Dumping Rip Rap In Skykomish River

1979 Milwaukee Road Train At Beverly

Photo courtesy of Rob Leachman.

May 27, 1979

Rob says: "Train 200S26 eases onto the Beverly Bridge just seconds after sunrise on May 27, 1979. For a brief moment – the right moment to make this photograph – the mountain radiated an incredible reddish glow. Note the Locotrol slave units at the right.

From a conversation with the train dispatcher the night before I knew that this train should be coming at Beverly right about sunrise, so when I camped out for the night at Beverly I had hopes it would all work out in the morning. Even so, I was extremely fortunate that the timings of train and sunrise were so perfectly synchronized. Especially considering there was just one eastbound train that day!

The wind howled all night (normal for Beverly, I suppose), so it was tough to sleep. At dawn I crawled out of my sleeping bag and cranked off this shot. Wow."

Derailed By Flood

1979 Milwaukee Road Train Near Royal City

Photos courtesy of Robert Leachman.

May 28, 1979

Rob says: "Locotrol train 200S27 climbs the gentle eastward grade passing the Smyrna Cliffs early in the morning on May 28, 1979. 200 this day has lots of power handling a big train. On the point are two SD40-2s and two U36Cs, the latter two providing lots of exhaust. Looking back down the train, we can see a gondola load of pipe (probably company material), three empty grain boxes for the Marcellus Branch, a couple of lumber loads, a CN fertilizer covered hopper, five more empty grain boxes, and then 15 loads of British Columbia lumber that came down to Seattle on the Foss barge. Behind that are a couple of auto racks off the SP bringing new vehicles to Montana dealers."

Rob says: "The two mid-train Locotrol SD40-2 slaves are bracketed by four loads of autos off the SP bound for Spokane and by empty chip racks returning to the mills around Coeur D’Alene, Usk, St. Maries or the load-out at Tyson Creek. Behind that are eight or so copper concentrate loads off the SP en route to Anaconda Corp., followed by a long string of empty grain covered hoppers heading back to eastern Montana and the Dakotas. Except for the British Columbia lumber that likely was in no hurry to get anywhere, there was little or no transcontinental traffic on the train. Nonetheless, the remaining less-than-transcontinental traffic was sufficient to fill out this full-length 200 train."

Railroad Accident

GN R-2 Near Trinidad

Approximate 1943 view of an R-2 class steam engine leading an eastbound train between the stations of Trinidad and Crater.  This horseshoe curve was built as a realignment of the original grade, with the former curve being built upon a massive trestle. This new line was built in 1909. The road underneath the fill is known today as Baird Springs Road and the other end of the road drops you off near Ephrata.

Youthful Driver Ignores Flashing Lights In Train Car Wreck

1972

Soap Lake Depot Views

Courtesy of Kathy Kiefer. Look for her new book about Soap Lake coming soon from Arcadia Publishing.

Best dates on the photos are between 1918 and 1923.

First Cattle, Then Railroads Gave Wilson Creek A Boost