Hello everyone and welcome the first video of 2023.
To start things off, I thought it would be neat to show you the first train I captured
in the new year.
The Pacific Northwest railfan community is frequently a buzz with info about the most
recent freight train to pass by featuring an interesting assortment of locomotives.
Earlier this week, I was alerted by several friends that a coal train was on the move,
making its way toward Canada.
These trains pass through the region regularly, transporting coal from Wyoming’s Power River
Basin to the port of Roberts Bank near Vancouver, BC for export.
This particular coal train had a very unusual lash up of locomotives leading the way including
a locomotive from Norfolk Southern Railway and two locomotives painted in the classic
Santa Fe Railroad Superfleet paint scheme.
These coal trains traverse the BNSF Bellingham Subdivision between Everett, Washington and
the US-Canadian border at Blaine in order to access the port.
I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see a locomotive consist like that, even with
thick winter storm clouds looming overhead.
So, on January 3rd, I headed for downtown Bellingham to catch this unique train.
I chose a spot on the Chestnut Street Overpass.
Not long after I showed up, I could hear the distant sound of a Nathan K5LA air horn as
the coal train began to roll through town.
From 1963 to 2001, Georgia Pacific operated a lumber mill at this site.
Most of the buildings that were part of the mill were torn down a number of years ago.
Some structures were left intact for historic preservation.
Other portions of the site have been cleared for future development.
Part of the land was converted into a dirt skate park and outdoor special event and recreational
area.
The gravel path, seen to the bottom left, was once the railroad right of way of the
Milwaukee Road through Bellingham.
Sunset was less than an hour away, but I followed the train north to see if I could catch it
one more time before dark.
With just a few minutes of usable light left, I stopped at the end of Percie Road in between
Custer and Blaine.
This road used to cross the tracks, but the crossing has been closed to vehicle traffic
for a number of years.
A few minutes after 4 PM, the train came through.
The coal train came to a stop just a short ways to the north at a location known on the
railroad as Swift.
It would wait its turn to cross into Canada and deliver its cargo to Roberts Bank.
The next day, I received word from a friend that the coal train had been unloaded at Roberts
Bank and was back on the move, making its empty return trip to Wyoming.
I headed out to the tracks as quickly as I could, settling on catching the train at the
Bellingham Amtrak station.
Bellingham’s Fairhaven station was opened in 1995 with the reintroduction of Amtrak
service between Seattle and Vancouver, BC.
The structure was originally utilized as the headquarters of a fish cannery.
I heard the sound of the horn from across Bellingham Bay as the engineer alerted motorists
at the crossings in downtown.
Just a couple minutes later, the train rounded the corner and passed by Fairhaven Station.
At Bow siding, the
train came to a stop.
Not knowing how long the train would wait here, I took advantage of the opportunity
to capture a few images of the locomotives.
On the front of the train was NS 1810.
This locomotive was built in November of 1993 by the General Motors Electromotive Division.
As built, it was an SD70 type and carried the number 2515.
In 2019, NS sent the locomotive to EMD successor Progress Rail for a full rebuild featuring
a new, full width cab and Alternating Current traction motors.
It is now classified as type SD70ACC.
While these locomotives are not entirely unheard of in Washington state, it is quite an unusual
occurrence, especially when paired with the two Santa Fe Superfleet painted trailing units.
The first, BNSF 788, is a C44-9W type that was built by General Electric in September
of 1997.
This is a locomotive that was constructed following the merger of Burlington Northern
and Santa Fe into BNSF Railway.
As such, it is lettered for BNSF rather than Santa Fe.
Speaking of the Santa Fe, the third and final unit on the head end of the train is BNSF
number 654, built new for the Santa Fe in September of 1994.
Like locomotive 788, BNSF 654 is a General Electric C44-9W type.
This locomotive is, amazingly enough, still wearing its factory paint scheme, although
it has faded quite a bit over the years.
In particular, the red, which is much more vibrant on the 788, has faded to the point
of almost looking pink on the 654.
Either way, seeing these locomotives all together on one train in 2023 was something special.
Not to leave anyone out, the locomotive seen earlier supplying power at the end of the
train, is BNSF Dash-9 number 4985, built in December of 1998.
Just as I was finishing taking some photos, the train was given the signal to depart and
I rushed about a mile down the road to the Ershig Road Crossing.
I got ahead of the train as it passed through Burlington and Mount Vernon.
With light starting to fade quickly, I settled on a crossing on the north side of Stanwood
as my last location to catch the train.
I had no time to spare, as the headlight of NS 1810 appeared in the distance.
The train flew past the 300th Street crossing and into Stanwood, closing out my adventure.
Thanks for joining me for a look at this interesting train.
If you’d like to see more videos similar to this in the future, or if you have any
other questions or comments you’d like to share, please post those down below in the
comments section.
As always, a big thank you to all my supporters on Patreon.
For even more train and railroad content, be sure to stop by my other social media pages.
I’ll be back next Friday at 9 AM Pacific time for an all new railroad themed adventure
right here on the YouTube channel.
That’s it for now.
Until next time, I’m Mike Armstrong.
I’ll see you down the line!
Thanks for watching.