Western Railroad Discussion > Saturday trek to the Cascades

Saturday I thought I would do a bit of foaming around Oakridge.  I saw a southbound at Dougren but wanted to catch it further up but never quite caught it at the right time.

1. When I got to Oakridge it was raining pretty good but I grabbed this shot of Amtrak 14 at the north end of the yard near the former site of Tunnel.

2. I went to the other end of town and caught UP 8405 heading north with a manifest into the yard on a caution. 

3. Of course a couple of minutes afterward the sun came out briefly and suddenly one could see the snow up in the higher elevations. 

That was it - I would head further up and see what I could catch at Crescent Lake (more to come).

Tom Trent
Eugene, OR

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4. Crescent Lake was snowy and windy with a little bit of sun.  A red block looking north dropped off as soon as I got there.

5. I had a raven to keep me company but not much else.

6. The sun started to break a little and Odell Butte came into view.  This is where "I sure could use a train" starts to sting - the light was so great!

Three more to follow.

Tom Trent
Eugene, OR

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7. My raven companion flew by the storage buildings way down the track (note how far this was from shot #4).  By now it was starting to snow heavily and I lack confidence in my small sedan so I started back.

8. Checked at McCready but only saw a malnourished elk.

9. Caught Amtrak 11 in South Springfield as the sun set.

Fun but tiring! Thanks for looking!

Tom Trent
Eugene, OR

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Excellent series.

BB

CBRL Wrote:
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> 7. My raven companion flew by the storage
> buildings way down the track (note how far this
> was from shot #4).  By now it was starting to
> snow heavily and I lack confidence in my small
> sedan so I started back.
>
> 8. Checked at McCready but only saw a malnourished
> elk.
>
> 9. Caught Amtrak 11 in South Springfield as the
> sun set.
>
> Fun but tiring! Thanks for looking!

Absolutely love Amtrak #11 at sunset!!!

Image of the day material, right there!!


SP8100

Great bunch of pics.  Amazing how the pacifiic northwest was deep in drought last couple of years, now, POOF......too much water.  That's the new norm now everywhere. 

Thanks for the comments, folks! It's actually still dry in Oregon - well below normal unlike farther north. 

Tom Trent
Eugene, OR

Nice shots!

For the West Coast, "normal" is that the precipation varies a lot year to year.  Usually when it's wet up north in Washington state, it's dry in California.  And vice a versa.

zfan Wrote:
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> Great bunch of pics.  Amazing how the pacifiic
> northwest was deep in drought last couple of
> years, now, POOF......too much water.  That's the
> new norm now everywhere.