Ephrata Trainorders

 

Ephrata Trainorders

 

Ephrata Trainorders

 

Ephrata Trainorders

 

The Bad-Ass Railroad

Courtesy of Blair Kooistra.

September 25, 2020

Blair says:

"I drove along the Milwaukee Road from Othello to Beverly today, and was reminded what a bad-ass piece of railroad this is, especially from Taunton to Smyrna. Perhaps my callow teenage mind didn't realize this 40 years ago, but I'm sure Rob Leachman spent far more time and effort photographing this stretch--even in boxcab days!--than I ever considered.

"The railroad was always a maintenance headache, especially in the 40 years since abandonment, and the entities who have owned or operated this stretch since then have found this out, with silpouts, slides, and range fires. Amazingly this piece of mainline survives. Here's a view looking east a bit west of Corfu. It looks more like an under-maintained Sand Pass on the WP than the Milwaukee, as the expected code line and electrical apparatus are long gone. But oh, the possibilities! This is just an east spot to drive to; I didn't bother hiking up to the REALLY cool spots!"

 

Beverly Area View

Courtesy of Blair Kooistra.

Blair says:

"Dickie Dewald asked for more Milwaukee Road photos from me on here, so here's a start: Train #201-C cruises westbound along Crab Creek in the otherwise barren desert near Beverly, Washington in May, 1979. It wouldn't be long until that modern SD40-2's would be pulled back east and replaced with old junky GE's and GP40's; in 10 months, this railroad would be abandoned, failing just a bit too soon for the Staggers Act and double-stacked bridge traffic to do any good to save it."

 

CBRW South Of Warden

Courtesy of Blair Kooistra.

Blair says:

"Here's the drone view of the wooden trestle between the 10 and 11 road south of Warden. I was parked near the pot farm up where the train makes a curve in the distance off the 10 road; it's about 1/2 mile either way from here to the nearest road crossing. Classic ex- Northern Pacific Central Washington scenery on the old Connell Northern, now operated by Columbia Basin Railroad."