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Sprague Hill Cheney, WA to Keystone, WA BNSF Lakeside Subdivision
This guide covers the Lakeside Sub between Cheney, WA and Keystone siding. The scenery along the route has a wide variety changing from forest with open pastures to barren sagebrush. The area also includes Sprague hill which doesn't seem like much of a hill, but it has a ruling grade of 1% for eastbounds. The tracks in the area run in a northeast to southwest direction which makes for some great lighting, and the area is full of photographic angles. There are many roads making access to the line relatively easy too. As for traffic, the route will usually see somewhere around 25 trains a day but can vary depending on grain season. Five daily eastbound manifest trains originate in Pasco, and their counterparts terminate in Pasco daily. These trains are the H-PASLAU, M-PASDIL, H-PASKCK, H-PASNTW, M-PASFTW. The counterparts are the H-NTWPAS, H-LAUPAS, H-CSXPAS, M-SPOPAS, and H-KCKPAS. In addition to these trains, there is a westbound M-SPOLVJ and eastbound M-LVJSPO that run late at night. Sometimes there is an extra train with the M-DILPAS for a symbol. Other traffic includes two daily Z-CHCPTL trains around 9AM and 8PM. Their counterparts run at about 1AM and 1PM. Then there is a V-PTLLPC and an extra train, the V-PTLKCK or V-PTLDEN that seems to run a couple times a week. The S-TCPCHC and TCPLPC usually run down around through Vancouver, WA, and then on the Lakeside sub instead of up and over Steven's Pass. Grain trains running to Pasco and the ports on the coast, and the empties headed back to the mid-west make up quite a bit of traffic too. But this traffic can vary depending on the price of grain as well as the supply and demand. The other trains found on this sub is the C-SCMCEC coal train and its counterpart which usually run about one train each way a day. Also the C-SCMRBE uses the Lakeside Sub, but the empties usually take Steven's pass since it is faster from Vancouver BC. This train has been running once a week lately but sometimes if the demand is down it could be once every other week. There seems to be about five baretables each week too which are either the B-PTLCHC or B-PTLSTA. There is one local along this line each day, and it is the Lind Turn which operates out of Spokane. They usually switch Cheney, Missile Base, CFI and a couple other industries. On the return trip to Spokane, they stop by Marshall to pick up the PCC interchange. The last train on this sub is Amtrak which you won't see (unless you are up really late or Amtrak is really late). The eastbound arrives in Spokane just after midnight, and departs back west at 2:45am. This makes up the bulk of the traffic, but then there are occasional re-routed stack trains and extra trains and I have even seen a H-BARPAS that got detoured the long way around. As for power, pretty much anything goes. In the summer months BNSF has been trying to run all of the dash 9s down to the southern transcon since they have air conditioning, so a lot of the older SD40-2s show up. Coal trains usually run with SD60Ms, EMD SD60s, SD70MACs, or C44-9Ws. Most loaded and empty grain trains run with C44-9Ws. There is also a lot of foreign power. For example in a 24 hour period in September 2004, there were 5 CSX, 2 NS, 3 EMD, 3 NREX, 2 CEFX, 1 GCFX, 1 HLCX, 1 MRL, 1 IC, and 3 FURX units that came through the line. Well if you are in the area for the BNSF Funnel or Marshall Canyon be sure to head the Sprague Hill area too! Below I have broken it into two sections with descriptions of the line. Also there is a timetable and grades. WARNING: This information does not give you any right at all to trespass on Railroad or Private property. Trespassing is breaking the law, and people do so only at their own risk!! If you would like to take pictures from someone else's land then go up to the house and ask permission. Sometimes after you explain what you want, they will not mind as long as you do not spend all day walking all over their property. Walking the railroad tracks is not only trespassing, but it is also very dangerous! Also when you are photographing trains, stay a respectful distance away from the tracks. The railroad not only owns the ground underneath the tracks, but usually they own the ground on either side of the tracks for up to 20 or 30 feet.
Lakeside Subdivision Timetable
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