Western Railroad Discussion > Another Snow and Fog Day On The BNSF--A Bit OF Traction

It started out with cold frozen fog with snow on the ground in Ritzville, WA on the BNSF Lakeside Sub on the Northern Transcon. The high-low was 31-29 with colder temps on the way Traffic is at 20 trains since midnight with more on the way. Here are some trains from yesterday and today,

11/30/2022

1. WB 935am coal train with BNSF 7466-H1 995 on the point with DPU's.
2. DPU's KCS 4012 and BNSF 3896 on same train.
3. EB 935am empty coal train with BNSF 8330-6513-4249 on the pull with DPU.

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4. DPU BNSF 4243 on same train.
5. EB 112pm "Z" train with BNSF 7???-5205-5035-6930 on the point with no DPU.
6. TOFC rolling in same "Z".

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7. EB 223pm stack train with BNSF 7074-3830 on the pull with DPU.
8. Stacks on the roll on same train.
9. More stacks on the roll on same train.

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10. DPU BNSF 7039 on same stack train.

12/1/2022--Frozen fog on the ground until near noon.

11. EB 853am manifest train with BNSF Orange-4627 on the point with DPU.
12. DPU BNSF 6435 on same train.

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13. EB 922am manifest train with BNSF 6429-4320 on the pull with DPU.
14. DPU BNSF 4122 on same train.
15. Fog finally lifted--EB 1141am grain train with BNSF 5038-5000 on the point with DPU.

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16. DPU BNSF 4033 on same train.
17. EB 1201pm grain train with BNSF 4275-5984 on the pull with DPU and a friendly toot-toot from the hogger.
18. DPU BNSF 3699 on same train.

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Now for a bit of Traction from the Andy Goddard collection.

19. LARY streetcar 1513 on the 5 Line in the 1950's. Location help Charlie. Jerry Squier photo.
20. Balitimore, MD PCC 7070 in 1963. Any extra info welcomed. Unknown Photographer.
21. Boston LRV 3497 on D Line in 1982. Any extra info welcomed. Unknown Photographer



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/22 17:32 by Ritzville.

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22. Sun Valley Bus Line bus in Phoenix, AZ in the 1960's, Extra info welcomed. Mark Hart collection.
23. Spark plug add with Twin coach in Bus Transportation in Jan. 1954. Extra info welcomed, Gene Caywood collection.

That;s it for today. Hope everyone has a agreat evening and tomorrow. Thanks so much for looking!

Larry
Ritzville, WA

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Nice series. The cold weather arrived. Keep warm.
I like the Champion spark plug add. I worked with aviation spark plugs in the Air Force. Good recollection.

Posted from Android

Pedro Rezende
Vespasiano MG,
https://youtube.com/c/minasgeraisrailways1

Picture 19: Location is right there on the lamp post, 35th St and Grand Ave.

PHall Wrote:
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> Picture 19: Location is right there on the lamp
> post, 35th St and Grand Ave.

I know, but I couldn't make out Grand Ave.

Larry

Larry:
I just noticed the Track Golpher undercutter is gone from the spur track.
Did they move it for a job or to go into the MofW shops for winter work/rehab/repairs?
I am still enjoying all the posted images, thanks as always.
RTB

Nice snow shots and not even having to leave the back yard ! Looks good
Brian Stevens

Posted from iPhone

 Picture 20 is in Baltimore, Maryland.

Thanks Pedro, I'll try and stay warm. Only 27 degrees at 530pm, going down to 14 or so tonight. "railstiesballast" the machinery left a few days ago when I went to Spokane. When I returned it was gone after months parked on the Team track. Thanks Brian, it is convienent to catch trains from the backdoor and covered patio during the snowfall, lol. Thanks "parsonplus" for the correction. My notes said Baltimore, but my brain was still in Shaker Heights.

Larry



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/22 17:40 by Ritzville.

No 19 is, as noted by PHall, of LATL car 1513 on S Grand Ave at 35th St while stair-stepping itself
from Eagle Rock Blvd in the northeast section of Los Angeles to the extreme southwest portion of
the city on Hawthorne Blvd at W. Broadway (different from the street of the same name seen on
multiple occasions in this series)---surely one of the longest routes served by LARy. 

After looking at many photos of Los Angeles' "Yellow Cars", just when you think you've seen 'em all,
a photo will pop up to prove there's one more--at least, that defy logic of what you had seen prior.
Such is the case of the 1513 in this photo. Looking carefully at the center window of the end closest to
the photographer we see something that puzzles---the piece of metal protruding at an angle from just
above the headlight.

I've gone back through my limited sources and find no example of a repeat. The only thing that comes to
mind is the metal may be a hand-throw tool used by the motorman on this one-man car to hand line any
of a number of switches he would encounter on the extended 5-Line. The motorman has chosen to stash
the switch bar where he can readily grab it from the ground. Just a guess. The subject is open for debate.

Charlie


 

Ritzville Action
Snowy ending of November and beginning of December could be start of long winter weather.
The colorful intermodal containers really brighten the snowy scenes.
Good to see coal traffic in the cold weather.

Historic Traction
20 - Baltimore PCC scene really has a lot to like.
22 - SBVL GM Old Look Model TDH-4509 with AC added in mid-1960's.
       Coach was built for suburban service with all forward-facing seats,
       tall window arrangement, and single entry.
23 - At the time the letter was written, 1954, Twin built coaches fueled by propane
       so this conversion was not a novel idea. As a matter of information, Ford used
       Champion plugs exclusively at this time.

Thanks for posting more super interesting action and traction photos.

ALLEN
 

Thanks Charlie for an interesting classroom. That iron bar near the headlight is different. I wonder if it is a switch iron? Thanks for keeping it interesting, always appreciated! Thanks Allen for your always interesting reviews. Your "snog" was back this morning. At 18 degrees at 940pm, I bet the Snog will be back. Thanks for your tidbits of interesting info, much appreciated as always.
 
Larry



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/22 22:01 by Ritzville.

Photo 22 - The 1st National Bank Building would place this picture in the vicinity of Central and Van Buren in downtown Phoenix.  Thee tall building in the background with the antennae is the Hotel Westward Ho.  Back then it was THE place to stay in Phoenix. Many celebrities stayed there. Today, the bank building is the home to the Downtown Phoenix campus of Arizona State University, the Hotel Westward Ho is a retirement community and the block that comprises Central, Van Buren, Polk Street and 1st Avenue is now a transit center where the light rail line connects with many Valley Metro bus routes. Over the years, many plans have surfaced to return the building to a hotel, but so far none of them have come to fruition. Sun Valley Bus Lines was a private operator that had two routes.  One went to Las Vegas, the other to Mesa and Williams Field Air Force Base (now Mesa Gateway Airport).  Sometime in the 80s, Phoenix Transit acquired the Mesa route of Sun Valley, but I don't know what happened to the  Las Vegas route. Since it is difficult to find information on Sun Valley Bus Lines, I created this information from memory. Any corrections or additions would be welcomed.

Thank you "agent1522" for all the interesting information. Your memory is a treasure chest.

Larry