Willamette & Pacific GP39-2 #2313 in Lebanon, Oregon

 On September 14, 2006, on the Albany & Eastern in Lebanon, Oregon, I photographed Willamette & Pacific #2313 “Lake Oswego,” a 2,300-horsepower GP39-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in August 1974 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #3612. It was retired in December 1992 and was sold to the Willamette & Pacific Railroad in June 1993.

Trains on April 8, 2006

I took these train pictures on April 8, 2006.

We begin at the Portland & Western's small base of operations on Salem Industrial Drive NE in Salem, Oregon, with Willamette & Pacific #2316 “Albany.”

This is a 2,300-horsepower GP39-2.

It was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in August 1974 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #3615.

 

It was retired in December 1992 and was sold to the Willamette & Pacific Railroad in June 1993.

Portland & Western #3004 is a 3,000-horsepower GP40 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in January 1967 as Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific #381.

This was one of a group of seven GP40s that the Rock Island was rebuilding to Dash 2 standards in its Silvis shops when the railroad went bankrupt and shut down in 1980. Before the shutdown it was completed as GP40u #3000. The last two of the seven were unfinished. Chrome Crankshaft acquired all seven locomotives along with the shop in 1981 and finished the remaining two locomotives.

The seven locomotives were sold to Toronto’s GO Transit in 1982. This locomotive became GO Transit #726. As they were not equipped with head-end power generators, they had to operate with HEP cars rebuilt from F-units. In 1994 they were retired and traded in to EMD for new F59PHs. EMD put the locomotives in their lease fleet and this locomotive became EMDX #201.

In 2001, EMD transferred the locomotive to Locomotive Leasing Partners (LLPX), a partnership with GATX Leasing, and the locomotive was leased to the St. Lawrence & Atlantic as #3204. St. Lawrence & Atlantic was taken over by Genesee & Wyoming in 2002.

The locomotive was transferred to the Portland & Western Railroad in April 2004, where it was considered a GP40-2, even though it lacks all the Dash 2 external spotting features like the water level sight glass, rear cab overhang, and vertical shock absorbers on the trucks.

Renumbered to PNWR #3004 in mid-2005, it still wears its St. Lawrence & Atlantic yellow and black paint scheme.

This base of operations formerly belonged to the Oregon Electric (O.E.) Railway, later the Burlington Northern Railroad and now the Portland & Western Railroad. The Oregon Electric was owned by the Spokane, Portland & Seattle (SP&S) Railway, which also operated the route to Astoria nicknamed the "A Line." This safety sign, which depicts the East Coast railroads in the game of Monopoly while declaring "Railroading is not a game: work safely when on board" was erected by the O.E. - A Line Safety Committee, and may predate the 1970 merger that absorbed the SP&S into the Burlington Northern Railroad.

Moving on to Portland, Oregon, I took this photograph from my car of a Union Pacific freight train crossing over Interstate 205, led by Union Pacific #4707, a 4,000-horsepower SD70M built by the General Motors Locomotive Group in London, Ontario, and delivered on October 6, 2001.

From my car on Interstate 5 near Martin’s Bluff near Longview, Washington, I took this photograph of Norfolk Southern #7516, a 4,000-horsepower ES40DC built by General Electric in November 2005 and delivered in primer gray so it could be placed in service as soon as possible.

Finally, I photographed this pair of 3,000-horsepower GP40-2s in the Longview Switching Company yard in Longview, Washington, from my car on Washington State Route 432. Union Pacific #1422 & #1434 were built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in March and April of 1980 as Southern Pacific #7671 and #7949. After the Southern Pacific was merged into the Union Pacific on September 11, 1996, Southern Pacific #7671 became Union Pacific #5322 on October 10, 2002, then was renumbered to #1422 on October 30, 2003, while SP #7949 became Union Pacific #1434 on December 20, 2000.

Trains on April 1, 2006

I took these train pictures from my car on April 1, 2006. First, at Willbridge Yard in Portland, Oregon, Burlington Northern Santa Fe #4400 is a 4,400-horsepower Dash 9-44CW that was built by General Electric in April 1999. With it is Norfolk Southern #9373, Dash 9-40CW that was built by General Electric in May 1999.

