New Power For The CBRW

September 7, 2025

Spotted at Four Lakes, WA over the weekend were 4 SD40-2s purchased from Western Rail for service on the Columbia Basin Railway. They were testing for a week or so on sister company Washington Eastern, who also happens to be the connecting carrier to Western Rail. I suppose the thinking would be if there are any hiccups, the shop is close by. Rumor is these would be shipped to Yakima for further setup after testing.

2018 Highline Grain Shipping Rates

This was shared with me from one of the owners of the Eastern Washington Gateway back in 2018.

Hi Dan,

Please see the attached BNSF tariff schedules for wheat. 4022-43591 covers the shuttle trains from Four Lakes, McCoy and Templin while 4022-43595 covers all of the singles. The best rate from Ephrata is $2,440 PC (24-47 cars, 286,000 lbs.) vs. the Four Lakes shuttle rate of $1916 PC. Now, there are incentives for unloading and loading ($100 PC, I believe) in less than 10 hours which help reduce the shuttle rate. But, you can see that if the scoot tariff is very high, HLG is incentivized to ship smaller lots from other locations.

Best regards, XXXX

Unloading At Highline Grain

Guest post by Bruce Butler.

Yesterday, 1/26/2021, I was assigned to train HG26-1, unloading 72 grain loads brought in by our scoot train. Some breaks in the unloading process gave me the opportunity to shoot some pictures.

 

We have unloaded about 25 cars and a "lot change" situation gave me some time for outside pictures. This view looks north.

 

Same spot, but looking North East with the Highline Grain elevator shown on the right.

Another view, looking North East.

Looking south. The bridge under I-90 is in the distance. The inner loop, used by BNSF unit trains is on the left and curves to the east. The track on the far left (note the derail at the very edge of the picture) is a stub track, mostly used to set out any bad order cars.

 

 Looking east across the stub track at the Highline elevator.

 

We are at the tail track of the wye and I had to align that switch for the west leg, where my train is sitting, before proceeding. Another "lot change" situation delayed unloading the next car and gave me the time to get the switch without having to pause the unloading activity.

We have finished unloading this 72 car train and I have pulled forward enough to clear the unloading shed. This gives the Highline crew the ability to sweep the floor of stray grain and do their clean-up.

 

Another view from the same location above. We are right in the switch at Four Lakes, where the Highline spur switches off of the CW main.

 

For those who might be interested, here is the official WSDOT (Washington Department of Transportation) track plan for the Highline Grain Facility.

 

"Kinetic-Electric"

Guest post by Frederick Manfred Simon. 

July 20, 2017

A touch of haze; a thin veil of atmospheric cover; a balmy 83°: An easting Eastern Washington Gateway procession, straight outta Coulee City arrowing towards Hartline in 10 with 20 belly-aching-full hoppers of locally harvested gold, comfortably ambles along – kinetically at times – with ample 6-axle power over a multi-mile tangent just as the electricity it passes under from mega hydro electric near 2,700MW capacity Coulee Dam flows along an endless tangent of high-power lines that electrifies the ever increasing, ceaseless energy demands of the many megatropolises to the south, further south, and between. Note the three – over the years – successively added lattice towers. Because the “CW” no longer reaches Connell as – long ago – it once did (today's terminus Coulee City), loads must first be brought east where trans-loaded into one of BNSF’s 300+ sets of 100+ unit grain trains via the Highline Grain facility at Four Lakes from whence the seed heads west for export or processing for increasing, endless consumption demands.

EWG Train At Four Lakes

Photo by Ted Curphey.

July 2017

Jerry Miller running a combined work train and Geiger Turn earlier this week with the U23B NIWX 2204. The old GE recently came back from some shop work preformed at Usk, WA on the POVA.

Highline Grain Four Lakes Loader Track Plan

WRIX 8702 At Four Lakes

Guest post by Bruce Butler.

Here is the power for today's train. SD40-T2 WRIX 8702, SD45-2 EWLX 329, and SD45-2 NIWX 328. 8702 was not running this day as the two SD45-2's provided adequate power (3200 hp each for 6400 total) to move this train.

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.

New Power On The Washington Eastern

Photos by Bruce Butler.

April 29 2021.

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

At Mondovi after making our 10 car pick-up.

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

WER At Four Lakes, But...

Courtesy of Blair Kooistra.

Blair says:

"Washington Eastern's "scoot" train unloads its golden bounty into the Four Lakes shuttle facility on September 25, the nearly-untouched former Santa Fe GP30 2422 leading three SD40-2's. Thinking that might have been you, Bruce Butler, watching me fly my drone into the power lines along Craig Road?"

 

But there is more to the story:

"See those wires clearly visible in the photo? Well, apparently I didn't see them, must've thought they were grid lines on the video display. These are the ones I flew into photographing the Washington Eastern near Four Lakes the other day. D'ough! Drone escaped apart from two broken rotor blades (easily replaced) and a scuff mark or two from the wire on the drone's body. . . "

"I’m usually so careful making sure I’m well over power lines and such. Guess not this time. Lazy on my part not walking across the road to watch my clearance—it’s often hard to keep perspective with aerial lines unless your’re under them or parallel them.

"So: Beerzaplhat!! Snagged two rotors and the bird fell 30 feet to the ground—thankfully landing on soft grass. Gimbel good. Rotor arms undamaged. I swapped out 2 new blades for damaged ones, recalibrated the thing and amazingly it seems to fly like it did before. Like I say: I learn something every time I fly—and sometimes have to relearn things.

"In two years of flying, my first accident. And no lasting damage apparently."

 

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.

“Purple Haze”

Guest post by Frederick Manfred Simon.

January 30, 2018

Mused Jimi Hendrix - an avid science fiction fan - whilst being interviewed: “You know the
song … It was about going through this land. This mythical [land] … because that’s what I like to do is write a lot of mythical scenes. You know, like the history of the wars on Neptune.” Well, I’m might be a bit of a mythologist myself, though I’m no meteorologist, near as I can tell the gaseous, Jovian-like, vapor is “scud clouds” boiling overhead refracting and commingling into a mythical, Neptunesque purple haze the myriad lights from near-by Spokane International Airport and the Highline Grain facility where antecedent, former Union Pacific Dash-8 9129, meets its descendent, BNSF Dash-9 1023. Now NIWX owned 9129 and her sisters from another mother, an SD40T-2 and SD45, have brought in from CW Sub points west some 60 EWG “Scoot Train” loads of Eastern Washington wheat to be posited into Highline’s mega silos where it will be, graded, State-inspected, classified, mixed, and loaded for export into this BNSF unit grain train of which 1023 brings up the rear as its DPU on this brisk penultimate January evening of 2018. 

Four Lakes Siding

Guest post by Ted Curphey.

I found this 1943 topo map that shows a siding at Four Lakes, WA along the NP CW branch. In modern terms the siding extended from the I-90 overpasses to half way to Craig Rd. The siding was gone from the 1954 maps. I had not previously realized there was a siding there. A few years ago the switch into the Highline facility was installed into the mainline about the mid-point of the old siding.

1909 NP AFE Four Lakes Spur Track

Courtesy of the NPRHA.