My dad and I left at 4:30 am on September 13, 2002 and headed for Eugene, OR. Our major reason was we were going to attend my great-grandma’s funeral but we also wanted to do some train watching. Our first train was an eastbound manifest (BNSF 5420, 4199, SF 667) at Pasco, WA at 6:35 am. In Pasco Yard we saw a slew of power including two sets of a SDP38 mated with a TEBC6 (one BNSF and one BN). There were two westbounds ready to depart Pasco. The first one (BNSF 5438, 4869) was a hopper and the second a stack (BN 7850, ATSF 6723). An eastbound arrived at 6:55 am with a long string of manifest cars (BNSF 4330, 5357, ATSF(BNSF) 8625). At the engine servicing area there were quite a few C44-9Ws and even an EMD (9019). There was an eastbound earthworm train at the grain loading/unloading plant (BNSF 4351, 5254, 5253).

    We left Pasco and saw an eastbound hopper train (UP 4524 (wings), 5789 (wings/flag)) at Irrington, OR. At 8:40 am at Three Mile Canyon an eastbound stack barreled through (UP 4870 (wings/flag), 3214, 2275 (SD60M)). At Rosevelt, WA, there was some assorted power in the yard (we saw it all from the Oregon side of the Columbia River). In Bialock, OR, we stopped for 1/2 hour so my dad could sleep. While there a UP westbound manifest (UP 9713, CNW 8637 (unpatched)) overtook us. Also an eastbound BNSF manifest rumbled past Bates, WA (BN 2090, BN ????, BNSF ???? (switcher), BN ????). At 9:10 am an eastbound hopper train raced past Goodnoe, WA (BNSF 719, 1118). A eastbound manifest (UP 5771, 9415, 9564, 2238 (SD60M)) whizzed past Goff, OR at 9:25 am. At Wishram, WA, there was an eastbound (BNSF 4329, BN(BNSF) 6739) manifest. In the yard there were about 10 engines including a BN SD60M (9250). Three engines (BN 3142, 3157, EMD 9000) led a southbound 52 car ballast train over the bridge and onto the Gateway Subdivision. We met an eastbound stack and vehicle (UP 4602 (wings), 4285 (wings) 4878 (wings/flag)) at Moody, OR just after watching the southbound BNSF ballast train. At Avery, WA, a westbound manifest (BNSF 5428 and one more) was overtaken by us.

    The next train was at Eugene, OR and it was a northbound manifest (UP 5701, 5718) at 3:05 pm. We then went to the Memorial Service and dinner afterward. We got to the Eugene Yard after all that at 5:00 pm and a southbound Amtrak (Amtrak 460, 47, 113) promptly showed up. Following the Amtrak was a southbound UP manifest (UP 5757 (wings), 9476, 4208 (wings)) which arrived and stopped at the UP yard. A northbound manifest was ready to depart Eugene (UP 5755 (wings), 9180). In the yard there was a set of four engines (UP 5727, 9717, 5764 (wings), 9509) and two switchers (UP 1128, SP 2758 (unpatched)). BN 2894 was the sole BNSF engine in the BNSF yard. We then waited for a train and a southbound UP trailer train showed up next (UP 4939, 4339, 9306) with only 45 cars. Then we headed up towards Salem, OR. At Albany, OR, we met a southbound manifest (UP 5713, 9657, 5719) at 7:00 pm. There were several W & P engines as well as UP at the Albany Yard. While there we got a flat tire and so proceeded to change it. Another southbound Amtrak (Amtrak 466, 90251) came through in the meantime operating in push-pull mode. Right after the Amtrak a northbound Albany & Eastern RR train pulled into the yard (A&E 2001, 2002). After that we headed up to Salem where we stayed with relatives for the night.

     The next morning after getting a new tire at Les Schwab we headed for our wheatfield home. At Hood River we saw Mount Hood Railroad 88 along with several other passenger cars. In the Wishram, WA area we saw 2 westbounds and an eastbound on the BNSF side. The eastbound was a baretable at 1:05 pm (ATSF(BNSF) 6347 SF(BNSF) 8299). Westbound number 1 was also a baretable (ATSF(BNSF) 3038, BN(BNSF) 3010) but westbound number 2 was a hopper train with 5 C44-9Ws (BNSF 4585, 4726, ????, ????, ????) two of which were in DPU mode. We crossed the river to the Washington side at Biggs, OR. At Bates, WA we barely saw a westbound manifest (BN 9260, 7267). At Rosevelt, WA, there was a westbound manifest (BNSF 726, 704, 5405 up front and BNSF 4676, SF 612 in DPU mode) with two mid-train helpers. Also at Rosevelt there was another westbound manifest (BN 3154, 3150, BNSF 3201). After we passed Rosevelt we were doing about 70mph and we suddenly got another flat tire. After changing the flat we caught up to a eastbound UP with 5 engines but didn’t get any numbers.

    At Longview, WA, we saw a westbound stack (BN(BNSF) 6922, BNSF 6338, 7329). We crossed the river to get our tire fixed in Hermiston and saw another westbound stack (BNSF 780, 4829). Everything was then dead until we had almost reached Ritzville, WA where we saw a westbound stack and vehicle (BNSF 1018, ????). Following in its wake was a westbound manifest (BNSF 6735 EMD 9092) in Ritzville. We finally arrived in Spokane, WA, and dropped off the car (it was a rental). My mom came and picked us up at the airport and we drove home. On the way we saw our last train, it was an eastbound manifest in Spokane, WA (BNSF 4311, 8033, BN 6380, SF 691). We got home around 7:30 pm. Overall we saw well over 100 engines in our two days.