Z Train At Adrian

May 16, 2026

I was waiting at my preferred train watching spot at Adrian, for that late Amtrak #7 I wound up catching at Marlin instead. This Z train came flying through before I left. It met #7 at Gibson. I wound up seeing the Z again at Latah Junction a few hours later.

In the distance in this shot is Beezley Hill, with the town of Ephrata being right below it.

My location is right where the NP used to cross this line.

 

Late Empire Builder

5-16-26 

Today's very late #7 at Marlin, WA.

Looking for Bacon

October 21, 2010

Back on October 21, 2010 John Neff joined me, my wife, and daughter for a walk of the former NP through Dry Coulee, south of Coulee City. Here we are at the old station of Bacon.

1941 GN Unloading Dock In Ephrata Set Ablaze

From GCJ News.

https://www.gcj.news/in-other-news-50/

Ritzville Branch Map

Courtesy of the NPRHA.

1939

From Mainline To Branchline To End Of The Line

Photo date April 19, 2012.

What was once the planned relocation of the Northern Pacific mainline across Washington State, became a backwater branchline that is now out of service. 

Drivers along Interstate 90 east of Moses Lake, WA are often confused by the railroad line that "follows" the road. It was, in fact, the other way around. 

The NP was aware that their mainline was longer than the competing lines of the Milwaukee and the Great Northern, so came up with a plan for a line to branch off their mainline at Ritzville, and run mostly due west to Ellensburg. This would save about 80 miles of running time, instead of dipping south through Pasco and then back north through Yakima. The line was surveyed and grading started at Ritzville and connected into the abuilding Connell Northern branch headed north out of Warden, WA, at a location called Bassett Junction. 

Rail was laid from Bassett to Remple (now called Schrag), when the project stopped. Cold. Why? The opening of the Panama Canal. It would seem that enough traffic disappeared from the otherwise very frugal NP that the project could no longer be justified. 

The NP did look at completing the line a few more times over the years, including a plan to use the Milwaukee grade to Ellensburg. The last internal  correspondence the NP had about this project was about 1951. 

Most traffic on on the branch was from a modest sized grain elevator at Schrag. It was still shipping when Burlington Northern sold off the old Connell Northern branch in 1986 to the Washington Central. Operations continued to be seasonal as ownership changed to the Columbia Basin Railway, after BN bought back the Washington Central, but promptly spun the Connell Northern lines right back out.

In the Columbia Basin era, car supply became dependent on the State of Washington having purchased older hopper cars, and doling them out to a few shortlines, in order to help keep truck traffic off state roads. In the photo you'll see these greenish yellow cars in abundance. 

I'm not so sure the brain-trust who put the state program cars into service thought much about the rule about 50 year old cars being prohibited from interchange service, but that is what seems to have killed off service on this branch. The photo here is from 2012, but in a few short years these cars were parked at Schrag, rusting to the rails, as they were all too old to hand off to the BNSF anymore. 

Those cars sat for about two years before they were rounded up and doled out to other state-owned shortlines for captive use, where they are still today. 

The Columbia Basin Railway ownership has changed recently. All the small power like the pictured GP9s are now long gone, and the branch is being used to store out of service Cryotrans reefers, with the mechanical refrigeration parts removed. There are nearly 100 of these cars out there today.  Is this the end of what was supposed to be a mainline?

Most of this information I plan on using for a program at the upcoming NPRHA convention this year in Toppenish, WA.  

CCET 319 At Royal City

Courtesy of Jonathan Fischer.

January 14, 2019

651 At Warden

Courtesy of Jonathan Fischer.

January 12, 2018

Trains On The Adrian Cutoff

From the "Spokesman Review."

October 24, 1903

Smack Through The Middle Of The Columbia Basin

From the "Spokesman Review."

January 26, 1947

Bacon Tunnel, Near Coulee City, Changed To Full-Depth Operation

From the "Spokesman Review."

July 23, 1947

Biggest Things Abound In Basin

From the "Spokesman Review."

December 23, 1946

Galloping Goose Views

Courtesy of NMAC.

