Oregon Rail Pictures
BNSF 3270
July in January
BNSF 3270, which will turn five in May, looks pretty good here. It’s fared much better than many of the T4’s, nearly all of which seem to suffer the same issue with the paint being melted off below the exhaust stack. I’m not exactly sure what causes this, but clearly there is something faulty with the way the internals were assembled, or so it seems. Many of UP’s GEs suffer the exact same problem, with flags peeling off and burnt to a crisp in a very short time frame relative to the life span of those units. I know very little about how this all works, I only notice the problem, so perhaps someone who knows what is going on here can share some insights.
***
Today just marked the end of a historic run—17 consecutive January days without measurable precipitation in Portland, tying the previous record (set in 1948). We missed setting a new record by two hours as the rains have just started to move in. Of the past 17 days, it has been sunny for nearly 11 of them, a truly remarkable number in January, a month sometimes known for not hosting a single sunny day. Yesterday was the end of that magical run, the “feels like” temperature reaching a high of 55 in the early afternoon—the actual being 50—for one last time before plunging back into winter to start the month of February. I sat in disbelief of what I just witnessed the past couple weeks all afternoon, and my mind came back to this day during that sunny stretch. It was part of a streak of very successful Gorge days stretching back to November in which all the pieces fell perfectly into place. Unfortunately this streak would be broken by a very poor outing just six days later, but that doesn’t change just how big of a smile I sported the entire drive home. There are many, many things in life much more important than trains, but I use this hobby to support what is at the top of my list of the important things in life—physical, mental, and perhaps even spiritual wellbeing. I’ve said it many times now that the Columbia River Gorge is the only place I have experienced so far that puts me in a state of enchantment, an almost ethereal feeling, similar to the feelings many get when pondering about space and the stars. The end of a cloudless winter day reinforces these feelings like no other day can.
H PASFRS1 11A
January 11, 2025 - 3:39PM
Bates, WA // BNSF Fallbridge Sub
BNSF 3270
July in January
BNSF 3270, which will turn five in May, looks pretty good here. It’s fared much better than many of the T4’s, nearly all of which seem to suffer the same issue with the paint being melted off below the exhaust stack. I’m not exactly sure what causes this, but clearly there is something faulty with the way the internals were assembled, or so it seems. Many of UP’s GEs suffer the exact same problem, with flags peeling off and burnt to a crisp in a very short time frame relative to the life span of those units. I know very little about how this all works, I only notice the problem, so perhaps someone who knows what is going on here can share some insights.
***
Today just marked the end of a historic run—17 consecutive January days without measurable precipitation in Portland, tying the previous record (set in 1948). We missed setting a new record by two hours as the rains have just started to move in. Of the past 17 days, it has been sunny for nearly 11 of them, a truly remarkable number in January, a month sometimes known for not hosting a single sunny day. Yesterday was the end of that magical run, the “feels like” temperature reaching a high of 55 in the early afternoon—the actual being 50—for one last time before plunging back into winter to start the month of February. I sat in disbelief of what I just witnessed the past couple weeks all afternoon, and my mind came back to this day during that sunny stretch. It was part of a streak of very successful Gorge days stretching back to November in which all the pieces fell perfectly into place. Unfortunately this streak would be broken by a very poor outing just six days later, but that doesn’t change just how big of a smile I sported the entire drive home. There are many, many things in life much more important than trains, but I use this hobby to support what is at the top of my list of the important things in life—physical, mental, and perhaps even spiritual wellbeing. I’ve said it many times now that the Columbia River Gorge is the only place I have experienced so far that puts me in a state of enchantment, an almost ethereal feeling, similar to the feelings many get when pondering about space and the stars. The end of a cloudless winter day reinforces these feelings like no other day can.
H PASFRS1 11A
January 11, 2025 - 3:39PM
Bates, WA // BNSF Fallbridge Sub