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.

Trains in Vancouver on July 23, 1999

I took these pictures at the Amtrak station in Vancouver, Washington, on July 23, 1999, while waiting to catch the eastbound Empire Builder to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to attend the Milwaukee School of Engineering's summer program. First was this southbound Amtrak Cascades Train #753, led by Amtrak Cascades #90253, a Non-Powered Cab Unit, or NPCU, which had been recently rebuilt in January 1999 from Amtrak #253, a 3,000-horsepower F40PHR that was originally built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in 1977 using parts from retired Amtrak SDP40F #574. This was the first NPCU I had an opportunity to photograph; they had been added after the Amtrak Cascades service was inaugurated in January 1999.

In the middle of the motive power consist of a Union Pacific freight train was Union Pacific #5964, a 3,800-horsepower SD60 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in October 1986 as Chicago & North Western #8043. Chicago & North Western SD60s #8001-8055 came from a canceled order by the Soo Line, and were built to Soo Line specifications. Following the merger of the Chicago & North Western into the Union Pacific on April 24, 1995, this locomotive became Union Pacific #5964 on November 14, 1996, and was repainted into Union Pacific colors with the short-lived "We will deliver" slogan that was only applied during 1996.

Leading the eastbound Portland section of the Empire Builder is Amtrak #322, a 3,000-horsepower F40PHR that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in September 1979 using parts from retired Amtrak SDP40F #608. I boarded this train for my trip east to Milwaukee.

Railfanning in Vancouver, Washington, in July, 1999

These pictures were taken while railfanning at the Amtrak depot in Vancouver, Washington, in July of 1999. The first I saw was a southbound Amtrak Cascades train with an interesting locomotive on the head end.

Amtrak #458 is a 3,200-horsepower F59PHI that was built in July 1998 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors with final assembly by Super Steel Schenectady of Schenectady, Pennsylvania. The Amtrak Cascades trains are usually powered by F59PHIs that are painted to match the green, brown, and white colors of the train, but this one is silver and blue.

This particular F59PHI is painted in Amtrak's Surfliner colors for service in California. The Surfliner locomotives occasionally substituted on the Cascades when one of the Cascades F59PHIs had to go south to California for maintenance.

Leading the eastbound Portland section of the Empire Builder is Amtrak #354, a 3,000-horsepower F40PH that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in November 1980. It is painted in the colors of the Florida Fun Train, a short-lived venture that briefly leased three F40PHs (#354, #358, & #374) from Amtrak.

The six-car Florida Fun Train made its inaugural run on October 15, 1997, on a 200-mile route between Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. On the inaugural run of a new route between Tampa and central Florida on August 1, 1998, the train was involved in a fatal collision with a tow truck. After losing $9.9 million in the first half of 1998, the Florida Fun Train shut down on September 16, 1998. The three locomotives were returned to Amtrak and were put back in regular service without being repainted.

As we left Vancouver, we found a Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train was waiting on the Sixth Street Viaduct. This train had just come westbound down the north bank of the Columbia River Gorge with a lot of motive power.

Leading this freight train was Burlington Northern Santa Fe #739, a 4,400-horsepower Dash 9-44CW that was built by General Electric in August 1997. It was painted in Burlington Northern Santa Fe's newest paint scheme.

The second locomotive was Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe #5814, a 3,600-horsepower SD45-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in May of 1972 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #5650. In May 1986, it was rebuilt at Santa Fe's shops in San Bernardino, California as an SD45-2u; at the time the Santa Fe was planning to merge with the Southern Pacific, so it was renumbered to 7214 in accordance with the proposed numbering system for the merged railroads, and was painted in the red-and-yellow "Kodachrome" merger paint scheme. After the merger was denied by the Interstate Commerce Commission, it was renumbered to 5814 and repainted in Santa Fe's standard blue-and-yellow paint scheme.

