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Lake Whatcom Railway 8/4/2007

The morning after that excellent ride on the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train, I drove north through Seattle on Interstate 5 to Lynnwood and soon found Bob's house where he and Elizabeth were waiting for me. Bob showed me around his house and the various railroad items he had on display. Most impressive! Bob ran an errand while Elizabeth and I caught up then soon the three of us were ready to start the trip to the Lake Whatcom Railway. We drove north on Interstate 5 to Burlington, where we turned right on State Route 20. As we passed through Sedro Woolley, I asked Bob to stop the car at a railroad display.

Puget Sound & Baker River Railway 4-6-0 2 built by Burnham, Williams & Company in 1913. The Puget Sound & Baker River was formed in 1905 as a joint venture by the Hamilton Logging Company (later the Lyman Timber Company) and the Dempsey Logging Company, when the owners where unable to negotiate acceptable rates from the Great Northern Railway to move their logs the 23½ miles from the mountains along the Skagit River to Sedro-Woolley. It was chartered as a common carrier and, although it conveyed general freight and even a few passengers, its layout was dictated by the lumber business. Maximum grades reached six percent and curves 25 degrees.

The locomotives were known as "One-Spot" and "Two-Spot". "One-Spot" served the company until it was cut up for scrap in 1956 but its tender is now coupled to "Two-Spot". That year, 2 was donated for display in Bingham Park. In 1972, it was moved to Big Log Park, now Harry Osborne Park on West Ferry Street.

A log car behind the steam engine.

Burlington Northern caboose 10167, nee Great Northern X87 built by International Car Company in 1964.

We continued on, turning left onto State Route 9 for about ten miles, where we found Northern Pacific Road and turned right.

The Lake Whatcom Railway travels on the former Bellingham Branch of the Northern Pacific Railway and operates authentic Northern Pacific Railway heritage equipment on this branch line. Started in 1970, it is a dedicated living preservation of America's grand railway heritage. Rides begin at Wickersham, a small town on Highway 9 between Sedro Woolley and Deming. Northern Pacific 0-6-0 1070 was the last steam engine to be retired from the railway in 1956 and this began a chain of events that resulted in the formation of the Lake Whatcom Railway. 1070 has the distinction of operating in every decade of the 20th century, a record of durability that is a testimonial associated with this steam locomotive that is virtually unmatched anywhere. Carol Cornish and friends recognized what was happening and began fifteen years of Casey Jones Excursions on the Northern Pacific Railway. These popular trains would travel branch lines and mainlines all over western Washington, and people would sign up just to go for a train ride. The destination did not matter. The authentic passenger local of the Northern Pacific Railway is the proud tradition of the Lake Whatcom Railway. All of our coaches were used on the Casey Jones Excursions.

We found the entrance to the railroad but the gate was locked so we waited in the shade of the forest and I called Let's Talk Trains, the Internet Radio Show. The gate was then opened and we drove in. I made my report to the show before we started to explore. Bob went and bought the tickets.

Northern Pacific S-1 30, ex. Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad, exx. Port of Tacoma 5703, exxx. Port of Tacoma 703, exxxx. Yreka Western 603, nee Portland Terminal 30 built by American Locomotive Company in 1940.

The locomotive in front of the shop and storage building.

It was then taken around the wye and here it came back by the shop.

Next it reversed to make up its train for today.

At the shop, people had an opportunity to climb aboard the engine and ring its bell. The children looked as though they were having a blast! This is a good example of a hands-on railroading experience.

Shell Oil Company tank car SCCX 305 built by General American in 1929.

Great Northern wooden box car, number unknown.

Great Northern box car 25478, built by Pullman Company in 1923, which houses the railroad's gift shop.

NPTC 30 first spotted Northern Pacific coach 1681.

Inside the shop was Lake Whatcom Railway 0-6-0 1070, ex. Frank Culp 1962, exx. Edward Campbell 1959, exxx. Simpson Timber Company 1070, nee Northern Pacific 1070, built by American Locomotive Company in 1907. Also here were Northern Pacific parlour-observation car "Madison River", wooden caboose 10869 and coaches 1512 and 627.

Northern Pacific coach 1681 was spotted and in a moment, NPTC 30 would cut off to get the other car for our trip.

NPTC 30 went into the shop and pulled out Lake Whatcom Railway coach 634 "Lake Whatcom", ex. Northern Pacific coach 634, nee Pullman parlour-drawing room 634 "Clearview" built by the company in 1912.

With the train now put together, NPTC 30 would go around the wye and the three of us climbed aboard for a little rare mileage on this railroad.

Our wonderful engineer operating the locomotive today.

We pulled away from the train and reversed down to the switch.

We stopped beyond the switch which was switched to take us around the wye to turn NPTC 30.

As we approached the tail of the wye, we came to a shed.

Bob and Elizabeth were enjoying the rare mileage.

We pulled down the final leg of the wye back to the mainline and reversed onto our train. Once stopped, the three of us climbed aboard Northern Pacific 1681 and took our seats for the trip on the Lake Whatcom Railway which started at 12:16 PM with a toot of the horn.

