Well it gets to the time of year when my dad and I break away from work and head out for a 4 day trip together.  This year we had planned to be on Steven's Pass in the Cascade mountains of Washington.  The trip was scheduled for August 4-7 (Wed-Sat) with a railfan meet taking place on Saturday.  We left the house just after 6:00am and hit the freeway heading west.  The first train we ran into wasn't until we got to Quincy, WA.  It was a westbound S-BPATAC with 2 warbonnets on the point (BNSF 762, ATSF 664).  We figured we would catch it later on the pass so we stopped for gas and it rolled passed.  Heading down to Trinidad we found a great place where the tracks curve around following the hillside.  We decided to wait a little while to see if something was coming.

     On the scanner we heard that the westbound train we had seen was meeting an eastbound over towards Wenatchee, WA so we got set up for the shot.   Well in a little while a westbound Z-CHCSSE surprised us from the back (BNSF 5073, 5231, 4311, 4886).  After it cleared through we waited another 20 minutes before the eastbound showed up.  And to our great disappointment it was a local train with 1 BNSF unit and one box car (BNSF 2734).  After that we decided we had wasted enough time and headed on towards the pass.  In the yard there were a couple of engines including BNSF 4005, and UP 4663.  Just pulling into town was the eastbound Z-SSECHC with its short train of 50 cars (BNSF 4895, 4389, 1002, 968).  After he cleared Olds Junction the westbound Z train departed and the S-BPATAC which we had seen earlier asked the dispatcher for permission to follow the Z.

     We headed up the pass a few minutes after the Z but well ahead of the stack train.  Since we had some time we decided to head up the Chumstick canyon to see what shots there were for a westbound.  Well unfortunately there weren't many so we turned onto a little back road to head to the west portal of the Chumstick tunnel.  We beat the westbound stack train by about 10 minutes and to our delight they had added yet another warbonnet to the consist making for a trio of them now (BNSF 762, ATSF 664, 691(patched)).  After that we took a couple more round about roads to get to the train bridge that crosses the Wenatchee river.  Over the scanner we heard that the S-BPATAC backed into Winton siding tail to tail with an eastbound work train.  Then the P-TACKCM ran by them both on the main.  The crews of the eastbound trains joked around about who got out first with the engineer of the P-TACKCM train saying that because the work train's symbol started with a W he had to wait while since his was a P he could pass.

     Well I walked down to the bridge to set up for the eastbound P train and soon after it rolled across it (BNSF 1059, 4020, 5283, BN 6814(patched)).   The work train showed up next with 46 cars most of which were rail cars (BNSF 2371, BN 2872(patched)).  After this we headed back around to Hwy. 2 which we met up with at Winton, WA.  By this time the sun which had been wonderful all day started to be blocked by a building thunderstorm.  Driving on up Hwy. 2 we stopped and checked out all of the little roads along the tracks at Winton, Merritt and then finally ended up at the "Slot" (just west of Merritt).  At 5:10pm the first train finally arrived but by this time the sun was totally lost in the clouds (BNSF 784, 776).  We decided to follow this V-CHCTAC west in hopes that the west side would have at least some sun.

     The train we were following went into the hole at Scenic for an eastbound.  We decided to head down the pass a bit to find a place to shoot the eastbound.  We ended up at Deception Creek where we could hear the rumble of the train off in the distance.  Soon it round the corner with 4 units and a bunch of stack, TOFC and a couple autoracks (BNSF 4529, 4724, 798, 4481).  Next we waited for our westbound at the same spot then we headed down to Skykomish where it went into the siding to wait for Amtrak (Amtrak 72, 155).  Just before Amtrak rounded the curve the sun decided to poke its head out making for a great shot of the westbound train in the siding.  After Amtrak passed it pulled out of the siding and headed on west.

