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Passenger Trains > Project 430 —An Evening Delay Pictured

I stretched the limits of Project 430 yesterday, heading down to Pasco to catch number 28 crossing the mighty Columbia River from Kennewick. What I got was an unexpected picture of delay.

For those unfamiliar with the geography of eastern Washington, allow me to set the scene.

I'm standing on the 2,503-foot-long, cable-stayed Ed Hendler Bridge spanning the mighty Columbia River between Pasco, on the left, and Kennewick, on the right.

When westbound trains cross the river, from left to right in this photo, the line splits. Turn right, and the line goes through Yakima, Ellensburg, and over Stampede Pass to Auburn, which is south of Seattle. This is the route Northern Pacific's North Coast Limited followed.

Turn left, and you're on the former Spokane, Portland & Seattle line to Vancouver. The line goes east on what is then the south bank of the Columbia. At the Wallula Gap the tracks — along with the river — make a horseshoe curve, which puts the train on the north bank of the river as it continues west. This is the route Amtrak's Empire Builder, numbers 27 and 28, follow to and from Portland.

Number 28 was making good time last night, and appeared like it was going to be early into Pasco. But first, Amtrak had to wait for a slow-moving freight from Pasco to cross the bridge.

It still could have made Pasco on time until this white boat, the Long Shot, wanted to cross under the bridge.

The process to raise, and lower the bridge resulted in Chicgo-bound number 28 arriving Pasco 15-minutes late. The delay cascaded, and 28 was 24 minutes late departing Pasco.

Project 430 — which refers to the time I set my alarm to in the morning to get out trackside in time —  is my ongoing summer solstice project to capture number 27 around Ritzville at sunrise. The project began in May, and will continue until sometime in July.          

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