On Sunday July 13, 2003 my dad and I got up at 5:00am and left for our yearly 4-day trip.  This year we decided to head for Marias Pass in Montana.   The first train that we saw was the S-BPATAC1-10M in Yardley in Spokane, WA (BNSF 4098, 1056, 325, FURX 7282).Waiting to depart the east end of the yard was the S-TACCHI3-11L with 97 cars (BNSF 1021, 5314, 6832, SF 674).  Upon leaving the yard heading east we met the Z-STPPTL1-11A with only 34 cars (BNSF 6795, BN(BNSF) 6816).   At 6:15am we arrived at Hauser, ID and found BNSF 5489 and 4900 ready to depart back to Spokane with the "Rat Turn" which consisted of 60 auto cars.  At Athol, ID the signal for main 2 was green so we waited for about 5 minutes until a westbound manifest showed up with 90 cars (BNSF 5489, BN(BNSF) 8045).  We continued on into Sandpoint, ID without seeing anything more.

    We arrived at Sandpoint, ID at 7:05am and quickly made a trip past the UP yard.  In the yard there were CEFX 138, UP 3739, 3691, 552, and CP 9554.   Just before we reached Colburn, ID as the road comes back to the tracks we saw some railcars go by.  So we quickly turned around and beat it back to a side road crossing.  It was the Z-CHCSSE1-11A with 95 cars and 2 NS units (BNSF 1090, SF 929, NS 9213, 8347(still in CR paint)).  At Naples, ID we caught up to and past a northbound UP manifest train (CEFX 103, UP 3699, 3467).  After getting some photos of it we headed on some back roads that followed the BNSF tracks between Naples and Sandpoint, ID.  At Moravia, ID we met the V-CHCTAC8-11A and tried to beat it back to the tunnel (CN 5757, 6014, SF 601).  It was moving faster than we had expected so by the time we drove up it was already exiting the tunnel. 

    As we started back towards Bonners Ferry, ID we noticed that we had a left back flat tire!  After putting the spare on we continued into Bonners Ferry with the intention of getting it fixed.  But that was not to be because there were no shops open that fixed tires.  Well after a couple minutes of thought we decided to go back to Sandpoint to get it fixed rather than risk getting another flat on all the back roads we were going to take before we got to Whitefish, MT.  On the way back down we heard BNSF 4132 east on the radio call out the signal at Naples.  Then just as we arrived a detector went off at Boyer, ID with another eastbound.  As my dad dropped me off near the tracks in Sandpoint I saw the tail end of yet another eastbound disappearing.  He then drove to Wal Mart to get the tire looked at.  The first train I saw was the S-TACCHI3-11L which was the same one that had been waiting to pull out of Yardley.   At 10:10am the M-NTWPAS1-10A passed through with 104 cars (BNSF 774, 4329, SF(BNSF) 552).  Meanwhile  they inspected our tire and found a big gash in it so we had to buy a new one. 

    My dad arrived at 10:55am and just then the detector on the MRL went off.  So quickly drove over and caught a westbound manifest (BNSF 8251, 8278).   We finally left Sandpoint, at 11:00am almost 3 hours after we had left it the first time!  Heading on we didn't see another train until well into Montana.  At Libby, MT I was driving (I had been driving since Bonners Ferry) and we weren't watching which roads we were taking.  Too late we realized that we had driven 15 miles out of town on Hwy 2 instead of turning onto Hwy 37.  After turning around we drove back into town and turned onto the right hwy.  Ten miles more and we turned off onto another road which followed the tracks all the way past Flathead tunnel.  At Tamarack we finally met our first train since Sandpoint, ID.  It was the S-CHCTAC2-11M (BN(BNSF) 6854, BNSF 8038).  On the scanner we heard a train approaching Wolf Prairie so we quickly stopped and waited a couple minutes for it.  It was a westbound stack lead by BNSF 4646 with CN 2621 trailing.

