Unloading At Four Lakes

Guest post by Bruce Butler.

April 18, 2020

Per Washington state "Essential business" guidlines, most railroad employees are considered "Essential".  Yesterday I was delighted to accept a call to unload a 59 car grain train at Highline Grain at Four Lakes WA.  Occasional breaks in the process allowed me the opportunity to get off of the train and stretch my legs without imposing any delay to the unloading.

This view, looking east, shows the Highline facility and the shed where the cars are unloaded. The track on the right is the loop track where BNSF unit trains are loaded, and occasionally unloaded with hard red wheat from the midwest.

Here we have rounded the first curve and about half of the train has been unloaded. Looking north.

Looking east at the Highline facility

The shadow side. SD40-2 3910 was doing the work. GP30M 2422 and SD40-2 3776 were just along for the ride.

These ducks enjoyed some of the larger water puddles near the tracks. They didn't care for the noise of the nearby train and soon flew off.

This view, looking east, shows the Highline facility and the shed where the cars are unloaded. The track on the right is the loop track where BNSF unit trains are loaded, and occasionally unloaded with hard red wheat from the Midwest.