Trains of Edmonds, Washington

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Junuary returned to the Puget Sound region Wednesday (6-13-18) with cooler temps and rain. I was photographing birds at the marsh when it started raining. I packed up my gear and drove over to Sunset Ave. to get some shots of the 5:00pm Sounder and the Chicago bound Empire Builder (Amtrak #8).

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The Builder surprised me with two units, just like the old days.

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Some trains from Thursday (6-14-18).

An interesting power hop rolled past the marsh. I often see Geeps going by without a train, but seldom road power.

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A southbound (tt/west) had a BNSF War Bonnet in the consist, which I photographed for the Omaha Posse.

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We relocated to Brackett's Landing North. With the approach of the summer solstice, Puget Sound is experiencing the lowest tides of the year. I experimented with wide angle shots of an MoW train(?) heading to the Edmonds spur track.

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A little after 5:00pm I drove up to Sunset Ave. to see a train parked at MP 18 for the afternoon passenger parade. It was not yet time for the Chicago bound Empire Builder (Amtrak #8), so I hoped to photograph a meet between the two.

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I sat through a meet with a freight,

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and the 6:00pm Sounder.

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The freight, fairly long and powered by an SD75M and two GP60B's, pulled out after the last Sounder of the day. I had to leave and have no idea when/if the Empire Builder stopped in Edmonds.

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Friday (6-15-18) at the marsh. The term "foreign power" can be quite literal. Edmonds is not that far from Canada, so it is not uncommon to see
CP and CN units. We are a long way from Mexico, so a FerroMex diesel in a consist is somewhat unusual.

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A southbound (tt/west) freight had 9941 in the consist. I'll have to be on the lookout for 9999.

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That evening I just missed a 6 unit light power hop heading north (tt/east) past Sunset Ave. I was very disappointed, as the power hop was led by a 1600 series SD40-2 and had other older units in the consist.

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Even the sunset was a disappointment.

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Telephoto shots are not turning out well during our warm and sunny weather due to the heat waves. Tuesday afternoon (6-19-18) I took wide angle shots from the jetty at Brtackett's Landing North.

A northbound (tt/east) local or transfer powered by triclops 1419 (SD60), 1454 (SD60M), and 330 (GP60B) met a garbage train held at MP 18.

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The garbage train had to wait for a garbage empty and an oil tanker before getting clearance to proceed south (tt/west).

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I left after the garbage empty passed but before the tanker arrived. Many people were out enjoying the warm weather and low tides.

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A southbound (tt/west) freight pulled by a trio of older units passed the marsh on the last evening of spring. I suspect they were part of the power hop I saw heading north Friday evening. These older units are a nice break from the endless parade of newer GE and EMD power that passes through town.

How often do you see a B unit, let alone an ABA trio with the trailing A unit facing rear? The lineup: 1664, SD40-2; 326, GP60B; 1406, SD60.

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I finally got a shot of (most of) the front of a repainted triclops.

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Back in the 70's I read that the useful life (an accounting term used to figure depreciation) of a diesel locomotive was fifteen years. Low numbered GE C44-9W units in the H1 paint scheme, the first units factory painted for the then new BNSF, are over 20 years old. I wonder how long they and other early third generation diesels will be starting power on transcontinental mainline freights for class 1 railroads.
 
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Right time, wrong direction.

At 5:09pm I am usually photographing the Chicago bound Empire Builder (Amtrak #8). I got a surprise the first day of summer as a nearly eight hour late #7 stopped at Edmonds before passing the marsh on its way to Seattle.

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I assumed #8 would be canceled. Much to my surprise, the train returned four hours later, making the Edmonds station stop a few minutes after the 9:12pm summer solstice sunset that I was photographing from the fishing pier.

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Monday (6-25-18) sunshine for the Omaha Posse and others who have been enduring thunderstorms and bad weather in the Midwest. :cool:

Leading off with a southbound (tt/west) container freight.

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The city has trimmed back the grass and blackberry brambles, which makes photography much easier.

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Rear DPU's

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Next up is a northbound (tt/east) freight. Edmonds-Kingston ferry in the background.

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View of Sunset Ave., which adorned the cover of Trains magazine's first edition of their train watching hotspots publication.

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4:30pm Seattle-Everett Sounder. The control car is one of the new ones that resembles the yellow VW bus parked on Sunset Ave. belonging to Steve, the world's oldest hippy and a Mile Post 18 regular.

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I went to +1 exposure compensation to compensate for being on the shadow side of the trains.

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I finished the day at the marsh while my son was playing tennis. A southbound (tt/west) passed by with a relatively clean H1 and a War Bonnet BNSF units in the consist.

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I love watching how the lighting changes the background at MP 18. You add the multiple colors of different trains and it just isn’t boring. We have had a number of PNW days here, but we seem to be back to plains summer again.
Thanks Bill.
 
I love watching how the lighting changes the background at MP 18. You add the multiple colors of different trains and it just isn’t boring. We have had a number of PNW days here, but we seem to be back to plains summer again.
Thanks Bill.

Thanks. I always wonder if members will find photos taken from the same location to be monotonous.
 
I love watching how the lighting changes the background at MP 18. You add the multiple colors of different trains and it just isn’t boring.

My son helps take many of the photos so we get more than one camera and lens on a train. I encourage him by saying that the "guys on the internet" really like his photos.

Friday (6-29-18) we teamed up at Brackett's Landing North with him shooting with the 7DII + 16-35L wide angle zoom and me attempting ItsEd65 shots with the 1Dx + 500L telephoto + 1.4x teleconverter.

Two eagles, possibly the Hutt Park pair, were flying across the Sound with a southbound (tt/west) garbage train in the distance passing Picnic Pt.

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The garbage train was halted at MP 18 for a meet with the 5:00pm Seattle-Everett Sounder.

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