    We stopped to eat our lunch at Rock Creek, MT and at 2:50pm the Z-CHCPTL2-11B rolled by (BNSF 757, 5401, 4879).  It met the stack train (S-TACCHI3-11L) that we had seen at Spokane and Sandpoint at Wolf Prairie, MT.  Ten minutes later the eastbound stack arrived and went into the hole at Rock Creek.  We finished our lunch and drove to Flathead tunnel west portal (about 2 miles farther than Rock Creek) and waited.  Since the eastbound stack went into the hole we expected a westbound to pop out of the tunnel but no such luck.  Ten minutes later the eastbound stack throttled up and entered the 2nd longest tunnel in the US (7.0 miles long).  We walked back to the car and headed on towards Whitefish, MT.  Just before Radnor, MT on Hwy 93 we came up to a line of stopped cars.  After waiting for Twenty minutes we finally started to move and about a mile farther down the road we saw the cause of the delay.  A westbound white SUV had veered across the road and tumbled down an embankment hitting a tree at the bottom.  It was a grim reminder of the danger of going too fast and not paying attention.

    We finally arrived at Whitefish, MT at 5:30pm.  In the yard there were sets of low horsepower locomotives and BN(BNSF) 2816 was doing some switching.   After leaving Whitefish we didn't see another train until we reached the summit of Marias pass.  At the summit the Z-SSECHC1-12B was waiting in the siding (BNSF 5250, SF(BNSF) 141, 616, ATSF(BNSF) 3166).  We stopped and had just gotten out when the westbound Amtrak Empire Builder rounded the corner (Amtrak 123, 8).  At 7:45pm the same eastbound stack train which we had seen several different times and arrived at Bison, MT.  At Grizzley, MT we saw the westbound Z-CHCPTL9-12Z and chased it back to Bison for a photo (BNSF 4546, 5324, 4761, NS 9190).  Then we drove to Summit campground and set up camp.  After cooking supper  the M-NTWPAS1-11A passed by with 84 cars (BN(BNSF) 7833, 7045, FURX 7936, 7213).  After he had passed we crawled into our tent and drifted off to sleep.

    The next morning we woke up 6:00am and cooked breakfast.  The first train was the westbound grain train G-MSDKAL9-11A.  We chased it down to East Java where we set up and waited for it (BNSF 4694, 4313(DPU), SF 844(DPU), 659).   After he cleared the eastbound manifest M-PASNTW1-12A pulled up to West Java and added two helpers to the end.  It then continued uphill and past us at 8:30am (BNSF 4880, 4869, 1001, 7324, 6820(helper), 7307(helper)).  The same process was conducted just after 9:00am when the S-TACBPA1-12V needed helpers (BNSF 994, 6819(helper), BN(BNSF) 6819(helper), 6846, 2279(RC equipped) SF(BNSF) 840).  Next we walked down a little ways and set up for the eastbound Empire Builder.  It arrived at 10:05am with 12 cars (Amtrak 145, 177).  We then drove to the lookout spot at Sheep Creek Trestle and waited a little while before the G-MCOKAL9-11A showed up (BNSF 4414, 896, 4545(DPU), 998(DPU)).  We drove into Essex, MT and saw two different work trains leaving east.   In the yard was a set of SD40-2s used as helpers (BNSF 6817, BN(BNSF) 7024).   We beat the 2 work trains up to the summit where we waited.  The first train was a ribbon rail train with 30 cars (BN(BNSF) 7849, 8023, 7008, BNSF 8974).  The next train had just a single flat car with 2 blue tanks on it and then a caboose (BN(BNSF) 2874, BNSF 2371). 

    At 12:30pm the S-BPATAC3-12M arrived at the summit with 99 cars (BNSF 5359, 6903).  After that we drove up a little dirt road and then hiked about a mile up to Blacktail, MT.  Here the tracks make a big U turn so you can see the trains for a long time.  The first train rolled downgrade at 1:55pm and was the G-CCMTAC9-11A (BNSF 1051, 1050(DPU), NS 9801(DPU), SF 641).  The cool thing was that NS 9801 was still in primer paint!!  We wanted to get an eastbound because it would have had to be pulling really hard to make it up the 1.86 grade and would have been really awesome.  But it was not to be and at 2:15pm the Z-CHCPTL8-12A glided downhill (BNSF 5256, SF(BNSF) 900, SF 665).  After that we hiked back out to the car and headed for Essex, MT. 

