My mom and I headed out around 9:30am on Sunday, July 25.   Our destination was the BNSF funnel to do some railfanning.  Heading into Spokane, WA we found a couple UP engines putting together the M-SKHK in the yard (UP 5878, 5887, 5833).  Yardley was really empty and so we just headed east towards ID.   The next train we saw was in Hauser ID.  In the yard there was a westbound Boeing train (BNSF 4038, NS 8834) and a westbound stack train (ATSF 880(patched) BNSF 4799) both ready to depart.  Stopped along side these trains was a westbound hopper train with a 3x1 configuration (BNSF 5396, 6765, 1037, BN 9202).  Also of interest in the yard was an unpatched SP unit 138 coupled together with BN 6385(patched).  After seeing everything that was in the yard we kept on heading east.

     Just as we were heading through Rathdrum, ID the detector just to the east went off.  I quickly turned around and drove back to the grade crossing in town.  Less than a minute later the westbound Z-MEMSSE rounded the corner (BNSF 5841, BN 7876(patched)).  A couple minutes later we heard the dispatcher say that the train was supposed to go into Hauser yard.  But he had forgotten about that and so the train had to back into the yard!  Anyway, continuing on east we stopped to wait for something just south of Athol, ID.  After a few minutes of waiting we heard a horn and soon after a westbound stack and TOFC train came flying by (BNSF 5351, 342).   After getting back in the car we drove up to Athol with the intent of stopping to get the next westbound which we heard trip the detector a little while back.

     Well we got a surprise when the gates went down and the horn sounded just as I was arriving in town.  I quickly just turned the car around and headed back along to beat the train and get a pic.  I soon found out that the possibilities of beating this train were close to zero as it was a westbound MRL passenger train doing well over 70mph (MRL 200).  So unfortunately I had to turn around and continue on north.  We headed for a grade crossing a couple miles to the north of Althol and no sooner had we gotten there then a westbound manifest train rumbled by (FURX 7935, BNSF 7047, ATSF 6806(patched), BN 2896(patched)).  After that we figured that there wouldn't be another westbound for a little while so we proceeded up to Granite, ID were we set up and waited for a train.  Then at 12:10pm an eastbound manifest arrived (BNSF 4936, 784, ????).

     After the train had passed we got back into the car and headed north again.  Then just about 10 minutes up the road we met another westbound manifest.  There wasn't any good spot to get a pic so we turned around and headed back to the spot just north of Athol.  We beat the train with just enough time to set up for the shot before the westbound manifest rounded the curve (BNSF 5197, 6946, 8210).   Again we tried heading on towards Sandpoint so we could find something to eat but we met another westbound up almost to Cocollala, ID.  So we turned around and headed back to the big cut just north of Athol, ID to get a photo of the westbound manifest (BNSF 5298, 4082).  Next we made it all the way to Cocollala before we found the next train.  It was a westbound hopper train with 2 DPUs (BNSF 5373, 4536, 4943, ATSF 831(patched)).  We decided against trying to beat it anywhere and so just kept right on going until we got to the town of Cocollala were we stopped next to the sharpest curve on the funnel.

     I have never gotten many photos from this location and so I decided to sit and wait for a train.  With all the westbounds we had just seen I was hoping that another wasn't far behind.   But unfortunately I was wrong because we ended up waiting for an hour and a half before we heard a whistle in the distance.   Soon a westbound stack train entered the scene and I snapped off the photos (BNSF 5147, MRL 361).  We knew that there was an eastbound stopped waiting for this train to clear the short section of single track and so we quickly set off for Sandpoint.   Over the scanner we heard that the track inspector got permission to occupy the bridge over Lake Pend Oreille.  With that in mind we didn't plan on meeting any more westbounds until later on.  We stopped at the trail head parking lot and I sprinted off down the trail towards the lake while my mom went to get something for us to eat.

     I arrived at the beach with about 5 minutes to spare before the eastbound stack train arrived (BNSF 4708, BN 6825, 3125(both patched)).  On the scanner the dispatcher had been talking to the track inspector and had mention a train just north of Cocollala and one on the single track.  Then a couple minutes later he was talking about one at Ramsey siding.  I figured that the one at Ramsey was the one on single track and since I had just seen the one that had been north of Cocollala I walked back to the parking lot to get picked up.  Well about 10 minutes later an eastbound hopper train totally surprised me as it rolled across the bridge (BNSF 1055, ATSF 620(patched)).  It must have been that the single track the dispatcher was talking about was the single track at Cocollala, ID.