The third locomotive was Burlington Northern Santa Fe #6976, which was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in August 1974 as Amtrak #644, a 3,000-horsepower SDP40F passenger locomotive based on the popular SD40-2 freight engine. Amtrak found the SDP40Fs unsatisfactory, and in September 1984 Amtrak traded 18 of them to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe in exchange for 25 CF7s and 8 SSB1200s for use as terminal switchers. 

In May 1985 the former Amtrak #644 was rebuilt at the Santa Fe's shops in San Bernardino, California, as SDF40-2 #5266. In April 1994, the maintenance of all the SDF40-2s was subcontracted to Morrison-Knudsen, of Boise, Idaho. After the Burlington Northern Santa Fe merger, ATSF #5266 was renumbered to BNSF #6976 in April 1998.

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #5814 has MKM sublettering under the road number on the side of the cab, indicating that the maintenance for this locomotive had been subcontracted to Morrison-Knudsen of Boise, Idaho, in April 1994.

Here is another look an Burlington Northern Santa Fe #739.

This was one of the first locomotives to be painted in BNSF's new "Heritage II" paint scheme in October 1997. 

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.

Special Train in Rainier, Oregon, on May 16, 1999

On April 29, 1999, the Portland & Western Railroad reopened its Astoria Line to Astoria, Oregon, after clearing a landslide that had cut off rail service to Astoria in February 1996. To celebrate the reopening of the line, Portland & Western operated a special train to Astoria on May 15, 1999, carrying a number of elected officials.

On May 16, the locomotive was operated to the very end of the line at the Port of Astoria, where an impromptu ceremony was held. This was the 101st anniversary of the first train to operate from Astoria to Portland. The special train then returned to Portland. These pictures are of the return trip as it passed through Rainier, Oregon.

The locomotive that was used for this train 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 train consisted of only two cars, one of which 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 was merely a reference to the owner's home state, though at this point I believe it had been purchased by the Portland & Western. Its official reporting mark and number is PPCX #800182.

The other car in the train was Willamette & Pacific Baggage Car #1119, which hosted a historic photo exhibit and an Operation Lifesaver display. The ribbed sides and porthole windows in the baggage doors clearly identify this car as having been built by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad. If #1119 is its original Milwaukee Road number, it would have been built in 1934, and would have been renumbered to #1128 around 1965.

Warbonnets in Washington in 1999

Photo by Cliff West

After the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and the Burlington Northern merged in 1995, the new Burlington Northern Santa Fe found itself in search of a paint scheme. Even after the introduction of the Great Northern-inspired "Heritage" orange and green paint scheme for the new Dash-9-44CWs assigned to former Burlington Northern territory, BNSF continued to receive otherwise identical locomotives in a variation of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe's silver & red Super Fleet "Warbonnet" paint scheme, with BNSF initials replacing the billboard "Santa Fe" lettering on the sides. Neither the BNSF nor the earlier Santa Fe "Warbonnets" were particularly common on the former Burlington Northern lines of the Pacific Northwest, but on one spring day in 1999, I think it was in April, they seemed to be out in force on the Portland-Seattle main line.

Photo by Cliff West

My dad and I caught this northbound BNSF unit grain train at the south end of Kalama, Washington, with a pair of "Warbonnets" leading a matched consist of nearly new BNSF mineral red covered hopper cars.

Photo by Cliff West

My dad's pictures from this day came out slightly underexposed, but on the other hand, his camera did have a powerful zoom lens that mine couldn't compete with.

This train was led by Burlington Northern Santa Fe #755, a 4,400-horsepower Dash 9-44CW that was built by General Electric in August 1997.

The train's second unit was Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #635, a 4,400-horsepower Dash 9-44CW that was built by General Electric in February 1994.

The train slowed down to go through Kalama, so we were able to get ahead of it and get more pictures of it at the north end of Kalama.

Photo by Cliff West

From this location, the long matching consist of covered hoppers can be appreciated.

Photo by Cliff West

The train appears to have slowed to a crawl and may have even come to a brief stop here.

