A pair of F45s with BN 6645 trailing heads through Cashmere on their way back to Wenatchee, WA. They spent their day in helper service on Stevens Pass.

A hint of Big Sky Blue betrays the GN heritage of BN GP9 1792 leading its Mansfield branch local upgrade out of the Columbia River Valley at Palisades with 40 empty 40 ft. grain boxcars in tow. Th... (more)

BN 2211, rebuilt from GN GP30 no. 3011 (built May 1963), was parked at Skykomish, WA with a rail train. It would appear from the cab that the unit may have had wreck damage at some point. BN did a... (more)

The day's last light reflects off Samish Bay as BN 6459 glides across the Colony Creek trestle at Blanchard, WA, south of Bellingham along Chuckanut Drive. The train is headed from Vancouver, BC t... (more)

BN 702, an F3A, was the oldest cab unit still operating on BN in August 1979. Still retaining its 3 porthole side window, the unit had an upgraded GP style twin sealed beam headlight mounted on th... (more)

BN 800, a former NP F9A, gets some attention in the Interbay shops in Seattle, WA. This area tended wheel/axle changeouts as well as traction motors (one to the left). A former Burlington Route SD... (more)

BN 2216 leads what appears to be a train for the Inside Gateway to California through Seattle with a mix of BN, Frisco and Western Pacific power. The WP power was run through from Bieber, CA to Se... (more)

BN 1750 leads a quartet of GP9s west on the Cle Elum Turn out of Yakima, WA just east of Cle Elum. The train will exchange trains with an eastbound counterpart from Auburn, WA and the crew will re... (more)

BN RS-11 no. 4182, another RS-11 still in NP paint, and a former SP&S C424 are parked at BN's Hoyt St. Yard in downtown Portland, OR between assignments. Since SP&S was the one Alco heavy railroad... (more)

BN 766 leads a 5 unit set of power at a snowy service area in BN's Belknap Yard near downtown Superior, WI. The former GN facility became BN's main yard for the Twin Ports for non-iron ore traffic... (more)

BN GP7 1582 leads a 6 unit consist of Geeps and SDs as it handles a pickup and set out at Savanna, IL on a snowless early January morning in 1976. Savanna was a crew change and junction point for... (more)

BN 81, still in GN paint and lettering, retained its GN number and spent most if not all its life in Seattle. I moved to Seattle in summer 1974 and would see it around town, often at or near King ... (more)

C&S 832 suns itself in Denver, CO showing off the distinctions between a Phase 4 SD9 and earlier versions. The Phase 3&4 models had two 48 inch fans over the radiator, vs 4 36 in. fans on Phases 1... (more)

BN 6919 has its westbound freight tucked into the siding at Odessa, WA as an eastbound meets it. Odessa is about halfway between Spokane and Wenatchee, WA on the former GN mainline.

Back in 1977 it was not uncommon for BN to make light engine moves between Interbay/Seattle and Auburn yard or Tacoma. I was lucky to catch this consist led by BN 1922, a former NP GP9, with steam... (more)