     With nothing much else coming we hit the highway and followed the train to Index where we got another shot of it.  Next it was on to Gold Bar, WA were it went into the siding for the H-EVESPO.  We stopped at a park next to the tracks and brought out the stove to cook our supper.  Over the scanner we heard that the H-EVESPO tripped a detector with some kind of defect but continued on the few miles to Gold Bar where they stopped so that the V-CHCTAC's crew could take a look at the cars with the trouble.  Soon it was fixed it the train rumbled passed us picking up speed with its 96 cars (BNSF 5222, 4083, 854, 4326).  Then an hour later at 9:45pm the eastbound Z-SSECHC showed up (BNSF 5375, 4464, ATSF 600).  After this we decided it would be a good idea to head back to our campsite which we had already chosen and set up back around Merritt on the east side of the pass.

     When we got back to camp the first thing we noticed was that our tent was zipped down.  Quickly we ran over to take a look inside.   Immediately we noticed that someone had stolen our backpacks with all of our clothes and cosmetics.  Fortunately that was all they had gotten since it looked like they were in a hurry and thought that there might have been something valuable in them.   Thankfully there wasn't anything of much value but we didn't have any clean clothes for the rest of the weekend(stinky!!).  The next morning we awoke and headed out around 7:00am taking everything except the tent with us.  The first train of the morning was the westbound Amtrak at Berne siding (Amtrak 16, 57).  It ran around a Z-MEMSSE in the siding which then followed it into the tunnel a little later.  The westbound MEMSSE was actually just the normal P train but its symbol had been changed to a Z train since it had several Boeing fuselages and parts cars on the head end.

     Unfortunately when we had gotten up in the morning it was overcast on the east side.  Hoping for better weather on the west side we headed over to that side of the pass.  We were greeted by a drizzling rain with low clouds.   None the less we decided to cook our breakfast at Scenic.  After that was done we headed back over to the east side of the pass.  At 11:15am we caught the Z-SSECHC coming out of the Gaynor tunnel and over the trestle (BNSF 4649, 1084, ATSF 906(patched)).   Then a couple minutes later a westbound V-CHCTAC rumbles around the curve (BNSF 1082, 1004, 4083).  After that we headed back up the little road to Hwy 2 only to hear the detector just east of us go off.  That was a little strange since the detector normally didn't go off until the train to our photo location and it was close to that from what we could see up on the ridge.  Then looking down I could see the nose of a westbound BNSF dash 9 so we quickly got out onto the highway and headed west to catch it at Berne siding.

     Much to our surprise BNSF 5053 rounded the corner into Berne with 4 passenger cars in tow.  We learned that it was a low priority directors special O-ALNSEA that went into just about every siding for another train.  We decided to beat it to the west portal of Cascade tunnel since he had to stop in Berne siding to let it ventilate after the V-CHCTAC went through.  After waiting 15 or 20 minutes on the other side its nose came out of the tunnel and rolled on through Scenic.   We followed it down to Skykomish were it went into the siding for an eastbound.   By this time the rain had at least stopped although it was still overcast.  We decided to head up to Foss River Bridge to see what kind of a shot we could get from up there of the coming eastbound.  After climbing up 15 feet or so in a tree I was satisfied with the shot and waited for the train.

     It rumbled over the bridge at 1:50pm while my dad and I had the cameras working (BNSF 5073, 5231, 4311, 4886, 2121).  It was a stack train with a nice set of units so we decided to follow it back to the east side of the pass in hopes that the sun would have come out or at least be partly sunny.  First we shot it from the overpass at Scenic then buzzed over the hill and headed down to Winton to set up for it.  After awhile it finally arrived and pulled into the siding.  For once I got lucky with the train stopping exactly where I wanted it.  Now all I had to do was wait for some sun.  I am sure that the engineer got a good laugh at me as I was hanging out of the pine tree I was in trying to see if I was going to get any sun soon.   Finally the sun broke through the clouds for about 2 minutes and I snapped away.

     Next we headed back to a crossing just west of West Winton where we intended to wait for whatever this train was waiting for.  We didn't have to wait long and in fact had just enough time to set up before the westbound Z-CHCSSE rounded the corner (BNSF 5489, 5282, 979, 5350).  Next we headed up to the Slot to see if we could get lucky and get sun and a train a the same time.  Well after a 4 hour wait it was 7:40pm and the eastbound Amtrak finally arrived (Amtrak 16, 57).  This train met a westbound at Merritt but by the time it got to the Slot the sun was long gone.  It wasn't a bad consist though on the S-LPCSEA (BNSF 822, 325).  Next we headed to Merritt siding to try to get some night shots.  A S-CHCTAC arrived at 8:45pm just as it was getting dark (BNSF 1007, 4311, NREX 5066,).  And then at 9:50pm a S-TACCHC arrived but unfortunately I didn't have the camera closed down enough for my 30 sec exposure and the headlights totally washed out the photo (BNSF 4998, 4785, 7329, BN 7055(patched)). 