    The M-LAWPAS1-12A arrived at Essex at 3:05pm (BNSF 7307, 6820, 770, 4624, 7310, 7323).  We hopped in the car and chased it down to Nyack, MT and then down towards Belton.  There was lots of MOW in the Nyack/Red Eagle area and every train had to let them know when the train arrived.  So with this heads up we heard of a westbound stack train coming our way.  We walked down to tunnel 3.8 and waited.   It showed up at 4:05pm with BNSF 7165, BN 9210 and BN(BNSF) 7267 on the point.   After that I wanted to get some mountains in the background of a photo so we drove up to Red Eagle and set up for another westbound.  It rumbled past at 5:10 and was the P-MEMSSE1-10A (BNSF 5305, BN(BNSF) 7037).  Afterwards we headed back to the summit and camp.  At West Java we saw the westbound S-CHCSEA1-11M so we did a U-turn and drove back to Essex (BN(BNSF) 6815, FURX 7212).  On the scanner we heard of another westbound following this one so we tried to beat it to East Java.  But just as we drove up it passed (BNSF 1074, BN(BNSF) 9250).

    Back at the top a westbound TOFC train with 64 cars came by and so we decided to chase it back down to East Java with hopes that the sun would still be good.   The sun was great and with 5 engines in the consist it was cool (BNSF 4917, 4187, 5232, 4125, NS 9567).  We then moved a couple hundred feet on down the tracks and waited about 20 minutes for the westbound Empire Builder.  It past East Java at 7:55pm with 11 cars (Amtrak 74, 77).  We drove back to camp for supper and at 9:25pm we heard trains coming.  We quickly headed to the tracks (which were right next to camp) and waited.  Pretty soon the Z-SSECHC9-13B (BNSF 999, 4419, 4643, 1110) showed up and then from the other direction the Z-CHCPTL9-13Z came (BN(BNSF) 6839, 8044).   It was really cool to see them meet on double track without stopping.  After that action we headed back to camp and went to bed.

    We woke up to the rumble of a train the next morning at 6:15am.   It was the S-SEALPC1-13A with helpers on pushing from the rear (BNSF 4170, 1114, 6820(helper), 7307(helper)).  We then ate breakfast and just as we were finishing we heard the ominous rumble of an approaching train.  From the east the M-NTWPAS1-12A (BN(BNSF) 9260, 7878, BNSF 733) worked upgrade and crested the summit.  At the same the the counterpart train the M-PASNTW1-13A arrived from the west (BNSF 4612, BN(BNSF) 6776, 6922).  They did a running meet and were gone.  After we finished cleaning up from breakfast we drove over to Maria just west of the summit to wait for the P-MEMSSE1-11A (BNSF 5249, 7834).  Next we drove down the pass towards the east.  

    At East Glacier we stopped to fill up with gas and the S-BPATAC1-12M came through (BNSF 7130, BN(BNSF) 7889).  Continuing on we soon arrived at Browning, MT where we proceeded to set for an eastbound.  But before we got our desired eastbound we had to wait through 4 westbounds.  At 8:20am the first one a westbound stack arrived (BNSF 5234, ATSF(BNSF) 6733).  Almost an hour passed before the next westbound came through.  It was a manifest with an unpatched BN SD40-2 as the trailing unit (BNSF 7155, BN 7818(unpatched))  Following in its wake was a stack and TOFC train (BNSF 4832, 1106, 717).  Then a half hour later a westbound loaded grain train ground slowly past pull hard uphill (BNSF 5383, 5417(DPU), 1020(DPU), SF(BNSF) 875).  Finally at 10:30am the first eastbound arrived in the form of a stack train (BNSF 4792, 1043, SF(BNSF) 861).  We decided to wait for the eastbound Amtrak too and so at 10:55am it past with 10 cars (Amtrak 197, 123).

