Bucking Snow On The Washington Eastern

Guest post by Gary Durr.

March 14th or 15th.

Mother nature hit Washington state with a late winter snow storm... In the Eastern part of the state, Winds up to 50 Mph and heavy snow made for a rough weekend here on the Washington Eastern Railroad...not only were the snows heavy but the wind blew the snow into the many cuts on the railroads East end between Hite and Davenport, Washington...

The first West bound train after the storm, "3 days after," had a time clearing the lines many deep cuts of snow on its way West with Empties for the out country grain elevators... Here we see veteran engineer, Bruce Butler, busting one of the many hard packed snow drifts on his way West... seen here at Mann Rd, about 1.5 miles East of Mondovi, Washington about half way between Reardan and Davenport on the eastern end of the line.. Luckily the sun had been out for a couple of days and warm temperatures and had melted much if not most of the snow on the line...

Unloading At Four Lakes

Guest post by Bruce Butler.

December 30, 2020.

Highline Grain this morning, December 30th. The first car is spotted over the pit inside of the shed, ready to dump it's load of wheat. We had 58 cars to unload.

With 13 cars unloaded, Highline is changing "Groups" and this gives me a chance to get more pictures.

Still snowing! Yup, there's a track under that white blanket

“From Fast-Forty to 10 and 20”

Guest post by Frederick Manfred Simon.

 
February 8, 2020

From racing 80 miles an hour over heavy CWR on Union Pacific's transcon to 10 and sometimes 20 mph over 100-year-old jointed Northern Pacific rail, my conductor and I near going dead on the law have just tied her and her train down as retracting beams of day's light glint off her iconic face; her radiator’s heat deflection ripples the moon in a sky like water. Turbo-slung oil running down her nose she’s running on borrowed, borrowed time. In a couple of hours, the next crew will come on duty and put her to the test one more time. But the work will be a cinch with all empties on the way out. It’s the way back when she and her sister will be expected to give their all, slogging up and down mean grades and trough damned tight curves and at last holding back some 60 covered grain hoppers down into the horse's shoe of Deep Creek then out and up the other side. Making the narrow transition-window from braking to power is critical. If you wait too long to kick 'em off, you will stall, if you knock 'em off too soon, the portion of train not yet completely descended will shove you mercilessly. Nevertheless, 3588 still does, with few complaints, what she's told by the hand of the engineer just as she did for me today, for now. It’s still hard for me to see her like this when it seemed not too long ago the ubiquitous SD40-2 would never be surpassed. I was wrong. Nothing lasts forever.

New Power On The WER

Guest post by Bruce Butler.

April 28, 2021

A lash-up unlikely to be duplicated again on the WER.  Yesterday's (4/28/2021) eastbound scoot train with FIVE units; all running and online.  I was the engineer on the HL28-2 crew with Conductor Kai Longre.  We got the train from the HL28-1 crew (Ted Curphey and Gary Durr) at Telford Rd, which is near MP 57.  Our final destination was the Highline Grain facility at Four Lakes WA, at MP 6.4.  

We had 50+ miles to travel, most at 10 mph,  including a complex pick-up in Davenport, another easy pickup at Mondovi, and a couple of 5 mph slow orders.   As you may imagine, we had our challenges!  The only 20 mph track we encountered was at Geiger Jct, MP 7.9 which didn't do us much good.

Our consist after leaving Mondovi, where we picked up 10 loads:

3910 - SD40-2

7348 - C40-8

3776 - SD40-2

7338 - C40-8

3588 - SD40-2

74 loads, 6 empties, for a total of 80 cars.  The 6 empties were set-out at Elizabeth siding on the Geiger Spur and the 74 loads went to Highline Grain to be unloaded.

Not wishing to have this train "dog caught" (ie running out of time) we elected to do our work in the most expedient and simplest manner.  This resulted in all 5 units running and online.  The 3910 and 7348 were added on the point at Davenport. 

The descent down Deep Creek hill was handled entirely with dynamic brakes in notch 4 or 5.  The climb up Deep Creek was easily achieved in throttle 4 or 5 and staying within the 10 mph speed limits allowed.  It was a full 12 hour shift but we got the train to Highline.  Garrett Wheeler, who was the Engineer unloading this train at Highline assisted us with the Geiger Spur setout and the back-up move into Highline.  His help was much appreciated. 

We got the job done within the 12 hour time limit imposed by the hours-of-service law.  Am I grandstanding?  Perhaps a bit!  I was proud of the job Kai and I did for the railroad.

At Mondovi after making our 10 car pick-up.

At Highline Grain in Four Lakes. Parked east of the unloading shed.

