BTB Blog

VIA train #2 – The Canadian takes locals and tourists alike on a 4,466 km (2,775 mi) long journey across Canada from Vancouver, BC to Toronto, ON. Riding this train has been on my bucket-list for a long time and finally the dream became true. This is an exciting experience. VIA, the Canadian long distance passenger rail agency, kind of like Amtrak, leases trackage rights from CN. The stainless steel cars for the Canadian were built in the 1950s. VIA inherited then from CPR in…

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Back in Tim Hortons’ land. Amtrak Cascades train dropped me off right in Vancouver, BC. This bustling city turned out to be a pretty good spot for hanging out before going on the big transcontinental ride to Toronto. I utilized the time for a sightseeing flight on one of the float planes. This was the smallest aircraft I have been on so far. Its fun and actually more stable than I expected. Vancouver acts as the western terminal of the major rail…

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I dropped of the rental car in Portland and from now on I will travel by train till Chicago. Therefore the trip turns from a train watching focus towards a train riding adventure. In order to get as much daylight train riding as possible I paused in Seattle, WA for an afternoon and continued the next morning on to Canada, Vancouver, BC to be exact. So what can you do in Seattle if you have just a couple of hours and no…

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From one of the most pleasing front ends in rail equipment design to one of the ugliest. The cab car of the Amtrak Cascades trains is a compromise to crew safety and operation but definitely not pleasing to the eye. But these train sets are interesting in other ways as well as they feature Talgo pendular design cars with single wheel sets, each wheel mounted independently. The cars are rather short and the business coach I rode to Seattle (and the…

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Some say the ALCO PA/FA locomotives were the most beautiful first generation diesel engines and I do not disagree. Although the F and E units showed good propositions the more pronounced edges and the big nose-headlight make the Alcos a favorite. One of this breed got to live a little bit longer after starting working for Santa Fe and ending up in Mexico. It is now undergoing restoration at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center and “rebirth” as NKP 190. The ORHC is an…

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An eastbound BSNF train heading towards Wishram, WA along the Columbia River Gorge is the reward for me getting up early on this Sunday morning and driving 1 1/2 hrs to this spot. Although the sun is already causing some shadows, light is still good enough for the scene with Mt. Hood lurking in the back. The second unit in the consist, still wearing Santa Fe war bonnet colors, is the icing on the cake. This line made it on…

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The last line to be rail-fanned on this trip by car are the BNSF and UP gateways to Portland via the Columbia River Gorge. The 100 miles from Portland, OR to The Dalles, OR (UP) and Vancouver, WA to Wishram ,WA (BNSF) are very scenic featuring a continuous transition form Pacific Northwest rainforest to bare high desert. Also, the lines are quite busy. Although partly just single track, I encountered a lot of trains- and this on a Saturday! I only experienced that kind of…

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The region south of Portland, OR is known for its short line railroads. I happened to run into some Willamette and Pacific Railway locomotives in Eugene, OR. The most interesting unit of this trio is the GP9, dressed in the classic SP “Black Widow” paint scheme. The engine built in 1959 for Southern Pacific is still on duty for the WPRR and a treat to nowadays trainspotters. A little detour from Sisters via Eugene, Albany and Salem brought me back near…

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Heading north from Dunsmuir into Oregon I followed the Union Pacific Cascades Subdivision from Klamath Falls to Oakridge. This is an impressive area with beautiful stretches of High Desert, mountains and lots of evergreen forest. Especially the ramp from Oakridge, OR to Crescent Lake is another example for fine mountain grade engineering- again featuring quite some tunnels, bridges and snow sheds. Unfortunately it takes tremendous efforts and time to get at least a glimpse of the tracks. Even as Highway 58  sometimes…

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The Caboose is an icon of American Railroading. Developed in the early days as a home away from home for train crews it survived the end of steam locomotives by about three decades. When railroads started to retire cabooses in favor for advanced end of train devices, train minded pople realized the idealistic value of those cars and therefore many got the chance to live a second life. Some 30 cabooses of various origin found a new home at the Railroad…

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