     The next morning we were up and out by 6:30am.  The weather decided that overcast and partly sunny wasn't what it wanted to do and so it was now raining.  It rained pretty much the entire day on both sides of the pass although it did switch between hard rain, a light drizzle and just a fine mist.  But never the less we headed out to see the trains.  We had planned on meeting up with Jonathan Glanville and his mom that morning some time on the west side so we headed in that direction.  The first train though was Amtrak's Empire Builder at the east switch of Berne siding (Amtrak 77, 64).  Next we headed to the west side where we explored the Bonniville cut area (yes we got in there with a Honda Accord in the rain!!).  From there I called Jonathan and we arranged to meet in a little while at Skykomish, WA.   On his way over he had seen several eastbound trains and so we headed up to Foss River bridge to get a shot of them.

     Well since I had already shot the photo of him coming off the bridge I decided to head down to the creek to see what I could scare up.  I finally found the perfect spot I wanted to be but it was across the river.  I had to walk way up and around the corner to find a wider spot where I could wade up passed my knees to get across.  While I was up there I missed the P-MEMSSE with a colorful consist (BNSF 4886, 6781, BN 7055(patched), MRL 329).  But I knew that there was still an eastbound due in and so I continued on to my selected location.  I eventually arrived there and set up for the train.  Soon I could hear it rumbling off in the distance as the Z-SSECHC battled upgrade (BNSF 5350, 979, 5489).  After getting the shot I waded back across the river and headed back to the cars.  Next we drove down to Skykomish where we found the signal for the main lit.  Jonathan figured that this was the E-RBESCM that he and seen earlier so we headed down to Miller Creek area to get a shot.

     We could hear it coming but I wasn't really satisfied with the elevation I could get from the ground and wanted more.  So since there weren't any tree around I resorted to my newest form of gaining elevation and that is climbing telephone poles.  My dad had thought up a really cleaver and easy way of climbing them with ropes so we decided to try it out.  I had never actually done this before but it worked out pretty good.  Soon the train rounded the corner and I am sure they got a kick out of me hanging onto the pole (BNSF 5094, 8273, ATSF 8212(patched), EMD 9015).  Since MOW had just gotten permission to occupy quite a large section of track for a while Jonathan gave us a tour of the west side of the pass getting as far west as Sunset Falls.  After that we headed back up the pass to catch a westbound we heard was approaching Cascade tunnel.  At Scenic we found the E-RBESCM again waiting to enter the tunnel.  We grabbed a couple of shots and then drove to the west portal.

     In the distance we could see the headlight and soon enough the S-BPATAC rolled out and through Scenic (BNSF 4042, 1005).  We decided to see if we could get a shot at Deception creek and so hopped in the car and took off.  We barely managed to get there in time to jump out of the car and shoot.  Jonathan and his mom weren't so lucky and missed the train.  Next we headed down to a S-curve just west of Foss River bridge.  After finally finding a spot that I wasn't shooting head-on to the train I got set up and waited a couple minutes before it arrived.  It was still raining pretty hard and so Jonathan decided that they should head back home following this westbound.  After we left there my dad and I headed back to the east side to see if we could manage to grab a sun break here or there.  The empty coal train was stopped in Winton siding and so we drove down to Winton tunnel to wait for the westbound.

     It soon rumbled out of the tunnel with a CSX leading the P-SPOSSE (CSX 7850, GTW 5955, NREX 254).  Over the scanner we heard that the 3rd unit was dead or close to it and so the empty coal train was going to give them a unit.   Going back to Winton we found that the engines had already cut off their train and were down at the west switch.  The P-train stopped short of the siding while the other power dropped off their last unit EMD 9015.  Unfortunately they were going to put this unit on the point instead of the CSX and so we grabbed a couple more shots as the P-train's power came up to get the extra unit.  Well they started having more troubles with NREX 254.  To make a long story short they tried all sorts of things before calling Fort Worth mechanical who was able to tell them what to do so they could set the unit out (the engine wouldn't move in the reverse direction to set out).   Finally after all of their struggles and problems they could connected back up to the train after setting out the NREX 254 and headed into the main at Winton.

