Umtanum
BNSF 8001 pulls an empty 'X' train of empty grain hoppers east through the Yakima River Canyon. Out of frame to the left is the Umtanum Ridge, the hill with the highest elevation in the Canyon, with summit of 3,480ft. Behind my position is a campground popular with hikers and at this time of year fisherman, who flock to the area for rainbow trout fishing.
This train is returning from the Port of Grays Harbour in Hoquiam, WA. The BNSF hands the loaded trains off to PSAP at Centralia, WA, where a PSAP crew handles the train for the 71 miles to the port for unloading. It is not unusual to see multiple 'PSA' trains per day during harvest season.
The loaded trains travel west down the Lakeside, and Fallbridge Subdivisions to Vancouver WA, before heading north on the Seattle Subdivision to Centralia. Often, the empty trains will be sent east via Stampede Pass and the Yakima Valley Subdivision to Pasco, where they rejoin the Lakeside Sub for forwarding back to the prairies to reload. In these instances, as with the train above, the train would have taken an almost entirely ex-Northern Pacific routing, with the exception of the former Spokane Portland and Seattle Fallbridge Sub.
Umtanum
BNSF 8001 pulls an empty 'X' train of empty grain hoppers east through the Yakima River Canyon. Out of frame to the left is the Umtanum Ridge, the hill with the highest elevation in the Canyon, with summit of 3,480ft. Behind my position is a campground popular with hikers and at this time of year fisherman, who flock to the area for rainbow trout fishing.
This train is returning from the Port of Grays Harbour in Hoquiam, WA. The BNSF hands the loaded trains off to PSAP at Centralia, WA, where a PSAP crew handles the train for the 71 miles to the port for unloading. It is not unusual to see multiple 'PSA' trains per day during harvest season.
The loaded trains travel west down the Lakeside, and Fallbridge Subdivisions to Vancouver WA, before heading north on the Seattle Subdivision to Centralia. Often, the empty trains will be sent east via Stampede Pass and the Yakima Valley Subdivision to Pasco, where they rejoin the Lakeside Sub for forwarding back to the prairies to reload. In these instances, as with the train above, the train would have taken an almost entirely ex-Northern Pacific routing, with the exception of the former Spokane Portland and Seattle Fallbridge Sub.