2 of my favorite people which is my daughter Bonnie and

my son-in-law Kent Clausen. They were in Coeur d'Alene and stopped by to see our progress on the layout.

 

 

The mighty Santa Fe shows up with a powerful 4-4-0 in charge.

Powerful for its time if it is 1890 but soon to be overtaken by larger and most efficient locomotives with more wheels and more power.  In the meantime

John Smith has his engine #114 pulling a healthy passenger train towards the untamed Southwest. 114 was my Boy Scout troop number! Rochelle Park, NJ.

 

A few days ago I caught this train and I noticed a lot of the cars had grafitti.

How much time, money and effort you think this boxcar got to have this kind of art?

 

This theme did not go unnoticed either as the graphics seem straightforward. I don't think they were

doing it for a baseball team.

 

his is about half of the cars passing by and I thought it made a strong symbol for oil and energy

independence for the USA. If you don't agree try walking to work tomorrow.

Fuel Tenders ... the BN finds a way around heavy Montana fuel taxes

Montana thought about how they can get more taxes into the treasury and they though the sugar daddy

was going to be the BN Railroad. The BN said they were going to pay as little fuel tax they could but how do you

get through a large state without refueling?

Bring the fuel from where ever they started and haul it with the locos. Hoses were connected with

pumps to keep the locos full of fuel for the complete trip. The fuel depot at Rathrum, Idaho eliminated the need

to such tankers in the consist as they got fuel to get them to Seattle and back to Rathrum without

any fuel stops. They got filled up again and could make their destination back east as well without stopping in Montana.

The BN had 100 of these EMD blue and white diesels on the roster fro about 10 years before the lease ran

out. They were called Oakways and they were serviced in a special repair shop back east to keep them

in top shape. The lease was not renewed as the math did not work out as planned.

The three main lines are clearly shown here at the different levels as well. We like to think they are

different railroads with different abilities as far as track radius, and train lengths especially the top

track as it is considered a private line to service the 3 industries up there.

I didn't show this engine in Steve Hart's lashup last week because of space but it usually does not work

in main line service as it is a switcher engine for yards. But it has to get there after its been serviced.

As it probable did thousands of times in Hillyard, a 2 unit set of F units go for a spin on the club's

turntable. The Fs served their time for over 40 years on the GN and now they are all resting in the

roundhouse in the sky.

One member had this set of RS-1s last week but one is an SP&S loco and the other is a Spokane

International loco in UP merger color.  But it's our railroad and we run 'em as we see fit.

In the dim past of Spokane history, we had an extensive trolly system.

It would be hard to prove it as everything has been removed, altered and "improved' ....except this bridge.

It is located just east of the Park Road in the Spokane Valley. The bridge is owned by the Union Pacific

and it connects Spokane with the Dishman Mica branch down to the Palouse and beyond where it

connected with the Milwaukee Road tracks back in the day. Looking south.

The point of the photo is the angled underpass where the Vera line went under after traveling down

East Sprague Ave. and on to Liberty lake, and Coeur d'Alene. Yes, I remember them pulling up tracks

in the middle of Sprague in front of the old United Paint building some 30 years ago. I believe there

is a brick building on the top of the hill to the east that was a railroad building but not sure. Looking northeast.

Is there anything else left?

On the current timeline I caught up with this eastbound along Trent Ave. with a varied collection of power.

This borrowed CSX unit is a long way from home being it is an east coast railroad and all they

count is the miles they contribute and someone sends them a bill for the use.

I never knew there was a railroad for this U.S. Sugar Corp. maybe its going back east for repairs?

Finally, here is a chopped nose GP9 in MRL colors. One could bet that it was a GN, NP or BN unit

in its teenage years but still working after 50 years of service. Old solders never die....they just...

Where north meets south.

Better yet this is where the old ( 130 year old NP main) meets the new (80 year old) NP main at Pines Road in the Valley.

 

This eastbound was about ready to head east and this point is important as it is the choke point for the Funnel between Spokane and Sandpoint, Idaho.

