Railway Historical

Empire Builder

The Portland Section of Amtrak's Empire Builder is seen here westbound along the Columbia River between Lyle and Bingen, Washington. Just published in Passenger Train Journal, White River Productions: 2023-3, Issue 296.

One image by Richard Koenig; taken March 20th 2023.

Final Train in the Gorge

While watching the sun set, from Hood River, Oregon, we see our final train of the trip. It’s on the OR&N side of course. One image by Richard Koenig; taken March 21st 2023.

Final Evening in the Gorge

Driving from White Salmon, Washington, over to Hood River, Oregon. I’m on the interstate bridge between the two as the sun sets down the Gorge. One image by Richard Koenig; taken March 21st 2023.

Fishing Platforms and Cascade Locks

Once again we’re on the Columbia River, about forty miles east of Portland, Oregon. These wooden structures, from which indigenous folks harvest salmon, are traditional, with the sites being handed down through families (source). The two platforms pictured here are attached to the Cascade Lock, which date to 1896. The Bridge of the Gods can be seen in the distance, second picture.

Two images by Richard Koenig; taken March 21st 2023.

Bridge of the Gods

This fine structure is to be found spanning the Columbia River at the site of the Cascade Locks, about forty miles east of Portland. While first opened in 1926, it had to be raised in 1938 due to the construction of the Bonneville Dam not far downstream.

The name of the bridge comes from Klickitat oral tradition: hundred of years ago a landslide filled in the river and allowed people to walk across. A wonderful explanation of this can be read here.

One image by Richard Koenig; taken March 21st 2023.

A Sense of Scale While I sat watching—and shooting—the stack train across the Columbia River on the SP&S (see previous post), a westbound local job showed on the Union Pacific. In the second image then, we see two westbound trains, one in Oregon and one in Washington.

I zoomed in the on the stack train for the last shot, as it makes its way between those splendid living rock formations near the Catherine Creek Recreation Area. Three images by Richard Koenig; taken March 20th 2023.

Four Tunnels

While I was hanging out at Memaloose State Park, I was able to see a couple more trains, the first being a westbound stack across the river, on the former SP&S, later Burlington Northern, and now BNSF.

I have to say I really was surprised by the scale of the train: this sequence of shots is not what I imagined it would be as I sat waiting for a train. There’s four tunnels here in a short stretch, though my images only show three of them.

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

Reward

After a long wait for any action on either railroad adjacent to the Columbia River, I was finally rewarded with this eastbound stack on the Union Pacific. This line was once the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company with the SP&S on the other side.

The location here, on the Oregon side, is near a rest stop on I-84 that seems to be adjacent to, or part of, Memaloose State Park. In the second and third shots, we are looking eastward toward Lyle, Washington, on the opposite shore of the Columbia River.

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

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.

Stonehenge Redux

In addition to visiting Sam Hill’s Maryhill Museum of Art, I took in his replica of Stonehenge nearby. Hill wanted to build a monument for servicemen from Klickitat County who had died in the Great War, and this is the form it took, high on a hill overlooking the Columbia River.

The man himself is entombed on the hillside just below where I took the second picture. I had mistakenly thought Sam Hill to be James HIll’s son, and he was part of the Empire Builder’s family, but by marriage—to Mary Hill, and thus the name of this place.

Two images by Richard Koenig; taken March 19th 2023.

Near Celio Park, Oregon An eastbound train is seen from the north side of the Columbia River. The train is on the OR&N/Union Pacific line in Oregon. The other rail line visible here is the SP&S line that crossed over from Wishram and will head down the valley visible in the middle of the image: this was called the Oregon Trunk Railway, and runs along the Deschutes River down to Bend. The major highway one sees in the foreground is I-84. One image by Richard Koenig; taken March 19th 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.

First View This amazing form is fifty miles away: Mount Hood from White Salmon, Washington. This, my first view of it, early in the morning, left my mouth agape, literally.

One image by Richard Koenig; taken March 23rd 2023.