With school out for spring break my dad and I headed out for some time in the Columbia River Gorge.  The first train we saw was an eastbound hopper train at Babb WA about 3pm on Friday (BNSF 4683, 7651, 1009).  In the siding the M-SPOPAS was waiting to pull its 122 cars out of the siding (BNSF 8626, BN 7876(patched), NS 8768).  We followed this train west taking a picture at Fishtrap.   I t met an eastbound manifest train in Sprague (FURX 7265, BN 9238(patched)).   We continued to follow the SPOPAS all the way to Cunningham where the crew tied down the train and ran the light power to Pasco.  We stopped Pasco for awhile to watch the engines hump cars.  They had two different sets of two SD40-2s for the yard work.  At 8pm a westbound pulled into the yard (BNSF 7330, FURX 7212).  At the west end a M-CEWPAS was stopped (BNSF 726, 4447, 522, 4567, ATSF 512, 699(patched)).   Amtrak arrived at 9:30pm in the station at Pasco (Amtrak 55).  After getting a couple night shots we headed west.  We stopped near Plymouth, WA for the night.

     The next morning Amtrak flew by a little after 7am (Amtrak 181).  Following close behind was a westbound 110 car hopper train (BNSF 7711, 7645, 4884, 4679).  After that an eastbound stack train rolled by just before 8am (BN 7055(patched), CSX 8030, NS 3383).  This eastbound met a westbound manifest in Plymouth (BNSF 1044, KCS 748, MRL 345, CSX 8731).  We followed this train all the way to Whitcomb where the crew tied the train down in the siding.  Continuing west we found a spot to wait for the westbounds.  A little later the first one  arrived with 5 engines and 51 cars (BNSF 1027, ATSF 543(patched), NREX 5079, 6074, 6406).   After getting a couple shots we headed west only to meet another one on his heels.   If was another manifest train with 78 cars (FURX 7283, BN 9299(patched), NREX 5477).  We moved down to McCredie to wait for another eastbound.  At 10am the Z-PTLCHC curved into view (ATSF 688, 842(patched), NS 8736).

     At Roosevelt we met an eastbound manifest (BNSF 4024, 4550, 5091).  At the yard there were two trains sitting at the west end (BNSF 2721, ATSF 2842, BN 2936 (both patched)) and (BNSF 3016, NREX 5481, BN 3128 (patched), QSEL 282).  A little bit later a westbound stack and auto train rolled passed (BNSF 4551, 574).  It met an eastbound hopper train at Bates, which arrived shortly (BNSF 4874, 806, FURX 7277).  The next rain we found was a westbound manifest in Maryhill, WA (FURX 7211, NREX 5825, 5480).  While on the way we saw a westbound UP train with an unpatched SP unit in the consist.  So, moving over to the Oregon side, we shot the train several times as it came into Biggs (UP 3875, SP 8673).  The crew tied down the train in Biggs siding, then ran light power to Portland. 

     Next we headed back to the BNSF side and the westbound pulled out of Maryhill.  We drove down a little road towards Wishram where we stopped to eat lunch and catch some more trains.  A little bit later an eastbound manifest rumbled by (BNSF 7831, FURX 7258).  It went into the siding at Towal for a westbound which arrived a little while later.  It was one of the westbound garbage trains that we had seen in the Roosevelt yard.  After that, we drove down to Wishram, WA.  Another westbound garbage train was sitting in the yard (BNSF 8022, NREX 5453, 5062)  Driving down towards the Dalles, we followed one of the previous westbound garbage trains.  After shooting it at Lyle we stopped the chase.   It went into the hole at Bingen and a few minutes later an eastbound hopper train arrived (BNSF 7636, 1016). 

     Next we were hoping for a westbound so we climbed the hill overlooking the causeway at Lyle.  A little later a westbound manifest rolled across the causeway (BNSF 4865, CN 2409).  Next we drove down to Bingen where an eastbound stack train was leaving the siding (BNSF 4784, BN 7902 (patched), FURX 8109).  The next stop was Hood River, Oregon.  There we found three Mount Hood Railroad engines (89, 88, 02) and a great northern caboose.  While looking around the yard, a UP train passed through town (UP 3145, 6161).  After getting gas we headed east to Rowena, Oregon where we spent the night. 

    The next morning we spent some time searching for a good shot of an eastbound with Mount Hood in the background.   During the process we missed the morning Z-PTLCHC train.  At Avery we found a westbound hopper train which was impatiently waiting to leave the siding.  As time would tell, this crew died there and the train didn't make to Vancouver Washington until about 8pm (BNSF 4972, 5231, 1011).  We missed the westbound Amtrak and the clouds started to push us west.  We headed for the Lyle Causeway to wait for an eastbound and on the way we started to learn about the trains on the line.  We learned that there was a dead westbound train in North Dalles, Bingen, Stevenson, and Skamania.   This made meets nearly impossible so trains were slow.  On the UP side, however, things were moving right along.  At 8am an eastbound manifest train headed through the Dalles (UP 5708, 5750, DRGW 8612 (patched)).  Then as we were waiting for eastbounds at Lyle, a westbound UP hopper train rolled into Mosier (CEFX 110, 105, 135).   The eastbound it met quickly headed out of the siding with 59 cars in tow (UP 4399, 3888).  Finally, at 10:30am, the first eastbound on the BNSF line rolled across the causeway (BNSF 7658, 7325, NREX 5081).  Following 20 minutes behind him was an eastbound hopper train (BNSF 5379, 710).

