| UP 5690 - UP 8684 - UP 5406 triple bursting out of the fog a few ticks before 11AM on a foggy winter morning in late November with a northbound double-stack headed back to the Puget Sound for outbound ship loading now that Portland is laying dormant. Speaking of which, the local Portland container distributors have invested a significant chunk of change subsidizing a barge-container traffic route from further up the Columbia River in an effort to administer last-ditch CPR to our local intermodal container traffic in Portland - supposedly the plan calls for 100% financial support for the first year or so until it is paying for itself (snerk!)... although rumor has it, no one is holding their breath in this final attempt to keep Portland alive and part of the intermodal traffic flow. While Im doubtful, Id like it to live as train traffic would have to continue then out of Portland up through Vancouver to get to the next closest stable/developed deep-water port (Seattle/Tacoma)... even if it means less traffic along the Columbia River spots (although last trip up the Gorge, almost looked like it had already hit... fewer than three consists in either direction during a three or four hour trip along the south (Union Pacific) side... and to get three I had to count the BNSF traffic on the opposite shore (north side of the river), otherwise, I wouldnt even get to three. |