        As we arrived back at East Glacier we saw to our surprise the American Orient Express stopped there.  The power (Amtrak 160 and 64) were disconnected from the rest of the train.  On the scanner we heard that it had come east and was turning around here to head back west.  So they were swapping the lead unit from Amtrak 64 to Amtrak 160 or at least trying.  Via the scanner we heard that they were having lots of trouble with Amtrak 160 being the new lead unit.   It kept giving them all sorts of errors and they couldn't get the PCS to close!!   Well after trying everything for about an hour or more they decided to just put it back to 64 as the lead unit and wye the locomotives.  The dispatcher gave them permission to do this but said to take the wye at walking speed since it was only used by 4 axle GPs normally.  They finally got the power wyed and run around the train and at 12:50 they had finally coupled back onto their train.  We thought that they would load everyone up and leave soon so we headed up the pass to the summit to wait.  While we were waiting though we heard on the scanner that it wouldn't be even loading till 3:00pm! Oh well.

    Heading back down to Grizzley we set up for some trains.  The first one was a westbound loaded grain train with 110 cars (BNSF 5263, 684, 704(DPU), 1019(DPU)).  Then we moved over to Two Medicine Bridge for the M-LAWPAS which arrived at 3:00pm with 104 cars (BNSF 4448, 7324, BN(BNSF) 6822).  After he cleared East Glacier the AOE train pulled out of the siding and made a reverse movement to the station to begin loading.  On the scanner we heard of 2 stack trains up a summit and the dispatcher said that he would route them past the AOE before he left the station.   But for some strange reason a little while later he said that he would just keep them at Summit, MT.  So we headed up the pass to get a shot of the AOE.   Unfortunately things didn't work out and the 2 stack trains blocked all possible good shots.  So I had to settle with some telephone poles in the middle of the picture.  We followed the first stack train back down to Grizzley, MT but the lighting was not good anymore because the sun was too high (BNSF 7857, 4734, BN(BNSF) 6385, 7007(dead in consist), FURX 7280, 7273).  We then drove to Two Medicine Bridge again to shoot the 2nd stack train (BNSF 6835, ATSF(BNSF) 6898).

    We drove back to camp to cook up a late lunch and then off to hike a ridge for the westbound Empire Builder.  It arrived at 7:00pm with 11 cars and Amtrak 166 and 155.  Thirty minutes later an eastbound empty grain train arrived at Summit, MT.  We chased him all the way down to East Glacier to get a photo.  Back up at Marias, MT a westbound stack and TOFC train crested the top (BNSF 6925, FURX 8090).   After that we drove down to Grizzley to wait for any more trains.  A westbound stack and TOFC train arrived and we chased it up to Bison to get a picture (BNSF 4585, 4994, 1032, 5269, CN 2456(ex-IC and in blue paint)).  After that we drove back down to Grizzley but no more trains showed up so we headed back to camp for the night.

    Originally we were going to head down to the MRL on Wednesday when we got up but since we hadn't gotten all the photos we wanted yet we decided to stay at the pass.  The first train was an eastbound stack (BN(BNSF) 8035, ATSF(BNSF) 6723, 6493).   It stopped at Summit to wait for a westbound loaded coal train.  The coal arrived at 6:30am with 6 locomotives (BNSF 4363, 4493, 1077(DPU), 5293(DPU), 7307(helper), 6820(helper)).  After the coal train passed we followed the stack train east getting a reflection shot just before Bison and then some awesome mountain shots at Grizzley, MT.   My dad was running low on video tape space left so we tried to find something in East Glacier without any luck.  Then he dropped me off at Grizzley and he headed for Browning to find something.  At 7:35am an eastbound stack arrived at Glacier (BNSF 4646, 2646, 8051, SF 601).  My dad got back just in time for the arrival of a westbound loaded grain train (BNSF 4868, 4531, 495?(DPU), 4829(DPU)).  It stopped as Grizzley is where it goes from double track to single track.  Pretty soon an eastbound Z train arrived at Grizzley (SF 914, NS 9418, BNSF 4164.

