Train Derails Near Marlin, 13 Freight Cars Leave Track

From the "Grant County Journal."

February 28, 1977

1995 WCRC At Warden View

Photo courtesy of Blair Kooistra. 

Blair says:

"Wayback Wednesday."

"I'm glad I stopped for a photo of the four SW1200's tied up on the Washington Central Railroad at Warden, Washington, on August 26, 1995.

"I'm guessing I was headed back from a two-day trip from Seattle to the BN Lakeside subdivision with Brian Rutherford to photograph CSX AC4400's operating on a test train. I can't recall if Brian and I had split up for our return trips by this point or not; if he was still with me, I'm guessing he spent his time photographing the NP and GN freight cars in a junkyard nearby.

"In 1996, Washington Central spun off the lines north of Connell into their present day Columbia Basin Railroad subsidiary; there wasn't a lot of traffic on this branch in 1995, but that soon changed. WCRC had four SW1200s (ex-MoPac), and here they are MU'ed and tied down near the Warden station. MU'ed SW1200's certainly would have been just as worthy to photograph as more BN green SD40-2s, so maybe we should have spent more time HERE? Today, lots of traffic, and SD9s and GP9s have replaced the switchers."

That SP&S Passenger Car At Soap Lake

X-463 was built by Pullman in June 1909 as SP&S coach 208. It was converted to outfit service as X-463 on May 14, 1940 (along with most of the all-wood passenger cars). The car was sold in July 1969. A shower was installed in 1948, indicating that it served as a bunk car. Trail goes cold after that.
It sat in Kahlotus for years before being moved to Soap Lake. It's sat there for over 20 years and was then put up on Facebook marketplace for sale.

Kahlotus views:

Photo by Jonathan Fischer:

Soap Lake views:

 

Photo by Roger Burrows:

Facebook listing as of 6-28-24.

Roxboro Station Map

Courtesy of Mark Borleske and the Cascade Rail Foundation.

Lind Station Map

Courtesy of Mark Borleske and the Cascade Rail Foundation.

Vassar Station Map

Courtesy of Mark Borleske and the Cascade Rail Foundation.

 

Pizarro Station Map

Courtesy of Mark Borleske and the Cascade Rail Foundation.

Ralston Station Map

Courtesy of Mark Borleske and the Cascade Rail Foundation.

 

Marengo Station Map

Courtesy of Mark Borleske and the Cascade Rail Foundation.

1971 BN Consolidated Annual Station Earnings

Courtesy of Aaron Schwarz and the PNRA.

1971 BN Consolidated Annual Station Earnings

Courtesy of Aaron Schwarz and the PNRA.

BN 1971 Consolidated Annual Station Earnings

Courtesy of Aaron Schwarz and the PNRA.

That SP&S Caboose Near Sun Lakes State Park

Photos taken in January 2003.

Vintage photo below taken by the late Russ Strodtz.

It's been in private ownership since being plucked out of the Purdy scrapyard at Ephrata in the 1970s. I recall it being painted in BN colors when I was but a lad. It was painted red-ish after a remodeling project, as seen here.

Russ Strodtz had snagged a picture of it at the Purdy scrapyard at Ephrata sometime in the 1970s:

1983 Portland Division Train Briefs

Courtesy of Lynn Francis.

April 1, 1983

Local Freight Trains-Portland Division  Revised 4-1-83

Pasco-Walla Walla-Lewiston Area------Trainmaster Distric 1
Local Train-----On Duty-Freq------Territory
61810 WWV Local 0830    DXSa-Su   W Walla-Milton Freewater & Ret A
61810 WWV Local         As Reqd.  College Place-Baker-Langdon
                                  & Ret B

61613 Pasco-Dixie Local 0900 Mo-We-Fr Pasco to Walla Walla,
Dixie & Ret.
61811 Snake River Swr. 1500 DXSu Pasco-Finley-Yellepit & Ret. A
61811 Snake River Swr. DXSu Pasco-Martindale-Burbank & Ret. B
61811 Snake River Swr. DXSu Pasco-Kennewick & Ret. C
61811 Snake River Swr. As Reqd.--Kennewick-Richland & Ret.
61817 Riparia Turn 1930 DXMo Pasco-Riparia & Ret.
61819 Pendleton Turn 0800 DXSu Pasco-Pendleton & Ret. A
61819 Pendleton Turn As Reqd. Smeltz-Athena & Ret. B

Connell-Wheeler-Cheney Area-------Trainmaster District 2
61826 Connell-Whlr Turn 1000 DXSu Connell-Wheeler & Ret. A
                         As Reqd. Bassett Jct-Schrag & Ret. B
61828 Pasco-Bruce Turn 1500 DXSu Pasco-Bruce & Ret. A
                        As Reqd. Mesa-Basin City & Ret. B
61823 Wheeler-Othello Turn 1800 DXSa Wheeler-Othello Lake &
                                     Ret. A
61421 Wheeler-Moses Lake 0700 DXSu Wheeler-Moses Lake & Ret. A
      Turn 0700 As Reqd. Wheeler-Royal City & Ret. B

Yakima-Toppenish-Grandview Area------Trainmaster District 3
61832 White Swan Local 0830 Tu-Th-Su  Yakima-Mabton & Ret. A
61832 White Swan Local As Reqd. Toppenish-White Swan & Ret. C
61835 NYV Local 0830 Mo-We-Fr Yakima-Moxee City & Ret. A
61835 NYV Local 0830 Mo-We-Fr Yakima-Naches-Tieton & Ret. B
61833 15th Sub div. Lcl 0800 As Reqd. To Pasco-Buena & Ret.

