Western Railroad Discussion > Holy Toledo! Pre-Winterail Hauler Chase

I got down to Corvallis on Thursday evening, after a battle with Portland area traffic, and met up with some friends from the Puget Sound area, one from LA and some new friends from around the country.
Of course, chasing the P&W Toledo Hauler was a priority and hat was set for Friday morning.    But first, a word from our sponsor, Uncle Pete’s Used Locomotives….  (Apologies to Evan)

1) Thursday evening’s highlight was a northbound UP freight south of Corvallis.  This was the second train, and it came through just after sunset, thus that big orange glow in the background.
2) Uncle Pete was showing off his “just about second hand” power as DP’s, nice and lined up facing south, making it easy to get this pace shot.
3) On Friday morning we were up at sunrise to be sure we didn’t miss the start of the hauler’s run.  We didn’t, plenty of time, about 3 hours worth of waiting.  Well spent getting to talk with other Winterail presenters and attendees.   Finally, a few minutes after 11, the crew arrived and we started off with this shot a couple miles east of Toledo.

Steve Carter
Gig Harbor, WA
My Photography

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4, 5, 6) A few along-the-river shots, all before reaching downtown Elk city. 

Traffic was just horrible around Elk City, and it seemed like it was the same damn cars everywhere.

Steve Carter
Gig Harbor, WA
My Photography

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7) Illustrating a reason for 10mph speed restriction.
8) Crossing the Yaquina River and into the tunnel a couple miles west of Chitwood
9) Speaking of Chitwood, here’s the covered bridge at Chitwood, smelling of fresh cedar.

Steve Carter
Gig Harbor, WA
My Photography

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10) Along Nashville road near Nortons
11) The curved trestle west of Nashville.   Somewhere in the brush are about 8 photographers.
12) More reasons why 10 mph is the max speed.

Steve Carter
Gig Harbor, WA
My Photography

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13) Hmm,  this looks like the Harris Covered Bridge.  May have been built in 1929.  You should have seen the scene from behind the camera.  Oh, wait… you can!
14) Crossing the Yaquina River, again, a couple miles west of the Harris Covered bridge.
15) Back in Corvallis, at some University.  Home of the Ducks, right?  Or is the Beavers?

Steve Carter
Gig Harbor, WA
My Photography

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16) Finally, after some switching outside Corvallis and suffering the loss of all but two cars, the train crosses the Willamette River in Albany.
17) Bunch of stuff happened on Saturday in a high school in Corvallis, and then it was time to head home, in the rain, through the traffic in Portland.  Or, around the traffic where there might be trains.  Here’s one, at a spot I’ve been trying to shoot for several years now.  Amtrak 14, aka The Starlight , crossing that ever present river, the Willamette.
18) Back on my home turf and after beating #14 to Nisqually a few minutes earlier, a BNSF freight passes the ferry dock in Steilacoom, as one of the ferry boats arrives just after sunset.    A great way to wrap up a great long weekend.  

Yeah, that’s better than Stockton!   Thanks Vic and all the people who helped make Winterail happen.  Here’s to many more in the PNW.

Steve Carter
Gig Harbor, WA
My Photography

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Great series of photos, Steve! Thanks for sharing...

James Nelson
Thornton, CO
www.flickr.com/mojaveflyer

GOOD stuff....!!  I like Pic 15!!

Fantastic series of shots on that P&W train! The reflection picture is my favorite.

Great shots of "The Hauler". I'll be visiting my son in June (grad student at OSU) & would like to chase "The Hauler" as well but it appears by then all the trees will have their leaves & obsure the vision of the rr. Looks like you picked the right time to be there.

Fred Wrote:
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> Great shots of "The Hauler". I'll be visiting my
> son in June (grad student at OSU) & would like to
> chase "The Hauler" as well but it appears by then
> all the trees will have their leaves & obscure the
> vision of the rr. Looks like you picked the right
> time to be there.

I was very much aware of the tree issue as we were chasing the train, but after seeing the full size images, it was very obvious that in a couple of weeks many of those shots will be completely obscured.

Thanks for the comments!

Steve Carter
Gig Harbor, WA
My Photography

DelMonteX Wrote:
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> 10) Along Nashville road near Nortons
> 11) The curved trestle west of Nashville.  
> Somewhere in the brush are about 8 photographers.
> 12) More reasons why 10 mph is the max speed.

I see a lot of scenes like 12) and think, "That's a crappy shot."  It looks great when you film it!  That's why you presented at Winterail and I watched!  I liked your Steilacoom Lift Bridge time lapse best of all at Winterail.

mapboy

Great shots all around! You had a nice chase day! Well done!

Larry

I think that is the same covered bridge you can see from the Coast Starlight.

That was a really fine show you put on at Winterail.  And the images here are first rate.   Thanks for posting!

butchc Wrote:
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> I think that is the same covered bridge you can
> see from the Coast Starlight.

The Harris bridge is the closest to the UP line the Starlight uses, and that's about 17 miles west.  So, pretty sure you can't see that bridge from the Starlight.

Steve Carter
Gig Harbor, WA
My Photography

Great pics Steve. Seems there were almost as many people chasing this train as when the 4449 went over the line in the 1990's. Ok, not really and I need to get some better scans of my photos from that chase.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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Great series Steve...really like the way you framed many of these.

Sean

Posted from iPhone

Terrific shots, thank you so much for sharing them.

Chris

Christopher Slemp
South Hadley, MA
Milepost 15

Great shots, Steve.  Could be the beginnings of another Winterail show.  You do live in a beautiful part of the world up there.

Unfortunately, I had to miss Winterail this year, but I'll be up there for sure next year.

Bill Davidson