     We hadn’t heard of anything else on the BNSF side so we drove back to the Dalles and crossed the river.   An eastbound UP train was approaching and we chased it down to OT Junction for a picture (UP 2474, 5365, 4588).  It was quite a ways down to the tracks so I didn’t have enough time to set up. It was unfortunate since there was a rolling met a 50+mph.   Heading back to the car we saw a northbound H-BARPAS coming up the OT (BNSF 4469, 1083, 9298).  A westbound manifest train rolled by on the other side of the river (BNSF 4721, CSX 7738).  We heard on the radio that a lot of the westbounds were starting to move after getting new crews, so we headed west to catch them.  About Lyle we caught an eastbound garbage train (CN 5345, BN 3143, 2887 (both patched)).   Next we continued west to Bingen.  In the siding we found the westbound we had seen earlier and after talking to the crew we found out that they weren’t going to move any time soon. 

     The scenery between Bingen and Cooks is very different than the eastern parts of the Gorge.  We found five tunnels and many other great locations for photos.  Unfortunately we missed an eastbound auto train near Cooks (7635, CSX 335).  Continuing to Cooks we found a big westbound hopper train in 2x2 configuration (BNSF 7769, 1020, 4353, ATSF 873 (patched)).   The end DPU had a brand new ES44DC with a new logo on the nose.  While taking pictures, the eastbound U-EVEROO1-18 rolled passed (BNSF 2328, BN 2902, 2883, ???? (all patched)).  After this we chased the westbound hopper train down to Stevenson for another picture.  Next it was back to one of the tunnels to wait for another westbound.  A while later the westbound from Bingen rolled passed.  Finally, about 4pm, another westbound came.  It was the same westbound hopper train that was at Avery in the morning.

     On the scanner we heard about a bunch of traffic stopped in Bingen.  In the siding the G-HWMTAC was tied down (BNSF 4743, 4840, 4438).  The Wishram local was on the main and a westbound coal train was pulled up to the back of the local.  Everybody was working on the west signal at Bingen.  Finally, things were in working order and the local pulled into the old siding (BN 2905 (patched)).  Then the coal train got the light and started to pick up speed (EMD 9039, BNSF 8214, BN 9279 (patched), HLCX 7200).  We followed the train down to Cooks, taking a couple of pictures.  At Cooks, the train went into the siding for three eastbounds.  The first one was already stopped on the main (BN 8068, BNSF 347, ATSF 516 (patched)).  Driving down to the west end we found that the next train, which was a hopper train, was already pulling up (ATSF 8738, BN 7061 (all patched)).  Everything would have gone fine except the dispatcher let the local out of the siding to follow the coal train west. This took an extra 20+ minutes before it got into the siding behind the coal train.  By this time the third eastbound was at the west end of the siding (BNSF 7890, MRL 301, BN 8020 (patched)). 

     Next we headed towards Vancouver.  At Skamania we found a late Amtrak (Amtrak 183).  In Vancouver a northbound manifest train passed the depot (BNSF 4929, 1115) while two southbounds were stopped short of the signals, north of the depot.  Two hopper trains came of the Fallbridge sub and headed north.  About 8pm we headed back to the Dalles for the night.  The next morning the first train we saw was a westbound manifest (BNSF 7617, EMD 9034). Then at 7:45am Amtrak rolled by the North Dalles (Amtrak 13).  After that BNSF shut down the line from Bates to Bingen until about 3pm for a maintenance blitz.   Because of this we spent the day on the UP side of the river.  An eastbound manifest train was getting ready to leave the Dalles so we drove down to Biggs area to wait for it (UP ????).  A couple minutes later a UP baretable followed on his tail (UP 5199, 5200).  About 10am an eastbound manifest flew by OT Junction (UP 9754, 9674).  Next we headed back to the Dalles where we found an eastbound stack and auto entering the west side of town. (UP 4535, 4502, CN 2436).

     Our next stop was at Rowena, OR, where we set up and hoped for an eastbound.  A little later a BNSF detour train rounded the curve (EMD 9060, NREX 5082, ATSF 6871 (patched)).  We found a great overlook to eat our lunch at; while there, a westbound UP train rolled past (UP 9380, 4749, 5181, FURX 3051).  Then we headed back to the Dalles where a westbound was heading into town (UP 3140, 2457).  At OT Junction a northbound manifest train was crossing the bridge (BNSF 4011, 511, FURX 7256).  We decided that we should start heading for the BNSF side so we could catch all the westbounds on the way to Bates.   Unfortunately we missed the first westbound and then caught the M-PASLYD at Towal (BNSF 522, ATSF 542 (patched)). 

     Next we stopped at the west switch of Bates to wait for a train.  While waiting, a westbound manifest train passed by Blailock (UP 5838, 5708, 5750, DRGW 8612 (patched)).  Finally, almost two hours later the Z-CHCPTL came up the main line (BNSF 5142, 8637, 5263).   Unfortunately, by this time it was almost 5pm and the sun was hidden off and on by the clouds.  A light engine set rolled into the siding eastbound to wait for westbounds (FURX 7256, BNSF 6804, 6734, 6339, BN 6137 (patched)).  Following right on the Z’s tail was a westbound garbage train (BN 2887, 3010, 2892 (all patched)).   A while later a westbound coal train got stopped at the east switch of Bates because the signals didn’t reset (BNSF 9464, 7708, EMD 9020, BN 9289 (patched)).   The light was gone by the time this train left so we headed east.  Between Bates and Roosevelt we met two more westbounds.  The first one was a manifest train (BNSF 4391, 4831, 1080) and the second one was a hopper train (BNSF 5472, 1079, ATSF 931 (patched)).  Then at McCredie we met another westbound hopper train (BNSF 1003, 5471, 4979).  There were two more westbounds in this fleet but things were dark and it was a long road home.  It was a great trip in a place I have wanted to explore for a long time.