On a quiet Saturday evening along the BNSF Seattle Sub, a freight train finally shows up amidst the passenger trains. The aluminum sides of the coal hoppers on this empty Robert's Bank coal trai... (more)

A forest fire sunset lights up the Puget Sound as this DPU pushes hard on 100+ car grain train headed for Tacoma along the Chambers Properties park.

If you want to set out to make a Dispatchers night "interesting", one sure way is to set a bunch of ties on fire. The crew of this Loram rail grinder has got just the tool for the job. The nigh... (more)

To quote that Shakespeare dude: "Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble." It's not quite a cauldron, but a crucible is part of the next step in Thermite welding. In this... (more)

Time for a tire change! Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad's West Fork Lumber #91 is being tuned up for the fast approaching Memorial Day weekend. A couple of home built rigs, and lot of manpower is n... (more)

It's been a while since this track was used. Simpson lost a bridge in 2008 and it was finally rebuilt in early 2010. #1201 is dragging a string of empty flat cars to the mill at Dayton. Off in the... (more)

High speed running! Simpson 1201 is delivering a string of empty flat cars to the mill at Dayton and is running around the cars in order to shove them into the mill. Is walking speed too fast? ... (more)

Trains are big, somethings are bigger, much bigger. It's low tide on the Puget Sound, providing an opportunity to walk along the water and under the Tacoma Narrows Bridges, where the leader of a ... (more)

Union Station Tacoma, once the center of passenger operations for the NP and the GN, it's now a Federal Courthouse. Saved from the wrecking ball in the 1980's, it has since served as the inspira... (more)

It's a tad eerie waiting in the underground Beacon Hill station, when no one is around and there's these weird looking sea creatures hanging from ceiling. It's also pretty quiet until a low whoos... (more)

Unloaded from a ship in Vancouver WA, these Vestas wind turbines are destined for Canada. more)

Hawks, Bald Eagles, an occasional jumping fish, help to pass the time until the train arrives. An empty coal train that we first shot back in Monroe on the other side of the mountains, is what w... (more)

For the past 20 or 30 minutes, the exhaust fans have been howling and red/white checkered door has been closed. A strobe over the door starts flashing and it's show time. The door slowly opens a... (more)

BNSF 4689 leads this posse of 12 units into the sunset, rounding one of the many curves along the Tacoma Narrows of the Puget Sound, at the south end of Steilacoom.

For the past 20 minutes, we've been watching a tiny speck of light, some 7 miles away, gradually grow into a beacon illuminating the last of the exhaust still billowing out of the west portal of t... (more)