GorgeRail 2006

My son and I headed for the gorge and decided to stop by Vancouver Wye and chase the first eastbound. It turned out to be this stack train which was leaving just as we got there. The photo is at Eavan.

We beat the train to Cape Horn but I didn't have time to make the hike in to the tunnel so we headed on east. Took this picture at North Bonneville.

Caught up the stack train again at Home Valley.

At Cooks the stack train pulled into the siding to wait for a westbound. We headed for Bingen.

In Bingen we found a local holding the main for some switching.

Here he leaves a couple of cars on the main while picking up a load of concrete ties.

This is the train the stack was waiting for at Cooks. Here it is passing through Bingen on its way to Cooks after the local has cleared the main.

A lone DPU on the back of the grain train.

The DPU on the westbound grain train going away with the local just peeking out behind it.

After the grain train passes the local continues its work.

We headed on east to the rest area west of Lyle to wait for the stack train. Here is a westbound coming out of Lyle.

At the same time this eastbound was passing Memaloose State Park in Oregon.

The eastbound train rounds the corner heading for Rowena and The Dalles.

Back to the westbound as it emerges from a tunnel. The railroad goes through 3 tunnels in a short distance here. One of them is directly under the rest area.

Tank cars in the westbound manifest.

The eastbound stack train comes through the tunnels.

The eastbound stack train entering the third of the 3 tunnels.

Note how the tunnel is notched for the containers to fit.

Eastbound stack between Lyle and North Dalles.

The eastbound stack train between Lyle and North Dalles.

Since the stack train had a meet with an intermodal at North Dalles we beat it to Avery where a westbound manifest was waiting.

Close-up of the meet.

The third unit is still in Santa Fe paint. There is a free camping area here. No water. At some seasons it is only open to native americans.

The brakeman/conductor climbs back onto the westbound manifest as the last car of the stack train rolls by.

The westbound manifest begins to roll.

A westbound garbage train pulls through the yard (top) as the eastbound stack I have been chasing passes through on main 1 (bottom).

A little closer shot with Fallbridge to the Oregon Trunk in the background.

We caught up with the stack train again at Maryhill where it had pulled into the siding for a meet.

The stack train pulls up to the east switch at Maryill.

We headed east along the old ROW and found these flowers beside the Columbia River just below the John Day Dam.

They were dumping water over the spillways to flush the young salmon downstream.

Just east of the dam is a pond with a boat ramp for fishing. The railings in the background are an access road to the dam.

The stack train heads east past the John Day Dam and an American Flag.

The train continues east as Bryan and I headed back to Maryhill.

At east Maryhill we caught this manifest coming out of the siding.

CSX is the second unit on an eastbound manifest leaving Maryhill.

Back to the west end of Maryhill where we found this stack train waiting for a green.

The second and third units on the eastbound stack train.

The second and third units and a few Hyundai stacks.

A wide shot of the waiting train.

Looking across the Columbia River at Biggs while a thunderstorm builds up. The bridge is US 97.

Looking to the west dark thunder clouds fill the sky with Mt. Hood silhouetted on the horizon.

We decide to head for the campground at the mouth of the Deschutes River. However it was raining hard so we went up Moody Rd and found this deer.

An eastbound approaches Wishram from Fallbridge. Taken from the bluff above Celilo, OR.

A westbound Union Pacific manifest passes Celilo Park on the left and Celilo Village on the right.

A westbound intermodal meets an eastbound manifest between Wishram and Fallbridge.

The westbound intermodal continues past Fallbridge toward Avery.

NS 9326 is the second unit on the westbound intermodal.

On the Oregon side a westbound stack train cruises past Celilo Park.

The eastbound Empire Builder passes the wye at Fallbridge.