After a productive day railfanning Marias Pass we have arrived back at the Izaak Walton Inn for a slice of pie before beginning the 8 hour drive to my home at the time, Edmonton, Alberta. But befo... (more)

I was traipsing around the small Essex Yard to get some close up shots of the vintage SD40 Helpers reposing there when suddenly this westbound grain train snuck up on me. It's amazing how quiet a... (more)

Helper and work train power gathers at Essex.

It's 11 AM on Christmas Eve and the ubiqitous Essex Helpers have returned from an eastbound workout. They are drifting into the yard and passing the famous 1939 built ex GN landmark. Cascade Gre... (more)

The skies have brightened enough to give a glimpse of the surrounding peaks as the Essex Helpers have arisen from their slumber and pulled up to the east end of the yard in anticipation of pushing... (more)

Amtrak's schedules in the Pacific Northwest have been in disarray for days following the heavy storms in Oregon and Washington. Hence the eastbound Empire Builder is running about 3 hrs late as sh... (more)

In one of the few moments of sunlight during my three day stat at the Izaak Walton Inn (mind you I'm NOT complaining) I was fortunate to catch this hot westbound. This Chicago-Seattle Z train is ... (more)

A visitor from south of the border and a sister from the East Coast look a bit out of place in the winter wonderland that is the west slope of Marias Pass on BNSF's Hi-Line Sub. Regardless, the t... (more)

It's 4:30 PM on Christmas Eve, and traffic has been slow on the former Great Northern Mainline as BNSF has tied down as many trains as possible. However, this westbound autorack job is still burn... (more)

A pair of GP38s lead the "Mountain Work Train" back into the east end of the compact little Essex Yard after running over the divide and down to Browning to pick up single air dump. This job is t... (more)

Merry Christmas from the Izaak Walton Inn The helpers idle outside awaiting their next call to duty in just about two hours. The Inn is decorated merrily for the holiday and these two bears sit... (more)

In response to comments about the cabooses that appear across the tracks from the Izaak Walton Inn (photo 260312), these are static cabooses that are available for rent from the Inn. There are a ... (more)

A helper set with BNSF 6819 and 6816 move out of the Essex Yard and onto their primary task of pushing heavy tonnage trains over Marias Pass. The hummingbird feeding on the porch of the Izaak Wal... (more)

The day's work done, a BNSF work train with a former ATSF GP35u backs into the Essex Yard for the night. To the right is the renowned Izaak Walton Inn, which was built in 1939 by the Great Northe... (more)

The lights on the passing train indentify it as Amtrak No. 7, the westbound Empire Builder, rolling past helpers at Essex.