With Stan working on the F unit, Jer has to switch himself around the elevators of Oakesdale for a little while.

End of the day and end of the daylight. In the distance of the evening, our conductor ties up the end of the train while Jer shuts down the power for the night. By the morning, fertilizer will be ... (more)

Late summer harvest time. Knee-high lentils turn all sorts of shades of yellow and orange as they become ripe and ready for harvest. Using all three motors, the W&I moves 11 loads of fertilizer ac... (more)

Two ancient EMDs smoke it up as they work hard to drag a modern-era empty unit grain train up the 1.67% grade at MP 34 on the W&I's mainline through the Palouse region. It certainly was strange s... (more)

Where the derailment began.

Today was not a good day.

Hands of the railroad.

One of the grain elevators in Oakesdale towers above the 316 in the late afternoon sun. The railroad moves a large amount of grain traffic out of Oakesdale, reflecting the agricultural traffic tha... (more)

The #20 grabs a boxcar of peas to take north.

Tie er down! Don't let the power set up fool you, the #20 lead the train on this day, albeit long hood forward. You know it's spring in the Palouse when the #20 and 6304 start bringing long trai... (more)

8 big ones on the ground. A few thousand cubic feet of wheat spilled. Track ruined (the CWR is sheared in two different places, and they weren't welds!). No one hurt. A bad flange on a BNSF hopper... (more)

A broken drawbar is the least of the W&Is problems at the moment.

The textures, grime, and shapes of railroading. Brakes are set on the resting '16 while it spends the night a few feet from Idaho. The fertilizer hoppers delivered today will be unloaded by mornin... (more)

A beautiful fall day on the Palouse. The 16 won't have to run solo much longer. It will need to switch the grain loading facilities in Oakesdale before picking up more power. From here, it'll grab... (more)

Looking over the long hood of the '16. The tired old bell has trouble striking the sound ring these days, but still makes a wonderful sound upon contact. A sound, a ring, a melody impossible to re... (more)