Just north of this spot, the railroad crosses over the Kalama River. Continuing the chase by car, however, would require returning to Interstate 5, and this spot is between exits, so we made sure to get plenty of pictures here while we could.

Photo by Cliff West

This picture shows that in addition to the BNSF initials on the sides, there are also BNSF initials in the "cigar band" on the nose, where earlier locomotives had "Santa Fe" lettering

My last picture of Burlington Northern Santa Fe #755 was also by far the best.

I also got a better picture of Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #635. Though both of these locomotive are the same model, and were built for essentially the same railroad only a few years apart, there are some subtle differences besides the lettering. One of the more noticeable differences is the ditch lights: they are below the platform on ATSF #635 but are above the platform on BNSF #755.

Photo by Cliff West

Next, we continued north to Longview Junction. I don't remember if we hoped to see the grain train again, or if we knew it had gotten away from us. In any case, the next train we saw was a northbound BNSF general freight train.

Photo by Cliff West

Leading a mixed consist of motive power was another "Warbonnet:" Burlington Northern Santa Fe #812, a Dash 8-40CW that was built by General Electric in April 1992 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #812.

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #812 was repainted with BNSF lettering on its sides on August 21, 1996. BNSF #812 still had "Santa Fe" lettering in the "cigar band" on the nose, as the BNSF version of the "cigar band" wasn't introduced until July 1997.

A block of woodchip cars was on an adjacent track, including this former Great Northern woodchip car, still in three-decade old Big Sky Blue paint. Built by Gunderson Brothers in Portland, Oregon, in 1968, this 60'-7" woodchip car was one of 100 numbered 174200-174299 on the Great Northern. On Burlington Northern they were assigned numbers 585500-585599, though many, like this one, were never repainted or even renumbered. 89 of these cars were still on the roster in 1995, and were assigned BNSF numbers 540158-540246, though few, if any, would ever actually wear them. The Great Northern followed this group of cars in 1969 with 125 nearly identical Ortner cars numbered 174300-174424. They were assigned Burlington Northern numbers 585600-585724. 94 of this group were still on roster in 1995 and were assigned BNSF numbers 540247-540340.

Next came a northbound Union Pacific double-stack container train led by Union Pacific #9513, a 4,135-horsepower Dash 8-41CW that was built by General Electric in September 1993.

Finally, another northbound BNSF freight train came along with another pair of "Warbonnets," led by Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #631, a 4,400-horsepower Dash 9-44CW that was built in February 1994. It is a sister unit to Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #635, which was the trailing unit on the grain train seen in Kalama earlier.

This train's trailing unit was Burlington Northern Santa Fe #754, a 4,400-horsepower Dash 9-44CW that was built by General Electric in August 1997. It is only one number away from sister unit Burlington Northern Santa Fe #755, which led the grain train in Kalama that started things off, bringing things full circle as the day of railfanning came to a close.

Amtrak Cascades in Vancouver, Washington, in Early 1999

Photo by Cliff West

These pictures were taken by my dad, Cliff West, in early 1999. They show two new Amtrak Cascades trains making station stops at the depot in Vancouver, Washington. This equipment had only entered service in January 1999. I am not sure of the exact date of these pictures, but they are no later than April of 1999.

Photo by Cliff West

I think this northbound is Train #750. At the head of the train is Amtrak #470, a 3,200-horsepower F59PHI that was built in October 1998 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors with final assembly by Super Steel Schenectady, Inc., of Schenectady, Pennsylvania. Visible at the rear end of the train is a Non-Powered Control Unit converted from an F40PH locomotive.

Photo by Cliff West

This is another Cascades train, a southbound that I believe is Train #751. Bringing up the rear of the train is Amtrak #466, another 3,200-horsepower F59PHI that was built in September 1998.

Photo by Cliff West

At the head end of the train was Amtrak #467, another F59PHI that was built in September 1998. For the first few months, the Amtrak Cascades trains sometimes ran with a locomotive on each end until enough Non-Powered Control Units were available.