Railway Historical

Inspection Train Within minutes of seeing the Portland section of Amtrak's Empire Builder, this inspection train followed. As in my earlier post of the passenger train, this job is headed westward along the Columbia River between Lyle and Bingen, Washington. The line here is the former Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway—later Burlington Northern and now BNSF. One image by Richard Koenig; taken March 20th 2023.

Columbia River Gorge

Here is a color version of what I posted nearly two weeks ago...

This is the Portland section of Amtrak Empire Builder. It is headed westward along the Columbia River between Lyle and Bingen, Washington. It will soon make its station stop at the latter.

The line here is the former Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway—later Burlington Northern and now BNSF. The diminutive train, made up of four Superliner cars, is powered by a single, relatively new, Siemens ALC-42 locomotive. The tugboat pushing a barge upriver in the first image is the Sundial, built 1982.

The Columbia River Gorge is an area super rich in history, including, perhaps most famously, the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The Corps of Discovery would have passed this way in 1805 and returned, after wintering on the coast, in 1806.

One thing I didn’t say on the earlier post: to get to the shooting location here I utilized the Catherine Creek Recreation Area. There’s a nice parking area on Highway 14 and some very nice, well-maintained trails to reach the cliff from which I shot.

Three images by Richard Koenig; taken March 20th 2023.

Sundial The tug Sundial, built in 1982, pushes a barge eastward on the Columbia River. This spot is just east of Hood River, Oregon/Bingen Washington. And you are correct: that is indeed Mount Hood just peeking through the clouds at the top of the frame. One image by Richard Koenig; taken March 20th 2023.

Modes of Travel

Here’s an image with two modes of travel evident, along with the river for a barge, though one did not happen by for my photograph.

The westbound train, along the Columbia River, is Amtrak’s Portland section of the Empire Builder. It’s on the former SP&S, now BNSF. In the distance is the Hood River Bridge, between its namesake town in Oregon and Bingen on the Washington side.

The span is quite old: it opened in 1924 but was substantially rebuilt in 1938 to accommodate higher water levels due to the building of the Bonneville Dam downriver (source). Having driven across it, I can say that it’s a narrow two lanes, with the speed limit being 15 MPH.

One image by Richard Koenig; taken March 18th 2023.

In the Gorge

This is an eastbound train of oil cans on the former SP&S, later Burlington Northern, now BNSF. The location is between mileposts 68 and 69, about six miles west of Bingen, Washington.

One image by Richard Koenig; taken March 18th 2023.