I try to offer good details. Most of our run was at night and Mondovi was the first opportunity to actually get any pictures. I was hoping some other fans might show up but no such luck. Nobody was at the INRM museum when we went by.

Many people do not understand what is involved in changing locomotive consists, and how much time it can take. You have to connect the walkways and their chains. Hook-up the MU cable which can be a P.I.T.A. if you are doing it yourself. Hook-up the 6 (3 on each side) pneumatic MU hoses - yes I know, theoretically you only need one side hooked up, but sometimes you will eliminate problems by hooking up both sides. Then there is the consist test to make sure all locomotive brakes work correctly. The headlight test to insure that the rear unit lights up for back-up moves. The throttle test to make sure all of them rev up and load.

In our case, the 3910 and the 7348 in Davenport were not connected together. So we had to put them together and then add them to the front of the 3776. Another consideration was that the 3588 was the only west facing unit in this consist, so it was desirable to have it on the rear.

WER Scoot At Deep Creek

Guest post by Ted Curphey.

April 2, 2021

Frederick Manfred Simon has his hand on the throttle of WER 2422 as it crests the top of Deep Creek Hill with a GP30, three SD40-2's and 78 loaded grain hoppers this afternoon. While not the steepest grade against loads on the line, it is the "ruling grade" for the mere fact that by this point in the journey of the scoot train, it has been fully filled out after stops at multiple elevators to collect cars.

Fred is finishing a trip that I spent all night running. But due to a ailing locomotive, I was unable to surmount this incline. Fred brought the 2422 from Cheney so the Scoot Train could make the grade. 

Frederick replied "Thanks Ted! And though the 3776 just wouldn't cooperate above notch 6 by dying, inturn having to stop on the hill to get 'er going again, I managed to get things rolling again. By then it was past Killer Curve and notch 5 was good enough to crest."

“The Right Stuff”

Guest post by Frederick Manfred Simon.

August 14, 2019

She was leaking, water, badly. No outward signs of where. Only a hairline break at the neck of an intercooler water pipe. Too small to be the true culprit. Jeff Wall, Washington Eastern’s hands-on “locomotive healer” and autodidactic extraordinaire, and I change it out anyway and send her on her way. Next day: more investigating. Jeff’s gut feeling: “Gotta be inside the engine … shut ‘er down.” Long-hood doors are opened exposing her all-too-familiar blackened-oil-streaked 10,000 cube 645 prime mover she previously received from a donor unit. Those round hand-hole (inspection) covers, unmistakable. Off they come. Airbox covers are first, and just as quickly there’s a shout from Jeff’s right-hand-man, Steve. “Foun-dit!” Indeed, he did. It appeared a cylinder liner was weeping water, profusely. Not good. But most likely a cylinder head gasket. We hope. “Take ‘er to Davenport. She’s done for now.” There Jeff and I dive straight away into the task at hand. Tools are readied. Not just any ol’ tools, but TOOLS to pull the hulking EMD “Diamond Five” P/N 9556060 head! But off comes her jewelry first: rocker arms, fuel and oil lines, injector, etc., and finally the four 2-¾” crab nuts torqued to 2400 foot-pounds that keep the incredible compression in check (note the well-oiled torque specs in his shop shirt pocket). Jeff, like Thor Mjölnir, wields the massive NAPA-supplied impact wrench into place and waits for the air compressor to build air as the relentless August sun beats our backs like a seasoned blacksmith his anvil while our faces absorb the sun’s stream of hot punches: thermal radiation emitted by the tons of sun-soaked steel. The pungent-heavy odor of engine and diesel oil, sweat, and spilled, spoiling wheat hangs like a dead man in the sweltering air. Red-faced, arms and hands and elbows greased, tensing every muscle from head-to-toe he unleashes the pneumatic wrench. It jumps, jolts, and jerks, but he’s got an iron grip on it as its internal hammer pounds the anvil in deafening staccato cracks and soon the stubborn nut gives and spins lose. The process is repeated three more times and with the test-cock removed the head is popped loose, slipped off of the cylinder liner studs and out with a forklift. It becomes immediately clear that the head gasket is shot. In short order, after some cleaning, the new Master Packing made with DuPont Viton gasket is carefully guided into place. Some additional inspections and cleaning are carried out to ensure all is well and the disassembly steps are reversed. In an hour’s time, the 40-year-old former “Fast-Forty” (nee-UP 8079, ex-UP 3588), retired some two decades ago by Uncle Pete, is ready to take water, crank up, and go back to work hauling grain, thanks to all-American git ‘r dun spirit, and trusted vendors like NAPA and Master Packing. It's what the Right Stuff is made of.