Puget Sound Railway Historical Association in August 1998

I took these pictures in August 1998, at the Puget Sound Railway Historical Association (now the Northwest Railway Museum) in Snoqualmie, Washington, where our family stopped briefly on a trip to Stevens Pass. Weyerhaeuser Timber Company #1 is a 1200-horsepower H12-44 that was built by Fairbanks-Morse of Beloit, Wisconsin, in 1951. This locomotive was originally used by Weyerhaeuser on the White River Branch, a 4-mile logging line that ran from Enumclaw to a site called Upper Mill. A few years after the locomotive was acquired, the logging line was supplanted with trucks, and the locomotive was used only to interchange freight cars with the Northern Pacific and the Milwaukee Road. This operation ceased in 1975, and the locomotive was transferred to Weyerhaeuser's operation at Vail, Washington, and was renumbered to #714. It was retired in 1977 and sold to Pacific Transportation Services of Tacoma, Washington, where it became #121. It was leased to Continental Grain in Tacoma in the 1980s before being purchased by the Puget Sound Railway Historical Association in 1987.

Kennecott Copper Company #201 is an RSD-4 built by the American Locomotive Company (Alco) in 1951. A total of 36 RSD-4s were built from 1951 to 1952, compared to 204 RSD-5s built from 1952 to 1956, which were identical except for the main generator. This was the only RSD-4 purchased by Kennecott Copper and is the only remaining RSD-4 in existence. It was donated to the Puget Sound Railway Historical Association in 1983.

45-Tonner #7320 was built by General Electric in 1941. It was originally used in the construction of the Elwood Ordinance Plant in Wilmington, Illinois by contractors Sanderson & Porter. It was later transferred to the U.S. Army Transportation Corps and became #7320. It was transferred to the U.S. Navy around 1956 for use at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. After it was retired, the Puget Sound Railway Historical Association leased it from Washington State Parks in 1976.

Northern Pacific Railway #10 is a steam-powered rotary snow plow that was built by the American Locomotive Company's Cooke Works in Paterson, New Jersey, in November, 1907. This rotary plow spent its career assigned to clear winter snow in Washington's Stampede Pass. It was retired in 1964 and was donated to the Puget Sound Railway Historical Association by the Northern Pacific in 1968.

BKSX Dome Coach #9407 at the Portland Union Station Centennial

Displayed at the 100th Anniversary of Union Station in Portland, Oregon, on May 11, 1996, BKSX Dome Coach #9407 was built by the Budd Company in July 1954 as Northern Pacific #550 for the Vista Dome North Coast Limited. It was assigned Burlington Northern #4617, but never received it before becoming Amtrak #9477. It was renumbered #9407 in October 1983 when it was converted to Head-End Power. It was retired in April 1995 and sold to become a RailVentures/Montana Daylight car, receiving BKSX reporting marks in May 1995, though at this point in 1996 it still gives the appearance of an Amtrak car.

1991 Train Pictures

My dad usually got his train pictures developed as slides, but occasionally he would get them as prints as well. Here is a group of my dad’s train pictures from early 1991. 

Photo by Cliff West

This retired caboose was on private property in Tokeland, Washington. It was originally built between 1913 and 1921 as Northern Pacific #1710. Later it was renumbered to Northern Pacific #10710. Northern Pacific was merged into Burlington Northern in March 1970, and this caboose became Burlington Northern #10933, though it never received Burlington Northern's Cascade Green paint scheme before being retired.

Photo by Cliff West

Union Pacific GP15-1 #1584 is pictured at Albina Yard in Portland, Oregon.

Photo by Cliff West

This locomotive was built by EMD in December 1976 as Missouri Pacific #1584 and retained its original number after Missouri Pacific was merged into Union Pacific in 1982.

Photo by Cliff West

GP15-1 #1584 was painted in Union Pacific's Armour Yellow paint scheme on June 17, 1986.

Photo by Cliff West

Burlington Northern #28 is an EMD SW1500, or an SW15 as BN called them. It is pictured at Hoyt Street Yard in Portland, Oregon. It was originally built in October 1968 as St. Louis-San Francisco (SLSF, also known as the Frisco) #323. The Frisco was merged into Burlington Northern in 1980.

Photo by Cliff West

Burlington Northern #214 is an EMD SW1200 or an SW12 in BN parlance. It is pictured at Hoyt Street Yard in Portland, Oregon. It was originally built in July 1957 as Northern Pacific 155.

Photo by Cliff West

Burlington Northern GP38-2 #2259 is pictured at Hoyt Street Yard in Portland, Oregon. It is another former Frisco locomotive, originally built by EMD in June 1973 as SLSF #404. It has been repainted in Burlington Northern's new "White Face" paint scheme, which was introduced in April 1989.

Photo by Cliff West

St. Louis Southwestern (SSW) GP60 #9684 at Southern Pacific's Brooklyn Yard in Portland, Oregon. It was built in March 1990. The SSW, as its name implies, operated from St. Louis, Missouri, southwest through Arkansas into Texas, and was also known as the Cotton Belt.

Photo by Cliff West

DLMX #9201 Clackamas River is a sleeping car for the crew of Daylight steam locomotive Southern Pacific #4449, which was stored in the roundhouse at Brooklyn Yard in Portland, Oregon. This car was built by Pullman in 1941 for the Southern Pacific, Union Pacific and Chicago & North Western's City of San Francisco as 10 roomette-5 bedroom sleeper Rincon Hill. It was transferred to Southern Pacific in 1947 as #9201 & was retired in 1966. The Friends of SP 4449 acquired it in 1990 from a private individual in North Dakota. Though a Southern Pacific car, the Daylight paint scheme isn't historically correct as it was only used on day trains, not sleeping cars.

Photo by Cliff West

Southern Pacific GP60 #9732 is pictured at Brooklyn Yard in Portland, Oregon. It was built in May 1991.

Photo by Cliff West

Southern Pacific #9732 was brand new and was one of the first locomotives to wear the new "Speed Lettering" that was introduced in 1991.

Photo by Cliff West

Here is another picture of Cotton Belt (SSW) GP60 #9684 at Brooklyn Yard in Portland, Oregon. The St. Louis Southwestern was a subsidiary railroad that the Southern Pacific had controlled since 1932. It would not be completely taken over by SP until 1992, but its locomotives could be found across the Southern Pacific system since the 1960s.

Photo by Cliff West

Southern Pacific C-40-3 Caboose #1140 is pictured at Brooklyn Yard in Portland, Oregon. It was built in 1942. It had probably been retired and sold by this point, and was only being stored here.