1930s

Locations between Davenport and Reardan.

1933 Land Ownership Maps Soap Lake To Adrian

1933

Of note, at the Adrian townsite, there is a chunk owned by CF Berlet. He had been instrumental in getting the Adrian Irrigation Company set up back in 1907, and was part of the lawsuits that saw the company's demise.

1980 Davenport View

Photo courtesy of Blair Kooistra.

Blair says:

"And because I've always got "just one more" vintage photo to show, here we are at Davenport, Washington, in the predawn hours of October 11, 1980, when I dragged my buddy Brian Elchlepp with me across the mountains to chase an A-A-A-A-Geep-B-Geep set on the Coulee City local. We just drove east along the railroad until we found the train tied down at the depot, then waited for the crew to show up. The headlight is on dim, cab lights are on as the crew readies their workspace, and numberboards and rooftop gumball flasher is on. 

"What a day! We made a full day of it, chasing all the way west to Coulee City and then back to Spokane. It made for a long day of driving, and I know I'm an old man now (I was only 20 at the time!), but if something like this were to happen today. . .well, I can guarantee you Brian and I would be hot-footin' it no matter how much sleep we'd be losing."

Tunnel Construction Scene

Courtesy of the NMAC.

1935-36 timeframe. 

This tunnel was built on a 5% grade, It's located adjacent to the Coulee Dam city hall.

Milwaukee Clawing At Cohasset

Courtesy of Blair Kooistra.

Blair says:

"Here's one from August, 1978: Milwaukee Road Westbound freight (likely a #205 symbol) claws its way up the 2.2% Saddle Mountain grade near old Cohasset Pit, Washington. Two SD40-2's cut in behind a couple dozen grain loads. Loud. Smoky. Sand in the air. Incredible to experience."

 

BN CW local At Medical Lake

Courtesy of Tom Carver.

October 1980

"BN's CW local, a.k.a. the Coulee City Turn, is westbound at Medical Lake, Wash., after diverging onto the branch at Cheney. BN's numbering scheme placed A units with even numbers and B units with odd, so the chances of lead F9A 818 being paired with trailing 817 were only fair at best. Covered hoppers were starting to take over by this time in October 1980, but there is still a good sized cut of 40-foot grain boxes entrained as well. It's harvest time, so the seven-unit mix of Fs and Geeps will be needed on the return trip the following day."

ERDA 3730

Photo by RR.

R says:
"ERDA 3730 at the North Richland yard in September 1977. The Hanford Plant Railroad (located on the Hanford site in southeastern Washington State) was always one of my favorites and is the subject of a project layout I'm working on. I wish I could have chased it though. In the late 1980s, I photographed this RS1 getting scrapped along with its sister 3732."

Don't Tell

Courtesy of RR.

Marengo Meet: MILW 22 East should be passing MILW 144 West in the passing track, but the passing track is in such bad shape by 1978 crews began asking the UP operator if they can use the Washy. Note MILW 144 West in the background happily parked on the UP mainline - with no authority or knowledge from division brass.

Little Power On The Move

Photos courtesy of the Grant County Historical Society's BPA photo archive.

1945

Locomotive moving by truck due to the track being temporarily out of service due to construction work.

Burlington Northern Station Under Discussion In Ephrata

From the "Grant County Journal."

December 13, 1976

Mainline Derailed For Day

From the "Grant County Journal."

March 1, 1976

Action At Naylor

Guest post by Chris Malm. Photos by him.

March 11, 1992

An eastbound intermodal train with GP50 3126 and B30AB 4019 was first up. About 45 minutes later came what looked like train 4 with some apparently hot boxcars on the point, led by EMDX SD40-2 6301 (ex-MILW 178 to 17 to SOO 6301) and two more SD40-2s. The third train was a westbound stack train, possibly 15, as it met the 6301. March 11, 1992.

Chasing The CBRW

My photos.

April 20, 2026

Wheeler Turn headed towards Wheeler while crossing I90 at Raugust.

Passing through Bruce.