Next, at Saint Helens, Oregon, Willamette & Pacific #2306 is a 2,300-horsepower GP39-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in August 1974 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #3605. It was retired in December 1992 and was sold to the Willamette & Pacific Railroad in June 1993.

Trains in Late 2005

Photo by Cliff West

My dad, Cliff West, took these train pictures in late 2005. First are three photos of a Willamette & Pacific locomotive in Rainier, Oregon.

Photo by Cliff West

Willamette & Pacific #2307 “Independence” is a 2,300-horsepower GP39-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in August 1974 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #3606. It was retired in December 1992 and was sold to the Willamette & Pacific Railroad in June 1993.

Photo by Cliff West

This bridge over Fox Creek in Rainier, Oregon, is located at railroad milepost 46.0. This wooden bridge probably dates from the railroad's original construction in 1897-98. The first train came through Rainier from Astoria to Portland on the morning of May 16, 1898. The railroad was originally called the Astoria & Columbia River Railroad. On February 24, 1911 the Spokane, Portland & Seattle took over. The SP&S became part of the Burlington Northern on March 2, 1970. The line to Astoria was purchased by the Portland & Western Railroad in 1996. 

Photo by Cliff West

This picture of BNSF equipment was taken at the Amtrak depot in Vancouver, Washington. In the foreground, BNSF #518 is a 4,000-horsepower Dash 8-40BW that was built by General Electric in October 1990 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #518.  Following the merger of the Burlington Northern and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe on September 22, 1995, it became BNSF #518 in April 2001 and was repainted into BNSF’s “Heritage II” paint scheme in May 2001. In the background, BNSF #3126 is a 3,500-horsepower GP50 built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in August 1985 as Burlington Northern #3126. Following the merger of the Burlington Northern and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe on September 22, 1995, it became BNSF #3126 on June 3, 2002. 

Photo by Cliff West

Montana Rail Link #45028 is a Pullman-Standard PS2-CD 4427-cubic-inch 100-ton covered hopper that was originally built in March 1971 as part of lot 9532, a group of 200 such cars built for the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, or Frisco, numbered from 79300 to 79499. The Frisco was merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad in April 1980, and these cars became Burlington Northern 439000-439199. A group of 50 of these cars went to the Montana Rail Link after its creation in October 1987, and were numbered 45001-45050. Initially painted dark blue, they were used to carry materials such as lime, talc, and decorative rock, which caused the dark blue paint to weather quickly. When my dad photographed this car in Linnton, Oregon, it had recently been renovated and repainted light gray, which was expected to hold up better than the dark blue. 

Willamette & Pacific GP39-2 #2310 "Monroe" at St. Helens, Oregon, on October 1, 2005

Willamette & Pacific GP39-2 #2310 “Monroe” is a 2,300-horsepower GP39-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in August 1974 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #3609. It was retired in December 1992 and was sold to the Willamette & Pacific Railroad in June 1993. It is pictured here at Saint Helens, Oregon, on October 1, 2005.

Portland & Western GP39-2 #2305 Dallas in Rainier, Oregon in Spring 2004

Photo by Cliff West

Portland & Western GP39-2 #2305 Dallas is a 2,300-horsepower GP39-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in August 1974 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #3604. It was retired in December 1992 and was sold to the Willamette & Pacific Railroad in June 1993 and later transferred to the Portland & Western.

Photo by Cliff West

Its paint job features banners reading “Celebrating 10 Years 1993-2003” commemorating the 10th anniversary of the formation of the Willamette & Pacific Railroad. My dad, Cliff West, photographed it with a local freight train at the short trestle over Fox Creek in Rainier, Oregon in the Spring of 2004.

Portland & Western Special Train at Rainier, Oregon, in Fall 2003

Photo by Cliff West

My dad, Cliff West, photographed this special train running through Rainier, Oregon, on the Portland & Western Railroad's Astoria Line in the Fall of 2003.