1983 Spokane Division Train Briefs

Courtesy of Lynn Francis.

April 1, 1983

WENATCHEE AREA
51882 Quincy Spud Loc. 0900 DXSa-Su Wenatchee-Quincy A.
51882 Quincy Spud As Reqd. Columbia River-Bon Spur & Ret. B.
51881 Quincy Spud DXSa-SU Quincy-Wenatchee C.
51881 Quincy Spud As Reqd. Columbia River -Bon Spur & Ret. D.
51898 Quincy Spud As Reqd. Quincy-Ephrata & Ret. E.
51886 Alcoa Loc. 2100 Wenatchee-Rock Island & Ret. A.
51886 Alcoa Loc. As Reqd. Rock Island-Bon Spur & Ret. B.
51888 Alcoa Loc 2nd Trip As Reqd. Wenatchee-Rock Island & Ret. C.
51888 Alcoa Loc 2nd Trip As Reqd. Rock Island-Bon Spur & Ret. D.
51690 WO Local 1700 Tu-Th-Sa Wenatchee-Oroville
51691 WO Local 1500 Mo-We-Fr Oroville-Wenatchee
51894 Mansfield Turn As Reqd. Wenatchee-Mansfield & Ret.

SPOKANE WEST & SOUTH
51671 CW Loc 1030 Mo-We-Fr Yardley-Coulee City A.
51672 CW Loc 0630 Tu-Th-Sa Coulee City-Yardley B.
51672 CW Loc As Reqd. Davenport to Eleanor Industry C.
51672 CW Loc Tu-Th-Sa Cheney-Babb & Ret. D.
51803 Babb Turn 0700 DXSu Erie St-(Spokane)-Babb & Ret. A
51803 Babb Turn Tu-Th Latah Junction-Geiger Field & Ret. B
51619 Yardley-Pullman Loc 1300 Mo-Th Yardley-Pullman A.
                               As Reqd. Mt. Hope B.
51620 Pullman-Yardley Loc 0700 We-Sa. Pullman-Yardley A.
                         As Reqd. Palouse-Grinnell-Viola- B.
                         As Reqd. Rosalia-Balder C.
51873 Pullman-Julietta Loc Tu-Fr Pullman-Genessee-Julietta
51847 WIM Local 0800 DXSa-Su Potlatch-Palouse-Boville & Ret.

SPOKANE EAST & NORTH (Pt-1)
51842 Coeur D'Alene 0930 DXSa-Su Post Falls-Coeur D'Alene & Ret.
51801 Athol Turn 0400 As Reqd. Yardley-Hauser-Athol & Ret.
51816 Bonner Ferry Loc 0630 DXSa-Su Sandpoint-Crossport & Ret.
51821 Newport Loc 0730 DXSa-Su Newport-Sandpoint & Ret.
51846 Green Acres Loc As Reqd. Ydly-Erie St-Post Falls 7th Sub.
51819 Sandpoint Turn 1900 DXSa Sandpoint-Yardley & Ret.
51820 Sandpoint Turn 2300 DXSa Yardley-Sandpoint

1973 BN Portland Region Local Freight Train Briefs

Courtesy of Sheldon Perry.

1976 Spokane Area Train Briefs

Courtesy of Rob Leachman via Groups.io.

As promised, here is a run-down of local freight train assignments
in the Spokane area circa 1976. This completes my posts concerning
BN operations in the Spokane area. Hope this is of interest.



Spokane Area Local Freight Trains (as published Feb 1976, "last
revised 10/14/75")

Local Number    Route Description        On Duty    Frequency

474        Cheney-Scribner-Marshall-Babb    0900    Ex TuF
625        Kettle Falls – Hillyard        0700    TuF
626        Hillyard – Kettle Falls        0830    MTh
671        Yardley – Coulee City        0930    MWF
672        Coulee City – Yardley        0700    TuThSa
679        Yardley – Quincy        0800    MWF
680        Quincy – Yardley        0600    TuThSa
801        Yardley – Athol                Daily
819-820        Sandpoint – Hillyard        1900    Ex Sa
831        Kettle Falls – Hillyard        0030    Ex Su
832        Hillyard – Kettle Falls        2130    Ex Sa
834        Hillyard – Elk            0630    Ex SaSu
836        Hillyard – Chewelah        0700    We
842        Erie Street – Coeur d'Alene    0900    Ex SaSu
844        Yardley–Coeur d'Alene–Algoma    0700    Ex Su
846        Cheney-Marshall-Scribner-
            Davenport-Eleanor    1100    Tu

Notes: Trains 831-832 were essentially through road trains not doing
local work. These were long trains powered by multi-unit lash-ups of
four-axle units. Trains 671-672 also were powered by multi-unit lash-
ups of four-axle units (typically F units or mixed F units and
Geeps), although they did all the switching work at the elevators
along the CW. When the grain was moving, these also were long
trains. I believe the other locals were ordinarily powered by one or
two Geeps.

This Is The Ephrata Depot

From the "Grant County Journal."

August 5, 1976

Heavy Rains Hit North County

From the "Grant County Journal."

August 9, 1976

Note the CW main in the background.

Ephrata Air Base Area View

From the "Grant County Journal."

July 22, 1976

My posting of the photo isn't about the fire at all, but about the railroad cars in the view. There seem to be very few photos of the scrapyard operation of the Purdy Co at Ephrata. This shows at least 2 cars slated for scrap.

Mainline Derailed For Day

From the "Grant County Journal."

March 1, 1976

NP 317 Arrives At Inland Northwest Railroad Museum

In another timely post, I discovered this GP9 had arrived in Reardan when I drove through on 6/7/24.