Western Railroad Discussion > Spring has Sprung in Seattle

It is spring break right now which means I have finally been able to get out of the house for some local foaming in and around Seattle. The week days seem to be more alive with locals working odds and ends jobs in almost every corner! I live SW of downtown which happens to be one of the busier areas along the Seattle waterfront. If you know where to look, there is usually something moving. 

1. Union Pacific's yard job out of Argo Yard prepares cars for the Alaska Barge at Harbor Island.

2. BNSF's Kent Valley local works the small yard in Kent, which takes in loaded autorack trains that sometimes need to double or triple into the yard, making usable space quite the premium for the local. 

3. The Kent Valley local shoves into a small yard tucked off of the mainline to tie down for the day. The long 12 hour day had a little bit everything go wrong for the crew. Packed yards, power trouble, and mainline traffic resulted in unfinished work for the next crew. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/24 06:37 by SCUfoamer.

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4. Kent Local shoves back to tie down for the day. An issue with the BNSF geep led to the crew flipping the power before ending the day's work, which really worked out in my favor with the cascade green geep leading. 

5. Nucor Steel's company switcher brings cars onto the mill's property after interchanging with BNSF in West Seattle.

6. BNSF's Everette to Roosevelt trash train graces the waterfront in downtown Seattle on a magnificent spring afternoon. These trash trains often have the last EMD holdouts working several of the PNW haulers. 

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Man…phenomenal shots…nice work. I like them all, but really like the Nucor critter…lots going on in that photo.

Guessing that’s crew 8 you captured in Kent…the 0600 job? Looks like an all extra crew…those guys are pretty junior…but pretty good.

Keep up the good work!

Nice work, lots to see.
That last one is a jaw dropper, I do remember the two roundish buildings being built. No overpass in sight, the older waterfront was still there, the spaghetti factory building etc,
t4p.

Those container cranes seen in the NUCOR STEEL photo:  what is the nsame of that bay or dock?  Is that facility for NUCOR, or someone else?  I've seen the docks with container cranes right near downtown SEATTLE, but never out there.  Just curious.

Great photos. It's a good time to get on the east side of the Cascade since things are greening up nicely for a few weeks before they go back to the typical brown.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

coach Wrote:
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> Those container cranes seen in the NUCOR STEEL
> photo:  what is the nsame of that bay or dock?
>  Is that facility for NUCOR, or someone else?
>  I've seen the docks with container cranes right
> near downtown SEATTLE, but never out there.  Just
> curious.

There are two sets of gantry cranes in the background. The 4 pack on the far right are at Terminal 5 in West Seattle (BNSF) and the 3 pack to the left is at Terminal 18 on Harbor Island (UP). There are several more gantry cranes further east not seen in the image at Terminal 30 where BNSF’s main SIG or Stacey Street yard is located.

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Scarlet & grey, cascade green, and SD75M... I don't care what your camera captured, BNSF 268 is Warbonnet in my mind, and the clock is turning backwards in a good way thanks to your great report!

Nucor Steel has had noteworthy vintage switchers in the past based on my quick Googling, like SW1200, GE 44 and 65 tonners. That's an interesting one you got.

Great shots!!