Photo by Cliff West

Portland & Western GP39-2 #2305 Dallas is a 2,300-horsepower GP39-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in August 1974 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #3604. It was retired in December 1992 and was sold to the Willamette & Pacific Railroad in June 1993 and later transferred to the Portland & Western.

Photo by Cliff West

The Caritas was built in 1948 by Pullman as a 4-Bedroom, 14-Roomette Sleeping Car for the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, or Frisco for short. The car was originally named Pierre Laclede after the founder of St. Louis. The car was originally assigned to the Texas Special, which ran between St. Louis, Missouri, and San Antonio, Texas, over the Frisco and the Missouri-Kansas-Texas. The Frisco discontinued its portion of the Texas Special (the northern portion) in 1959. In 1964, this car was sold to the Canadian National and named Churchill Falls. High Iron Travel bought the car in 1983 and rebuilt it to its current configuration, with 3 double bedrooms and a master room, dining area, galley, wine cellar, and lounge.

SP&S #700 in Beaverton in July 1999

In July 1999, my dad and I were in Beaverton, Oregon, trying to photograph an excursion train pulled by Spokane, Portland & Seattle steam locomotive #700 on the Willamette & Pacific line. While we waited for the steam train, a group of four Willamette & Pacific diesels passed through. The lead locomotive was Willamette & Pacific #2317, Tigard, a 2,300-horsepower GP39-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in 1974 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #3616. It is one of a group of 17 GP39-2s Willamette & Pacific acquired from the Santa Fe in 1993.

Spokane, Portland & Seattle #700 is one of three 4-8-4s built for the SP&S in 1938 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. These locomotives were identical to A-3 class locomotives then being delivered to SP&S's parent, the Northern Pacific Railway, except that the SP&S locomotives burned oil instead of coal. By 1955, the SP&S had completed dieselization and was ready to retire the last of its steam locomotives. After pulling 1,400 passengers on a 21-car Farewell to Steam Excursion between Portland and Wishram, Washington on May 20, 1956, #700 joined the rest of SP&S's steam locomotives in a scrap line. After the Union Pacific offered the City of Portland 4-6-2 Pacific #3203 to display in a park, SP&S donated #700 on January 13, 1958, and would be the only SP&S or NP Northern to survive; in fact only one other SP&S steam locomotive survived.

SP&S #700 was put on static display at Oaks Amusement Park along with UP ##203 and SP #4449. After SP #4449's restoration to pull the American Freedom Train in 1976,15-year-old Chris McLarney founded the Pacific Railroad Preservation Association in 1977 to restore #700. The locomotive returned to operation in 1990.

On this particular July weekend in 1999, SP&S #700 was pulling a series of short round-trip excursions out of Beaverton as part of the "Taste of Beaverton" festival.

Astoria Line Excursion in August 1998

On the weekend of August 22nd and 23rd of 1998, the Pacific Railroad Preservation Association's Spokane, Portland & Seattle E-1 Class 4-8-4 #700 was scheduled to pull a series of excursion trains on the Portland & Western Railroad's Astoria Line from Linnton to Saint Helens and back. My dad and I heard about the excursions and went to photograph one of the trips on Sunday the 23rd. When we got to Linnton, we learned that before the first excursion departed on Saturday, the steam locomotive broke down (it turned out to be a bent radius rod), requiring the excursion trains to be pulled by diesel locomotives while the steam locomotive remained in Linnton under a blue tarp.

One of the locomotives that was drafted into service was Portland & Western SD9R #1851, Hillsboro. It was originally built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in April 1954 as Southern Pacific #5360. In 1965 it was renumbered to #3819. On January 11, 1971, it was upgraded at Southern Pacific's Sacramento General Shops as SD9R #4326. It was retired by Southern Pacific on February 12, 1993, and was sold to the Willamette & Pacific on April 4, 1994, where it became #1851. It was transferred to the Portland & Western in May 1995.

The other diesel locomotive was Willamette & Pacific #2317, Tigard, a 2,300-horsepower GP39-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in 1974 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #3616. It is one of a group of 17 GP39-2s Willamette & Pacific acquired from the Santa Fe in 1993.

