Riding the Eastbound Empire Builder up the Columbia River Gorge

On July 23, 1999, I boarded the eastbound Portland section of Amtrak's Empire Builder at Vancouver, Washington, on a trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Here are the pictures I took the first day, as the train traveled up the north bank of the Columbia River Gorge. Unfortunately, most of them are blurry, because my camera's autofocus tried to focus on the reflections and dirt on the window glass instead of the scenic views beyond.

Phoca Rock is a landslide remnant that sits in the middle of the Columbia River near Bridal Veil, Oregon, though it is closer to the Washington side of the river. It is about 30 feet tall and was named by William Clark after the Phoca vitulina harbor seals that were seen in the area.

At a height of 620 feet, Multnomah Falls is the tallest waterfall in Oregon and is one of the tallest year-round waterfalls in the United States.

In the background is the spillway of the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. The spillway was built from 1933 to 1937 along with the first powerhouse on the Oregon side of the river.

The Bonneville Dam spillway is 1,450 feet long and has 18 gates. It typically maintains the reservoir on the upstream side at a height 59 feet above the river on the downstream side.

The Bonneville Dam Second Powerhouse was built on the Washington side of the river from 1974 to 1982. The river had to be widened to provide space for it.

The Second Powerhouse is 986 feet long with 8 generators producing a total of 558 megawatts of power. Combined with the first powerhouse, the entire Bonneville Dam can produce 1.2 gigawatts of electricity.

This is the Stevenson Co-Ply plywood mill in Stevenson, Washington. Stevenson Co-Ply, Incorporated, was incorporated on August 17, 1955, and purchased the Stevenson Plywood Corporation in March of 1956. This mill was one of Skamania County's largest employers, and the main building had an area of 130,000 square feet. Stevenson Co-Ply went into receivership on January 24, 1992. The mill was purchased by High Cascade International Corporation and was used a warehouse to store wood pellets. It would later be destroyed by arson on September 21, 2007.

Here is a view from near Cook, Washington, showing the Oregon bank of the Columbia River. Traffic can be seen on Interstate 84.

This is a view from near Hood, Washington, showing the Oregon side of the river.

These windsurfers on the Columbia River were near Hood, Washington, enjoying the strong winds in this part of the Columbia River Gorge.

This is a view of Mount Hood from near Hood, Washington. At a height of 11,249 feet, Mount Hood is the tallest mountain in Oregon. Mount Hood was named on October 29, 1792 for British Admiral Samuel Hood by British Lieutenant William Broughton, a member of George Vancouver's worldwide expedition.

This is a view of Mount Hood and the town of Hood River, Oregon, from near Hood, Washington. The town of Hood River is named after the Hood River, which originates on Mount Hood and flows into the Columbia River here.

The name Hood River appeared on maps as early as 1856, and the Hood River post office was established on September 20, 1858. The railroad opened through Hood River in 1882, and the city of Hood River was incorporated in July 1895. Hood River is the seat of Hood River County, which was separated from Wasco County on June 23, 1908. The Columbia River Highway opened from Portland to Hood River in 1916.

This is a view from near Dallesport, Washington, which sits across the Columbia River from The Dalles, Oregon.

In this view from near Maryhill, Washington, a Union Pacific freight train can be seen on the other side of the Columbia River. By this time it was beginning to get dark, so this was the last picture from this part of the trip.

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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