Passing Koren. I'm standing on the embankment of the SR 26 overpass.

BNSF Connell Turn power was all EMD this day.

Returning towards Warden, passing Buehler Road.

At Coyan Road.

Just north of Bruce. That's Othello in the background.

Coming off the BN built connection between the NP and the Milwaukee Road, the Columbia Basin Railway Connell Turn is nearly home at Warden, WA. You can see the remnants of the NP ramp behind the 651. 

The flyover was built by NP subsidiary Connell Northern, to get over the Milwaukee Road in 1910. After the Milwaukee quit in 1980, BN bought that line between Warden and Othello. At this particular location, they pulled out the NP bridge and built an at-grade connection between the two railroads, which is still in use today.

It's now 7pm and the Wheeler Turn hasn't finished at Wheeler yet.

1935 Tunnel Construction Scene

Courtesy of the NMAC.

1935

View looks over what will become the town of Coulee Dam at the granite bluff the tunnel was built through. It featured a 5% grade from end to end. It wasn't actually used, though track led to it, as part of a tail track of a switchback leading to a lower level.

From The GN To The NP

My photo.

June 1, 2016

After being built to haul GN passenger trains, this SDP40 was relegated to freight service. Over the years it found it's way to regional line Montana Rail Link, who leased it out for shortline service on the Eastern Washington Gateway. It became the star of the summer of 2016, as all of us local fans burned though pixels of it hauling wheat in Eastern Washington. 

BN 6642 At Wenatchee

Courtesy of Blair Kooistra.

Blair says:

"This is a rather standard view of Burlington Northern F45 #6642 ready to depart Appleyard in Wenatchee, Washington in March of 1985 with drag freight #129 to Seattle. But blow it up to screen-size on a big monitor, and just revel at its bad-assedness for a moment.

The SD40-2 is revered for its durability and reliability; the SD45 for its brute power and mean appearance with flared radiators. Bur for me, the most magnificent of them all was the F45, which became synonymous with freight operations across BN's Hi-Line in the 1970s and early 1980s.

During the last five years of their lives, ten or so of these were assigned to Interbay in Seattle, protecting helper assignments on the former Great Northern mainline over the Cascades to Wenatchee, a pair of 6600s replacing trios of GP9/F9s.

Identical--except for the lack of a steam generator compartment on the rear--to the passenger version FP45 initially built for Santa Fe, only Great Northern and Santa Fe purchased the new freight model F45s; 26 were ordered by Great Northern, 14 of which delivered before the 1970 Burlington Northern merger. BN added another 20 in 1971.

When I photographed the 6642, it had less than a year of service left for BN. It looks well worn, crusty around the edges, rusting along the side panels--but even so, it gives the appearance of a capable, powerful machine. After completing its air test, it will lead #129 over the pass to Seattle. This was the last time I saw an F45 lead a train on Burlington Northern.

The 6642 left the roster in 1986, reincarnated as Trancisco Tour #1002 for a short career hauling party trains between Oakland and Reno. Wisconsin Southern picked her up under the same number, passing it on to Montana Rail Link in 1993, who operated it as its #392 until retired and scrapped at Livingston in 2014."

 

From the Mainline To The Shortline At Hartline

My photo.

June 1, 2016

Former UP 9129 is now relegated to moving loads of wheat. The former mainline speedster is relegated to 10 to 25mph moving hoppers of grain on the shortline Eastern Washington Gateway. There wasn't much of a market for old GE's after the shortline was done with it. It's motor was salvaged for use in another locomotive and the rest of it was scrapped. 

NP Cement Boxcar Unloading At Grand Coulee

Courtesy of the Bonneville Power Administration. 

No date.

Note the fellow with the Fuller-Kinyon vacuum in the doorway, sucking out all the cement powder into the tanks in the background. This car was formerly used for lumber loading, stick by stick, as the small door on the right end shows. After being used for cement service, I doubt it was used for anything else. 

Note one of the fellows on the right is pointing at the photographer.

1924 NP AFE Hartline Right Of Way

Courtesy of the NPRHA.