     Oh well my mom arrived a couple minutes later and I got in the car and promptly heard a westbound calling out the approach to Boyer, ID.  So we quickly headed across the bridge and down to Algoma to set up.  On the way we saw that another eastbound was just pulling up and stopping at East Algoma to wait for the westbound.  It was an eastbound UP detour train with 2 CP engines on the point.   We were too far away to read any numbers but we hoped to catch it later on.   At 3:45pm the westbound hopper train rounded the curve at Algoma, ID (ATSF 606(patched) BNSF 7832, 861, CN 2555).  Unfortunately the sun decided that for this moment in time it was going to be annoying and hide behind a cloud.   After the train passed we headed back into Sandpoint to see if we could find the UP train.

     There wasn't much in the yard but there was a westbound BNSF train that was stopped on the waiting for a new crew on the MRL.  Finally we found the UP detour train backing off the BNSF tracks and back onto there own (CP 9719, 8550).   Then the westbound off the MRL line called up the dispatcher and said that they were ready to go.  Well the dispatcher said that there was a little bit of traffic out there currently and they would have to wait for a westbound first.  This was good news to me and so I quickly headed out south of town to another spot around Algoma to wait.  Soon the S-BPATAC tripped the detector and then can rumbling around the corner with a great consist (EMD 9099, HLCX 6451).  Since it was close to 5pm already I decided to follow this train west with hopes of getting another pic somewhere.

     We beat the train down to Granite ID were I had just enough time to set up the camera before it rounded the corner in the distance.  After it passed I tried to head up the line to Cocollala to get a picture of the next westbound but didn't get that far before I met it.  It was the V-KCM PTL and was moving at a good pace (BNSF 1103, 7838).  So I turned around and followed it all the way down to Ramsey were it went into the siding for an eastbound.  The eastbound soon arrived with 3 engines pulling a long string of stack, auto and TOFC (BNSF 4116, 4348, 817).   I got some shots as the westbound pulled out of the siding and then headed down to Hauser to wait for another westbound.  The one we were following got put in the yard but at 6:15pm the Z-CHCPTL came racing down the track (BNSF 4416, 5305, 1109).  After messing up really bad on the framing of the shot (next time I will have to remind myself to use my tripod) we headed down to the WA/ID stateline.

     After another wait of 30 minutes a westbound 109 car hopper train came rolling through (BNSF 725, 1085, ATSF 650, EMD 9086).  The sun was getting low making for some great evening light.  And so we chased this guy on towards Spokane were we got one more shot of him out by Trentwood.  Stopped at Parkwater was an eastbound stack train with 7 units waiting for a light (BNSF 4780, 532, 1076, 4408, 4336, 1028, 4631).  Next we waited around for a little bit at the west end of Yardley but when the grain train started to pull we drove off to the big bridge on the west side of town at Latah Jct.  I quickly jumped out of the car and ran up the hillside behind the jct. to get the desired elevation for the photo.

     After that train passed I noticed that the lights were set up for an eastbound off the Seattle line.  I decided to head to the other end of the bridge to see what the possibilities of a photograph were.  Not having enough time to find the right spot I didn't really get what I was after but the consist sure was nice (ATSF 623, 6336(patched), 6301(patched) WC 3002).  I wanted to get a roster shot of the WC unit and so headed back towards the yard.  But I got off on a slight detour when I saw the northbound M-SPOKFA leaving town with 10 units (BN 2375, 2758, 2910, 2905, 2901, 2939, 2890, 2967(all patched), BNSF 2264, 2340).  I quickly was able to get ahead of the train and watched it go by in run 8 as all of those locos were pulling for all they could give. 

     After that we headed back to the yard to see what was there before heading home.  In the engine yard was BNSF 5136, 653 and UP 6356.  Down at the east end an eastbound hopper train was getting ready to depart (BNSF 1052, 4013).   After that it was after sundown and so we decided to head for home.  Stopped in Empire siding was an eastbound empty Boardman coal train but it was too dark and far away to get any photos or numbers.  And that was the last train of the day.  It was a really good day with a lot of westbounds in the afternoon making for some great photos.  Well have a great week and see you trackside!!