Trains of Edmonds, Washington

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The afternoon Chicago bound Empire Builder (Amtrak #8) was on time and back to its usual single unit. With daylight savings time ending this Sunday, the Puget Sound Region will soon be entering the Dark Ages and my days of photographing the afternoon passenger parade in the daylight are rapidly coming to an end for 2018.

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An Everett bound Sounder taken Wednesday evening (10-31-18) by my son with the 1Dx + 100-400L II telephoto zoom. I think the photo has an autumn look about it. I am trying to teach him when to zoom in and when to back off. He is developmentally disabled and some things need lots of practice before he understands the concepts.

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Saturday's (11-3-18) Chicago bound Empire Builder (Amtrak #8) was exceptionally short with only four Superliners and a baggage car.

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This will be the last "daylight" Builder of the year as we switch to standard time early tomorrow morning.

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I really like the first photo in #242. Having the boats up high and the train down low makes you wonder "why are the boats up there?"
Good job! Also the Sounder appears to be plowing through the bushes. Thank you, son of Bill.


Rick Zorko
 
Late Tuesday afternoon (11-6-18) two self-propelled buckets were scurrying to get into the Edmonds spur ahead of the afternoon passenger parade.

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Grab shot of the 4:30pm Everett bound Sounder passing the marsh as sunset approaches.

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Interesting power rolled through Edmonds on Veterans Day (Sunday, 11-12-18), but I was never in the right place for photos. I had just arrived at the marsh and was unloading my equipment when a northbound (tt/east) passed by, lead by an SD40-2 followed by more older power in the consist.

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Trailing unit was FURX 5527. I have seen this diesel go through town before, also as a trailing unit.

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I was out on the fishing pier when a northbound light power hop of 4-5 older diesels went through town. The ferry was docked, which kept me from even getting grab shots. After the ferry left, I got a shot of a leased unit on the rear DPU set of a southbound (tt/west).

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My son did get a good shot from Brackett's Landing of a southbound with a KCS Southern Belle unit in the consist followed by two Boeing 737 fuselages. The train was waiting at MP 18 for a northbound.

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On the tail of the fuselage train was another southbound headed by older power, one of which was still in Cascade green.

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A northbound (tt/east) oil tanker passed by the marsh Tuesday afternoon (11-14-18). If it is in the right position, I like to include the Port of Edmonds sign on the boat mover in the storage lot across the tracks as a means of identifying the location.

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Unlike Monday, I was in position Tuesday to get shots of a northbound light power hop.

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Monday I ran into a railfan friend on Sunset Ave. who said BNSF is now running super trains over 10,000 ft. long. That is nearly two miles. o_O
 
Gonna be fun lugging that replacement coupler when the train separates 9000 ft to the rear.

In the middle of nowhere.

I also wonder about the problem of the head end units losing radio contact with the rear and/or mid train DPUs around bends in the mountains and along Puget Sound. I have heard this already happens with trains of standard length.
 
I have been watching the La Plata, MO web cam and there are regularly 12,000 and 16,000 ft trains. But no mountains to contend with across MO and KS. Keep those pics coming Bill, I do so enjoy the PNW.
 
I have been watching the La Plata, MO web cam and there are regularly 12,000 and 16,000 ft trains. But no mountains to contend with across MO and KS. Keep those pics coming Bill, I do so enjoy the PNW.

Thanks. I always worry that photos from the same locations will get boring.
 
Thursday (11-15-18) afternoon I walked a short ways into the marsh from the #3 viewing platform. This provided me with a different view of the tracks and MoW equipment arriving to tie up at the Edmonds spur ahead of the evening passenger parade.

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I later went to the fishing pier where I got a a twilight shot of a southbound (tt/west) rolling along Brown's Bay. Twilight can last all day this time of year if it is overcast.

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Near noon on Friday (11-16-18) I caught this southbound (tt/west) local at Sunset Ave. Its power may have been the the same as the northbound power hop I missed photographing a few days earlier.

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About four hours later the light power set sans 3150 returned northbound (tt/east) while I was at the marsh looking for birds. Taken by my son with the 7DII + 16-35L wide angle zoom I had him bring along for shots of passing trains, "marshscapes," and the sunset.

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He also took these shots of a southbound CN oil tanker.

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I bought a used series III Canon 2x teleconverter which I keep attached to my 500L telephoto lens as my regular telephoto combo for photographing birds. I had it mounted to the 5DIII as the train passed by, so I attempted some Itsed65 super telephoto shots interspersed with my son's photos.

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rear DPU

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The sun is setting very far south these days. I may try sunset shots from the marsh in addition to my usual photos from Sunset Ave.

7DII + 16-35L telephoto zoom using the HDR feature. Handheld @ 1/125, f/22, auto ISO = 2000. I took a series of shots using negative exposure compensation. I believe this one was -1.

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Back to regular feature @ 1/250, f/16, auto ISO = 20000. The 7DII with its crop frame sensor does not handle high ISO settings well. I need to bring along my smaller tripod so I can shoot at slower shutter speeds to lower the ISO settings.

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Late Saturday afternoon (11-17-18) my son photographed three older units pulling a northbound (tt/east) past the marsh.

279: SD75M

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1469: SD60M (still holding out in Cascade green)

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1419: SD60M

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My son and I took advantage of a brief sun break Friday (11-23-18) to get out and take some photos.

Southbound (tt/west) with two older diesels up front and two Boeing bunker cars in the rear rolling past the marsh. Question for the locals: is this the Renton Rocket?

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Continued.....
 
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