Two private passenger cars were parked in Linnton but were not part of the excursion train. One of these was Nicolet Scenic Railroad NBNR 8150 Running Crane Lake, a Lounge-Diner-Coffee Shop Car that was originally built by American Car & Foundry in 1951 as Great Northern Railway #1241 Running Crane Lake for the Empire Builder between Chicago and Seattle. This was one of six such cars, which were referred to as "Ranch" cars on the Great Northern, and featured Western-themed interiors. The car retained its GN number when the Great Northern was merged into the Burlington Northern on March 2, 1970. After the creation of Amtrak on May 1, 1971, the car became Amtrak #8150 in 1972. After being retired by Amtrak, the car ended up on the Nicolet Badger Northern Railroad in Wisconsin, and was used in an excursion service called the Nicolet Scenic Railroad. The Nicolet Badger Northern Railroad shut down in 1994, and this car was acquired by a private owner.

The other private car parked in Linnton was Business Car Casper Mountain, which was originally built by Pullman in 1924 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Business Car #35. It was originally assigned to the Assistant General Manager of the Eastern Lines. It was reassigned to the General Manager of the Gulf Lines in 1966. It was renumbered to #57 in 1973. It was retired in 1980 and sold to a private owner. It was restored to its original number#35 and named Louisa. It was sold again and renamed Casper Mountain. It carries the road name Wyoming & Pacific on the letterboard, but this railroad does not exist; it is merely a reference to the owner's home state. Its official reporting mark and number is PPCX #800182.

Even though the excursion train was pulled by diesels instead of the steam locomotive, we chased it for part of its westbound trip anyway. Here is the train pictured along NW Marina Way in Linnton, shortly after departure.

Here is the excursion train at Holbrook, Oregon. The train was traveling very slowly, making it easy to get ahead of it on the parallel U.S. Highway 30.

Here is a picture of the excursion train from a point along Highway 30.

Finally, here is the excursion train approaching Lower Rocky Point Road near Scappoose, Oregon. After this, we gave up on the chase and headed home.

Railfanning in Portland, Oregon, on July 13, 1997

On July 13, 1997, my dad and I were railfanning with his friend Fred Anderson. After taking pictures of trains in Vancouver, Washington, we crossed the Columbia River to check out Union Pacific's Albina Yard in Portland, Oregon.

One of the locomotives at Albina was Union Pacific #2378, a 2,300-horsepower GP39-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in April 1984 as Missouri-Kansas-Texas #379. MKT 360-379 were built after normal GP39-2 production had ended and as a result have GP49 carbodies, including the large radiator intake screens. The MKT was purchased by the Union Pacific in 1988, and this locomotive was renumbered to Union Pacific #2378 on December 29, 1989. 

A pair of Southern Pacific Tunnel Motors moved through the yard.

Southern Pacific #8244 is a 3,000-horsepower SD40T-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in April 1980.

Southern Pacific #8265 is a 3,000-horsepower SD40T-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in May 1980.

Both of these locomotives were now Union Pacific property, as the Southern Pacific had been merged into the Union Pacific in 1996.

Another Southern Pacific locomotive at Albina Yard was Southern Pacific #2623, a 1,500-horsepower SW1500 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in April 1972.

We ended up heading back to Vancouver for more railfanning, as will be seen in the next post.

4449 at North Bonneville in 1997

On June 7th and 8th of 1997, Southern Pacific Daylight GS-4 #4449 made a pair of excursion trips over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway from Portland, Oregon, to Wishram, Washington, and back. This was in preparation for a two-day excursion from Portland to Yakima, Washington, and back on the following weekend. My dad and I chased the June 7th excursion to Wishram and back.

We first waited for the eastbound train at North Bonneville, Washington, near the north side of the Bonneville Dam. Before the excursion arrived, we watched several westbound freight trains pass through.

The first train was a double-stack container train led by Burlington Northern #6383, a 3,000-horsepower SD40-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in April 1974.

Next was an autorack train led by Burlington Northern #8017, a 3,000-horsepower SD40-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in March 1978.

The next train was a general freight led by Burlington Northern #8093, a 3,000-horsepower SD40-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in May 1980.