     Unfortunately their problems weren't all over and they lost all of their air and then the EOT wouldn't work.  Meanwhile the empty coal train left and then "died" on the law at Cashmere, WA.  The P-TACKCM was stopped right behind the coal train and so they followed him west (BNSF 4018, 4356, 776, 784).   Meanwhile the westbound Z-CHCSSE was delayed for almost 2 hours in Leavenworth siding.  After meeting the two eastbounds there it pulled out and ran around the P-SPOSSE which was still stopped in Winton (BNSF 4620, 4075, 1010, 5153).  Finally the westbound P-train got to start up and go up to Merritt where it was supposed to wait for Amtrak.  It would have gone on to Berne but they weren't sure whether they could start up the 2.20% grade with what they had.  Meanwhile on the west side Amtrak also had power problems and got delayed over an hour.  So the final total for the P-SPOSSE from when he exited Winton tunnel to when he finally left Merritt it was 7 or 8 miles in around 6 hours!!

     After Amtrak had flown by we decided to go back to our tent and get a good night of sleep (Amtrak 77, 64).  Unfortunately for Seattle East Dispatcher his problems were not over for the night with the P-TACKCM that we had seen earlier tripping a detector out by Quincy with a hot box and then problems over by Scenic   with a slide fence!!  The next morning we were up and out by 6am.  The first train of the day was an eastbound S-TACCHC exiting Cascade tunnel (BNSF 4083, 4567, 5323, 5497).  It met the M-SPOEVE at Berne siding and soon this westbound rolled by (BNSF 5245, 5372, CSX 7793).  After cooking breakfast we headed over to Skykomish were we had planned on meeting up with several people for a day of railfanning.  In the siding at Skykomish we found the P-TACKCM which was told that he would meet the passenger special and Amtrak before leaving (BNSF 845, 741, 4311).

     By 8am most of the folks where all there and we stood around and talked while waiting for the eastbound BNSF passenger special.  Soon the O-SEAWHI arrived and we all snapped away as he passed by with 10 passenger cars (BNSF 5053, 4612).   After he had passed we all decided to chase it somewhere up the pass.  There was a back road that went way up a hillside that Jonathan Glanville and gone up a little bit but never to the top before.  Bret Gray had his jeep that Jonathan, Josh and Drew were all in and so they headed up the hill with me walking right behind them.  Pretty soon Jonathan got out and we watched for big rocks as we climbed up the steep hill.   Arriving at the top it was quite disappointing to me with several power lines in the way.  I headed up the road some more hoping to try to get a shot without the power lines but it just wasn't to be unless I was to go off the road in the wet weeds.   As I was out exploring for a better shot the special came by but I wasn't able to get a shot.

     We knew that this eastbound would be meeting Amtrak in Scenic so we just waited around for him.  After getting a shot we headed back down the mountain to deception creek bridge were my dad had stayed with our car and gotten video.   The others (Brian and Dan) had gone up to Scenic with plans of chasing it over to Wenatchee where there might be some sun.  Our group headed up and over the pass to Berne were we found the Z-CHCSSE waiting for the tunnel to clear before entering (BNSF 4694, 4357, 8274).  Pretty soon he pulled out and he hit the road heading east.   Just after turning onto the highway Bret's jeep started to steam from under the hood.  Quickly pulling over and opening the hood we found that he and blown a big rip in one of the radiator hoses.  Fortunately it was a long hose and we were able to cut it and then hook it back up so he could drive it down to Wenatchee to get a new one.

