Western Railroad Discussion > Portland & Western train at Summit, OR

Cloudy with sprinkles, yet the trains keep on running. Today the Toledo Patch is seen reaching the Summit of a 5 mile long 2.58% grade topping the Coastal Range at 703 feet above sea level. Today, Geeps 3006, 3001, and 3002 with slugs 101 and 102 have 13 loads easily in hand as they top the grade. Enjoy.

Summit, OR 1-14-2012

Rob



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/12 21:56 by SilvertonRR100.

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Thats Awesome! Oregon railroading baby! Branchlines are the best.

PT Smith

Great Photo! You're damned lucky they ran early too as it seems they never leave Albany until about 4pm these days. It used to be a reliable chase back in the 90's when they left Albany by about 1pm.

PS; oops, I guess this was the returning train. Never had much luck with that train as it used to return at night.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/12 13:27 by funnelfan.

Cool Picture.... how heavy does the train usually run? The West Side is 2.83%, what is the ruling grade on the east side?



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/12 16:48 by jc76.

Yes, any schedule/frequency info appreciated. Albany to Toledo? Quite the scenic cruise.
http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=albany+or&daddr=toledo+or&hl=en&sll=44.61259,-124.000282&sspn=0.091651,0.154324&geocode=FV8ZqQIdeI2p-Cm_R9gRXhfAVDEAp2Bp8NnVHw%3BFcPeqAIdcNmc-CmZyM7UCNTBVDEOxFit9a_PKg&vpsrc=0&mra=ls&t=p&z=10

Ted in OR

That is a great photo in a great spot!! Very dramatic--you can see the grade very clearly. Hope their business improves for them.

Definitely railroading in the woods. Nice shot.

Been there a dozen times and no train.Thanks for sharing

jc76 Wrote:
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> Cool Picture.... how heavy does the train usually
> run? The West Side is 2.83%, what is the ruling
> grade on the east side?


About 1.5 %. The drawbar limit eastbound is 5k tons.

> About 1.5 %. The drawbar limit eastbound is 5k
> tons.


Actually, 1.4 Westbound, and I must correct the Eastbound grade to 2.58%. I must have reversed the numbers in my head. These are from an SP ett.

Thanks to all for nice comments.

Westbound runs Monday through Friday with call anytime from 4 pm on, lately more like 6 pm. Eastbound comes back the next morning and usually hits Summit somewhere after 10 am, but tonnage and many other factors can cause a lot of variation. Today, we were lucky as we arrived at 1035 adn the train about 1050! We could hear him coming when we got out of the car. Last night the train was 54 cars going West. Today was a rather light train. We have seen Eastbounds of 70+ cars but the norm is more like 40-50 cars. 41 loaded boxes are pretty much the tonnage max as roustabout noted. BTW, they have been known to run extra trains on Saturday and Sundays, often earlier in the day. Holidays, trackwork, and derailments can lead to deviations.

Rob



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/12 21:55 by SilvertonRR100.

I'll have to get out there and catch a Hauler.....