Mile Post 18 news

[Bill Anderson]

Originally Posted by jkinzel

A wonderful set of photos Bill, thank you. That water looks nasty, sure glad I'm home.

The weather was very nasty with squalls blowing through between sunbreaks.

[Bill Anderson]

There were some odd happenings Monday night (4/2) at MP 18 in Edmonds.

#1-2: The eastbound Empire Builder was a repeat of the day before with Amtrak #156 leading #132. Apparrently it is being stopped and "Y-ed" at Spokane. It was two hours late, departing Edmonds at 7:18pm.


#3-4: The Builder was followed by the Vancouver BC bound Cascade at 7:31pm.

[Bill Anderson]

After the Cascade left town, things began to get weird. Three empty, Everett bound Sounders raced through Edmonds without stopping. The third Sounder was followed by a northbound (tt/east) freight with six units on the head, way more than was necessary for the relatively short train. I don't know if the fourth Sounder followed the freight as I had to leave.

Four days (that I saw) last week, a three unit light power set rolled north
through Edmonds in the early afternoon.

#5-6: 7:37pm Sounder

#7: 7:45pm Sounder

#8: 7:54pm Sounder

[TCJim]

Problem was the Ballard bridge. First Sounder came through, but everyone else had to wait. I think they turned the second Sounder, because it's usually ahead of the Builder. They were busing for the last two, and presumably putting the folks from #2 on them too. Amtrak just got to cool their heels until it was fixed.

[Bill Anderson]

Thanks Jim.

Does anyone know about the light power hops in the afternoon? Will they be a regular occurance?

[Bill Anderson]

Things appear back to normal on Tuesday (4/3) as the eastbound Empire Builder and the Sounders that I stayed to watch were back on their regular schedules. The Builder is no longer being turned at Spokane as Tuesday's #8 did not have the same diesels as yesterday's.

#1-2: The rear observation/vista dome "Sierra Hotel" brought up the end of Amtrak #8.

#3: This is how I would travel if I had Bill Gates' mega $$$$. http://www.sierrahotel.com/

#4: Several passengers were enjoying the afternoon sun break out on the rear observation platform. They look like they are having a much better time than the average airline passenger.

[espee4441]

Originally Posted by TCJim

Problem was the Ballard bridge. First Sounder came through, but everyone else had to wait. I think they turned the second Sounder, because it's usually ahead of the Builder. They were busing for the last two, and presumably putting the folks from #2 on them too. Amtrak just got to cool their heels until it was fixed.

Yeah, lots of fun on Monday. Took me five hours to get home. We sat next to the 'table at Interbay until BNSF finally sent us back to King St.

Was weird passing the 'Builder as we came back to town. I thought they might send him back as well, but with all that baggage it makes sense to just wait it out.

[Bill Anderson]

#1-2: Thursday afternoon (4/5) a southbound (tt/west) manifest sat at MP 18 to wait for the first Sounder.

#3: After the Sounder passed, it sneaked out before the arrival of the second Sounder.

#4: I like the CP's "angry beaver" shield.

[Bill Anderson]

All three engines and about 80% of the cars were Canadian Pacific. Does anyone know if it was one of the trains detoured off the UP due to the washout on the former Spokane International line near Bonners Ferry, ID?

#5-6: Going away shots.

#7-8: The evening Cascade bound for Vancouver, BC. Note the southbound (tt/west) train in the background in the last photo.

[Bill Anderson]

The BNSF appears to power-heavy at its northwestern terminals, as I have seen several northbound (tt/east) trains pass MP 18 with far more units than necessary for the length of the train. Here is an example from Friday 94/6) of seven units at the head of a train which is typically pulled by three.