     They were thinking about heading out to Trinidad were there was some sun but we wanted to stay up on the pass since it had started to clear up.   We decided to pack up our tent though and headed pack to camp.  After getting everything we headed up to the Gaynor trestle to try and see if we could duplicate a shot we had seen on the front cover of CTC Board.  We found the spot but I decided to climb a tree to get some more elevation.  We knew there was still an eastbound Z train due and so we set up for the shot.  After about an hour it rolled out of the tunnel and across the bridge (BNSF 5301, 1073, 798).  Next we headed up to Berne to see if we could find the P-TACKCM that we had seen a long time ago in Skykomish.  At 12:45pm or so it rolled through the switch at east Berne and on down the pass.  After that we headed back down to Winton were we intended on getting a shot of the next westbound.

     It was a little sooner up the pass then expected and I wasn't ready since I had climbed 3 tree already and finally and found out that it was the next tree over that had the good spot I wanted.  So we quickly hit the road with hopes of catching it farther up the pass.  It went into the hole at Merritt and pretty soon the H-EVESPO rumbled down into the siding with a great lashup (ATSF 657, NS 9219, BNSF 761).  The westbound S-BPATAC that was we were trying to chase also had a great consist though and since it was afternoon and the sun was out we decided that the light favored a westbound.  So we headed back to the highway and drove up to the east switch of Berne to get a good shot of it.  Soon the S-BPATAC arrived with a whiteface SD60M on the point (BN 9262(patched), RLCX 8547, FURX 7225, BNSF 5124).  After shooting this train we drove down to the slot to see if we could get a good shot of a westbound.

     As our luck would have it no trains showed up for several hours as we ate lunch.  Then the detector went off to west of us letting us know that an eastbound was on its way.  I decided to try a different shot and so went off in search of one across the small creek.  After decided to shoot down the creek at the bridge the train would cross I had just enough time to get everything set before the train came into sight.  It was an eastbound stack train with an interesting consist (BNSF 5282, 325, BN 6841(patched), ATSF 6757(patched), NREX 6498).  After this the light was going bad and it was 5:30pm or so time to head back home.  We hit the road and didn't hear anything until we got passed Winton.  Over the scanner heard that a westbound Z train was getting ready to leave Wenatchee and that an eastbound was coming down the pass behind us.  So we got off the highway at Leavenworth to do some exploring down to Cashmere to see what there was as far as photo opportunities.

     The meet was going to take place at Leavenworth so we finally decided to shoot the westbound Z-SSECHC at Peshastin.  It rounded the corner at 7pm with 3 units (BNSF 4197, 4384, 4753).  Next we headed just a little bit west to set up for the eastbound.  It rounded the corner soon after and we just stood there a second as we watched unit and unit come out from behind the hill.  In all there were 8 engines on this P-TACKCM (BNSF 5106, 5393, 5235, 2345, CSX 692, 8767, RLCX 8589, MRL 343).  After getting our shots here we quickly hopped into the car and chased it down to Monitor stopping halfway in between for another quick shot.  On down into Wenatchee we could another couple shots before it finally came to a stop at the depot.   Here it switched out BNSF 5393, and 5235 making for a 6 unit consist.  Also here we learned that the MRL, RLCX and CSX 8767 were all dead in consist.  At the other end of the yard we found the S-CHCTAC with a NS GP50!! (FURX 7244, NS 7092).   Finally it was on up to Trinidad were we found a westbound stack train in the siding waiting for Amtrak (FURX 7213, BN 7809(patched), BNSF 6759).

     We decided to try a night shot of Amtrak coming up the hill and so we headed there to set up.  After getting everything set we brought out the supper and had a quick bite to eat.  Pretty soon it arrived with 7 passenger cars.   The photo would have come out really cool but the headlights still overpowered the pic a bit.  Oh well at least I am learning about night photography.  Next it was on up to Quincy to wait for Amtrak so we could get then engine numbers (Amtrak 90, 79).   After that it was 9:30pm and so he just hit the freeway and headed for home which we reached just shy of midnight.  It was an awesome trip except for the weather which hampered quite a bit of good photography.  I didn't get very many pictures from the west side of the pass because of it and so hopefully I will be heading back over there again sometime.  The traffic was pretty good too with just a couple of afternoon lulls on different days.  And the best train was the passenger special even though I didn't get to shoot it much.  Thanks to Jonathan, Bret, Brian, Josh, Drew and Dan for the meet and showing me a lot of good spots and hope to see you guys soon!!