The Spokane River crossing is about 600 yards from this point and is single track on a 100 year old steel trestle. They are talking about double tracking ...but when?

 

The bigger surprize was a caboose on the end! It must be a move to a location as they are no longer required.

 

This is not a Dash 9 but a newer, fancy one right out of the box. Nice and shiny. It is a ES44C4

and that means 4400 horsepower and it meets emission requirements.

 

These pushers were doing their part in getting it up to track speed.

 

A visitor named Chris stopped by the club on Thursday with a builder's plate which we think is

off a Butte, Anaconda & Pacific electric box motor.

 

Finally the other day I saw a headlight on the Union Pacific ( ex- SI) tracks and pulled over for the runby.

It turned out to be a Canadian Pacific train with 2 on the point and 1 pushing. Now that's a change!

 

 

Railfanning downtown Spokane Thursday, March 31, 2016

The fifth train of the day was another eastbound. This time it was an empty grain train with more than 100 cars in tow.  The sun is falling further west and I am

losing my bright sunlight advantage on my subject. By the way these locomotives are 4400 horsepower each and there is one in the rear pushing as well.

The sunlight looks perfect on the going away shot of the same train. This bridge is over 100 years old

and still carrying the weight of all these thousands of trains per year.

This pusher is operated by the engineer in the lead unit of this train. No crew is needed back here

as all controls are with the engineer. It keeps the strain off the couplers as 1/3 of the cars are actually

being pushed.

I wasn't the only one watching trains go by as the local Pigeons has a front row seat as well.

It was time to go get the wife but just before I left this creature was heading east as well. After a

hard day work it is retiring from the main line scoping up rocks at the end of the ties and cleaning the

rock of dirt that would hinder water from draining away from the rails. Now how many of you knew that was

a problem?

Doodlebugs are us!

Rod and Janis had a neighbor's son Matt with them on Thursday and he ran this Santa Fe Doodlebug as

his introduction to model railroading on a large layout. Doodlebugs were used nationwide on branch

lines  and offered passenger and freight service to communities at a lower cost that a steam engine

with a full crew would entail.

Northern Pacific freight train from Marvin made the rounds and sounded terrific.

Janis had her new SP&S C-636 making the rounds with an easy short train in tow.

Steve Hart turned out to be an Milwaukee Road fan and had his 3 unit train to prove it.

Matt later had this GN passenger train running at track speed as Tom Kirk's Rio Grande freight train

tries to keep up.

Passing the time away along the Right of Way!

The wife had a 3 hour doctor's appointment on Thursday late morning and I had to wait 3 hours before she was ready to be picked up. So what does a

old time rail photographer do in downtown Spokane for 3 hours? I parked up on this little hill near the Sunset Junction Hobby Shop and took photos on

this fine day. The first train I saw was a Union Pacific oil train on BNSF trackage rights through Spokane. Check out that spacer hopper car's rust spot?

The second train was a BNSF pumpkin train with a mixed freight coming under the signal tower.

The highlight of the loads were 3 flat car loads of very long poles similar to what Marvin modeled

for his train.

Waiting for the next train was a problem as when I woke up taking a nap there was a black SUV

parked on the BNSF service track about 100 yards from me. My self preservation mind kicked in and

left the area before he got any closer as it could have been another railfan driving where he shouldn't

or it was one of those "friendly" folks who carry guns.  I made it over to a small hill overlooking the

bridge that crosses Division St and Sprague Avenue and caught this container train. Third eastbound.

Train four was a rare single unit bringing back the empty flats that carry Boeing aircraft bodies to

Everett, Washington from the midwest where they are built but without their wings. Note the space

between the right of way and the building in the distance. That is common on the south side of the

tracks because that was the single track that trains used to get through town when they were

elevating the line through Spokane. I was here for about an hour.

These Boeing train containers used to be bright yellow with the Boeing lettering on the sides.

After too many bullet holes in the containers Boeing through it was wiser not to advertise what was inside.