WER Work Train At Davenport

Guest post by Rodney Aho.

Washington Eastern Railroad work train at Davenport, Wash., September 19, 2019, with Gary Durr as conductor in charge.

New EWG Engineer

July 20, 2017

Guest post by Rodney Aho.

The guy with the goofy grin is celebrating his first day on the job as a certified conductor for the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad. I am indebted to Bruce Butler, EWG Locomotive Engineer, for encouraging me to work part time for this company after I retired from BPA. And thank you to all the other railroad employees for your support and patience during my training period. (In a serendipitous twist of fate, the EWG runs through my hometown of Davenport, WA.)

WER 2422 At Reardan

Guest post by Bruce Butler.

Washington Eastern GP30M 2422 basks in the late afternoon sun at Reardan WA late afternoon on 5/26/2021. This was the end of a long day of running out on the Geiger spur as well as a light power move to Reardan for work train service spreading ballast.

Additionally, 2422 endured several hours of hand scrubbing to remove graffiti which was applied at Cheney. Fortunately the fine paint applied years ago at Santa Fe's Cleburn TX shop survived this abuse with no noticeable damage. Long live the blue and yellow!

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

BN 1761 At Wenatchee

Photo by George Church. Courtesy of David Smith.

July 1970. 

Check out the old outfit cars in the distant left.

Beverly Bridge Construction Photo

Courtesy of the Yakima Valley Museum.