We paralleled State Route 9, passing several nice homes in Wickersham then went through a tunnel under the highway and continued to run along it before it diverged off and we went into the forest.

Passing Mirror Lake Siding.

Mirror Lake.

There were interesting trees in this forest.

Rolling through the trees.

The Yard Limit One Mile sign for Wickersham.

The turntable from the Chicago, Milwaukee St. Paul and Pacific Railroad roundhouse in Bellingham rests on a logging truck. It was purchased for eventually turning the Lake Whatcom Railway locomotives at the Bellingham end.

The run-around track at our turn back location at Milepost 3.

Here, NPTC 30 would cut off and run around the train.

Heading by the train.

Passing the other end.

Stopped to flip the switch.

Proceeding back onto the main track.

Returning to couple up to our train, which then pulled back to the layover location, the Blue Canyon picnic area. Here you could ride and pump a hand car or hike to "The Waterfall" and I led the way there.

"The Waterfall" which was not as large as expected. I returned track side.

NPTC S-1 30 at the picnic area.

Our engineer and train. I reboarded and relaxed until departure time and once we resumed our journey, I went to the rear platform.

We soon returned to Mirror Lake.

Mirror Lake siding.

A ballast car was at the active end of the siding. Log trains used to double the hill and cut off half of their train there before running light back to Wickersham to get the rest of their train.

The south, inactive, end of Mirror Lake siding.

We ran through the highway tunnel.

A speeder ride was offered for any passengers who wanted to ride and the three of us decided we wanted to do it, so when we returned to Wickersham, we detrained first but were beaten out of the parking area by another car. We followed that car down the highway to Park, where we found the speeder waiting for us. We decided to let the first carload go which would give us a chance to look around and I flagged the highway both times the speeder made its first trip of the afternoon.

Box cars at Park.

Soon the speeder returned and the first group of passengers got off. Bob, Elizabeth and myself climbed on one side and a mother and her three children climbed onto the other. Once everyone was ready, the speeder crossed the highway and passed through the shed.

The switch at the north end of the shed.

My first view of Lake Whatcom.

Lake Whatcom.

Rolling down the rails along the lake, approaching the first of two grade crossings that we would cross.

Lake Whatcom.

The curved trestle that swimmers also use as a diving platform. After crossing the trestle, we continued on to the end of track.

Here I jumped off for a picture of our speeder along Lake Whatcom, after which we started back.

We ran back across the curved trestle.

Lake Whatcom.

On the way back to Park.

Back to the switch and shed.

We ran across the highway to where we started. This had been fantastic and a great way to end a trip on the Lake Whatcom Railway.

One last view of the speeder. We thanked the speeder operator before driving the route it took to get the mileage, which was 0.6 miles one way. After that, we drove back to Lynnwood but we decided to catch Amtrak's Empire Builder at Lighthouse Point in Mukilteo.

First, a westbound BNSF freight passed our location at Lighthouse Point.

Next the Blue Angels flew overhead since this was Seafair weekend in Seattle and the Blue Angels always put on a show on Saturday and Sunday of the event.

Washington State Ferries plying the waters of Puget Sound.

The Empire Builder passed us on the way north.

We were out of position when this westbound BNSF train snuck up on us. Bob, Elizabeth and I then went to Black Angus in Lynnwood for dinner, which hit the spot nicely. We returned to Bob's house for an evening of watching railroad DVD's then called it a night.

8/5/2007 Sleeping in is always a nice treat for myself and after a refreshing shower, Bob cooked the three of us a breakfast of waffles and sausage. After that delicious meal, it was time to say goodbye to Bob and Elizabeth and I thanked them for having me and will miss both of them until we all meet again. I took Interstate 405 south to Tukwila where I filled the rental car before returning it to SeaTac Airport. Returning the car was easy then it was 43 minutes waiting in the security line which was no fun. The rumour was that we were at a very high level of national security this morning. I made my way to Gate D11 for my flight and worked on the stories as the flight became delayed, finally arriving at the gate at 11:30 AM.

I boarded the 737-800 aircraft at 11:52 AM and we took off at 12:48 PM, after waiting for five other planes to take off.

Downtown Seattle.

SeaTac Airport.

Mount St. Helens.

And yes. Mount St Helens was smoking a little bit.

The Columbia Gorge at Cascade Locks with the Bridge of the Gods seen.

Interesting clouds.

The balloon track at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, California.

Norden on Donner Pass.

Both of the former SP and Santa Fe crossings of the San Joaquin Rivers.

Farms in the San Joaquin Valley.

The San Andreas Fault in the Carrizo Plain.

A large fire in the Santa Barbara Mountains.

Emerald Bay on Catalina Island, where I spent a week camping as a child in the Boy Scouts.

I saw McFadden Intermediate, my place of employment. The plane landed at Orange County Airport at 3:10 PM and I was met by my mother and I drove us home, ending a fantastic trip to the Pacific Northwest.