The last freight train was a piggyback train led by Burlington Northern #2707, a 2,300-horsepower GP39-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in March 1981.

Finally, Southern Pacific Daylight GS-4 #4449 appeared with its excursion train. I was able to take four pictures before it raced by.

A member of the fourth type of Southern Pacific's "General Service" or "Golden State" 4-8-4 locomotives (the GS-4 Class), #4449 was built in 1941 by the Lima Locomotive Works to pull Southern Pacific's premier Daylight streamlined passenger trains in Southern California. It was replaced by diesels and retired on October 2, 1957 and donated to the City of Portland, Oregon on April 24, 1958 and placed on display at Oaks Amusement Park with SP&S #700 and Union Pacific #3203. It would be the only Daylight steam locomotive to survive (though similar Southern Pacific non-streamlined GS-6 Class 4-8-4 #4460 also survives and is on display at the National Museum of Transport in Kirkwood, Missouri, it never wore Daylight colors). While in the park, a railroad employee named Jack Holst voluntarily kept the moving parts of the three locomotives oiled until his death in 1972. This would set the stage for #4449's resurrection.

In the early 1970s, as America's Bicentennial approached, Ross Rowland, Jr., with help from actor John Wayne, began planning a steam-powered museum train of American artifacts called the American Freedom Train that would travel the United States in celebration of the Bicentennial in 1976. By 1973, the project was underway, but a locomotive still had to be chosen. A number of locomotives were considered, including Union Pacific #8444, but in the end, Southern Pacific #4449 was selected to be the American Freedom Train's primary locomotive. On December 14, 1974, #4449 was removed from Oaks Park and moved to Burlington Northern's Hoyt Street Roundhouse near Union Station for restoration. Though #4449 would actually be one of three steam locomotives that pulled the Freedom Train, it would become the most famous, at it pulled the train throughout the American Midwest and West. Former Reading Railroad #2101 (as AFT #1) was used in the east and former Texas & Pacific #610 was used in Texas. The Freedom Train opened in Wilmington, Delaware on April 1, 1975. As it was in the east, it began its tour with the AFT #1. Meanwhile, newly restored #4449's boiler is put to steam on April 18 for the first time since 1957. She moved under her own power on April 21, and was christened on May 16. She left Portland on June 20 to take over the Freedom Train in Chicago on August 4, after display stops in Sacramento and Ogden (and an unfortunate encounter with a dump truck in Nebraska). #4449 will pull the Freedom Train for the rest of its tour until it ends in Miami on December 31, 1976, except for a brief period in the fall of 1975 when the Freedom Train was pulled by diesels while #4449 was undergoing repairs, about a month in February-March 1976 when Texas & Pacific #610 pulls the Freedom Train in Texas, and four months in the summer when it is pulled on the East Coast again by AFT #1. After the Freedom Train tour, #4449 returned to Portland by pulling a series of Amtrak excursions across the South and West in April, 1977, still in its Freedom Train paint but with the "Amtrak" name added to the tender. This was known as the "Amtrak Transcontinental Steam Excursion." #4449 arrived in Portland on May 1, having visited over 30 states (many more than once) during its Freedom Train and Amtrak Excursion travels, and was placed in storage, although this time it would be stored indoors, protected from the elements.

In 1981, #4449 emerged, restored to the post-WWII version of its Daylight paint (with "SOUTHERN PACIFIC" in large lettering in the orange band) to travel to Railfair at the newly-opened California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. It would retain this paint scheme for nearly 20 years (far longer than it had worn it while in regular service & even longer than the locomotive had even been IN regular service), as its travels included a trip to New Orleans to promote the 1984 World's Fair, a trip to Hollywood to be featured in the 1986 motion picture Tough Guys, a trip to Los Angeles to be a guest at the 50th Anniversary of the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal in 1989, additional trips to Sacramento for the 1991 and 1999 Railfairs, and numerous excursions in the Pacific Northwest.

The train passed quickly, with the former Daylight observation car NRM #2955 James J. Gilmore bring up the rear. We hurried to the car and headed for Wishram.

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