Keeping his eye on the road as he flies by at 60 MPH...

Moving to the wet side of the mountains...

Not far from where we live--- A Union Pacific freight crossing the Cowlitz River. The double-tracked mainline is used by both the Union Pacific and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroads.

Winter watercolor...

Big sky, big river, and the tracks go on forever...

On a grand scale...

The Empire Builder...

...or at least a portion of it. Amtrak's Empire builder starts in Chicago as a much bigger train. By the time it gets to Spokane, Washington, a portion is split off to go through the Gorge to Portland, Oregon. The other portion heads over the Cascade Mountains to Seattle.

Curves on the Washington side--- Oregon on the other side...

Long train runnin'

Pillars...

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What's the hurry?

Rolling along...

Bold...

It's always busy in the Gorge...

A long BNSF train is headed through the tunnels westbound on the other side of the Columbia River.  A Union Pacific container train is headed East on this side-- at the bottom of the picture.  And there's also a westbound barge.

There are still things to be proud of...

American Dream II

Just a couple of minutes later-- In the foreground, the BNSF train is moving empty container cars west.  A barge boat is pushing 4 gigantic barges east into the lock around the Dalles Dam.  

American dream...

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The crossing...

Through the cliff...

In the center-bottom of yesterday's picture you can see a break in the basalt formation--- seen closer in this picture. It's actually been carved out by the Union Pacific Railroad.  This is a UP container train on the tracks running through that break.

Look carefully-- on the other side of the river, a very long westbound BNSF train...

Tunnels galore!

Near Sunset...

In motion!

The Drano Lake tunnels!

A wonderful sight when the light hits them just right... And yes, that really is the name of the lake. The Columbia River is on the other side of the highway and the BNSF tracks...

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What???

I was a bit confused by this little train--  one engine, four tank cars, and a caboose!  Trains don't run with cabooses anymore! But then a friend explained that this was a fire train--  water in the tank cars, and crew in the caboose to fight fires near the tracks.  Oh.  Not something you see everyday.

Isn't that the way we've always thought they should look, heading west...?

An eastbound unit train waits at the Wishram Amtrak station for other traffic to pass.

Happy birthday America! I hope we can heal the wounds soon...

Looking across a vineyard in Maryhill, Washington, toward the Oregon side of the river and a long Union Pacific train.  The vineyard, the mighty Columbia River, the powerful bluffs, and the Union Pacific all seem to embody America to me...

Coming out of the west end of the Alligator Rock Tunnel along the Columbia River, a BNSF grain train is headed up by a borrowed or leased locomotive that no one can seem to identify. The other engines were normal BNSF colors.

The BNSF crossing in the little town of Maryhill, Washington-- lots of orchards and vineyards there along the river.

It's green near the river...

Another BNSF unit train with around 70 cars heading west...

A BNSF oil unit train on the Washington side with Oregon in the background...

Sometimes they are amazing to see...

About 70 hopper cars full of coal headed west at high speed...

Unit trains like this one are common-- they might be coal, oil, cars, wheat, or containers.

They always smile for her...

Three locomotives in front and three in the back taking a train load of specialized train cars that carry new autos and light trucks.

The BNSF yard and Amtrak station at Wishram, Washington, on the Columbia River...

The Oregon Trunk Railroad bridge was opened in 1912. It's owned by the BNSF. The bridge had to be raised and a lift section added in 1957 when the Dalles Dam raised the level of the river and covered the Celilo Falls-- a fishing and trading spot for Native Americans for many hundreds of years.

A BNSF grain train speeding through the night...

Three railroad names in one--- The Burlington, The Great Northern, and the Santa Fe--- BNSF. Their engines are that orange-red design that reminds us of the old Santa Fe colors. Their track is on the Washington side of the Columbia river as it goes through the gorge and beyond.  The the locomotives are mostly GE's, and the scenery on the Washington side is more exciting than on the Oregon side. The Union Pacific is on the Oregon side. UP engines are a shade of yellow and are generally EMD diesels.  Nearer to where we live, the main north-south route is in Western Washington and is used by both railroads--- usually more than 60 trains a day.  This train had two engines in front, and two pushing in the rear.

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One of the many tunnels on the BNSF line on the Washington side of the Columbia River east of the Cascade Mountain range...

Since I got many positive comments on my series of abandoned schoolhouses and other old buildings last year, I thought It might be fun to do a series of my railroad pictures this summer.  This is the first.

Happy in the sunshine!

Even though Mt. St. Helens erupted nearly 40 years ago the sight of the mud and ash flow way below in the Toutle Valley is still remarkable.

Tiny flowers, but beautiful in a big way...

Our favorite barn...

Snapdragon!!

An Oregon Junco dropped by to say hello...

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By any name at all, one of nature's masterworks!