    Back at Summit an eastbound manifest came into sight and we chased it down to Bison, MT (BNSF 5434, 4329, SF 600, SF(BNSF) 552).  We quickly drove back up to Marias at the summit to wait for the eastbound Empire Builder which showed up at 10:05am (Amtrak 8, 74).  The Builder met a westbound stack at Bison and by 10:35am it had arrived at Marias (BNSF 5340, BN(BNSF) 8008).  After he left we went back to camp and ate breakfast and cleaned up.  We were starting to take everything down and pack when we hear an eastbound manifest rumble in the distance.  It arrived and we chased it down to Bison where it went into the siding (BNSF 4179, 5273, CN 2565, NS 8347(still in CR paint)).  On the main at Bison waiting for it was a westbound stack which pulled out as soon as the eastbound manifest got into the siding (BNSF 4844, 8016 FURX 7254).   Soon a westbound Z train arrived and met the manifest (BNSF 1072, 4193, 4728).   After that the manifest throttled up and left and we went back to camp to finish packing.

    We left the summit at 1:00pm and headed for home.  At East Java we met an eastbound stack train (BNSF 6819, 6946, 7327, BN(BNSF) 6818).  We caught up to the westbound stack train at Belton since he had to meet an eastbound Z train.   The Z arrived at 2:05 (BNSF 5256, 4510, 4761).  We continued into Whitefish where my dad dropped me off at the yard and went to gas up and get a couple of things.   The westbound stack train arrived and re-crewed and then headed down to the west end of the yard to leave.  We left Whitefish and then heard on the scanner a detector went off.  Heading for Flathead tunnel we quickly hiked down to the a place to get a photo and waited momentarily before the westbound stack popped out.  It went into the hole at Rock Creek so we drove down to see what was coming.  It was an eastbound empty grain train (BNSF 5465, 4452).  Then we headed to the bridge where the road crosses the tracks to eat lunch.  While there the same westbound stack train left the siding and headed out.  Then 10 minutes later another eastbound empty grain train arrived (BNSF 4674, 143, NS 9075).

    Just as we were finishing eating a westbound loaded coal train arrived (BNSF 4363, 4493, 1077(DPU), 5393(DPU)).  We hopped in the car and chased it down the tracks finally caught up to it when it went into the hole at Tamarack, MT.  An eastbound manifest soon arrived (SF 880, BNSF 4158) and the coal left the siding.  At Fisher Creek an eastbound hopper train was waiting for the coal (BNSF 758, 706).  At 7:20pm an eastbound baretable was dead in Riverview siding (BN(BNSF) 8005, BNSF 333).   Then at Ripley, MT the coal train met an eastbound Z train (BNSF ????, SF 655, SF ???).  Continuing on to Libby, MT the coal went into the hole for an eastbound manifest (BNSF 4176, 4606, 5271, 4401).  We got several more shots of the coal train as it came through Kootenai Falls, MT. 

    We didn't see anything else until Sandpoint, ID where a northbound UP hopper train was stopped (CEFX 110, UP 5915 and I think 2 DPUs although I couldn't see the end).  There was a ton of construction going on in Sandpoint, ID so we got delayed and missed an eastbound.  Then the same coal train met an eastbound stack and vehicle at Naples, ID.  At Colburn we missed another eastbound empty grain train and at Athol, ID an eastbound manifest.  Finally we got another eastbound manifest at Spokane, WA (BNSF 8251, 8278).  At 10:55pm we arrived at Yardley and the M-PASLAU1-16 came into the yard (BN(BNSF) 8077, 6839, BNSF 7027, 7155).  And after that we made it home by 11:30pm.  It was a terrific trip with such great scenery.  When I got home I found out that there had been a derailment in the Gorge and so that was why there weren't many eastbounds but it still worked out ok.  I took 293 pictures and my dad got well over 2 hours of video.  Until next time good luck!