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Winterail 2019

Chris Parker and I arose and after showering, went and had the hotel's breakfast which was decent. We met Bob and Elizabeth at the car at 7:00 AM but Robin did not arrive. So I went into the lobby and asked the lady if I could have his room number, which she gave me. I knocked on the door, got him up and about fifteen minutes later, he was ready to go. So while we waited, there were still a few pictures to take.

The view of the US-101 bridge from the room before breakfast.

The former Spokane, Portland and Seattle Astoria Branch still in use by the Astoria Waterfront Trolley. We drove down to Fred Meyer in Warrenton to get petrol before we drove to find a steam train. Some of the views along the route were quite stunning. We arrived at the tracks and all eyes were then focussed on the railroad, except for Bob who was driving. We drove south to Wheeler by the cove, by a nice photo location and after that, we found the Trains Magazine Oregon Coast Scenic charter train with Polson Logging 2-8-2 2. We made a U-turn and returned to the other photo spot.

We saw the steam and knew the train was coming our way.

Our first photo runby of Polson Logging 2 before the train stopped. Not wanting to invade the photo line for the paying passengers, we then headed to our spot number two in Wheeler where we would wait for the train to reach us.

Views of the surrounding countryside as we started our wait.

The background for the train when it finally arrives. We patiently waited.

Polson Logging 2 put on an excellent show for us as it arrived in Wheeler. The conductor then aligned the switch for the Skookum, which would be following it into the siding. We waited a little longer and were joined by the passengers from the train.

Deep River Logging (Columbia Belt Line) Skookum 2-4-4-2 7 gave us an equally great show as they came by our photo location. We left the paying passengers behind and headed down US-101 to Tillamook where I went to McDonald's for hot cakes and sausage and the rest of our group went next door to Subway. We took this highway south to Otis and turned east on Highway 18 to North Bear Creek Road to Drift Creek Covered Bridge.

Drift Creek Covered Bridge. From here, we drove Highway 18 to Highway 22 that led us to the Salem Amtrak station, our next stop on this trip.

The former Southern Pacific Salem station now the Amtrak station. From here, we drove east to Stayton to our next covered bridge.

The Stayton-Jordan Covered Bridge. We then drove to our next covered bridge, the Shimanek Covered Bridge.

The Shimanek Covered Bridge. From here we drove to our next covered bridge, the Hannah Covered Bridge.

The the Hannah Covered Bridge. From here, we drove back to Corvallis and checked in to the Days Inn. I went to Elmer's and had a flat iron steak for dinner. Bob, Elizabeth, Robin and I then went to the pizza party and Chris Parker was going to walk over but he never did as he was resting.

The festivities started late this year due to the organizers returning late from the Skookum excursion. Everyone who wanted it had plenty of pizza and I enjoyed a Coke. The programs started with Steve Barry giving us his favorite fifty photos from the past year, which were all excellent. Next, Pete Replinger showed a DVD on the Simpson Railroad Centennial in 1990. That was followed by Steven Brown showing us trains in Manitoba and more Canadian trains throughout the rest of Canada which was also excellent. Doug Martin showed scenes from Minnesota when he was a boy and California when he was an adult. Another winning program was done by Greg Molloy on his 2018 trip to Japan. There was excellent story-telling in that program. Finishing the first half of the program was Vic Neves' Portland and Western in 2014, which was the year he moved to Oregon from California. We then took a break and afterwards, David Lange showed an excellent program called Memories Along The Santa Fe. That was followed by a very historic program, Sixteen Diamonds at Joliet by Steve Rippeteau. I won one of the two door prizes because I had a railroad ticket in my wallet from Metrolink from Santa Ana to Los Angeles so was given Railroads Illustrated 2018 Annual. I was next up with the Chris Guenzler Year of Trains In My Life 2018 which everyone enjoyed. The evening finished with Mike Pechner showing scenes from Sausalito California of the Northwestern Pacific ferry operations there which included Southern Pacific 1000, the first diesel they owned, which later became Holly Sugar 1. That concluded a very interesting and informative Railfan Magazine Pizza Party. We returned to the Days Inn and called it a night.

3/16/2019 The five of us met in the lobby and walked over to Elmer's where I had an excellent waffle and that crispy bacon I like so much. After a breakfast like that, Elizabeth came by my room and she typed this part of the story which meant I did not have to do it. We finished everything up until right now so now we are going to drive to Winterail and start our swap-meeting.

We parked at the Corvallis High School and I gave Chris Parker his ticket then we went inside. My purchases this year included "Rock Island Diesel Locomotives 1930 to 1980" by Louis A. Marre, "50 Years of Northern American Railroads Volume 1 (The Far West All Color)" and "Volume 2 (The Central Mid-West All Color)". I also picked up "Route of the Chiefs" by Greg Stout from White River Productions. From Roundhouse Hobbies, an old friend of mine in the form of Stockton, Denver and Rio Grande Western Timetable No. 7 dated June 1, 1967. I bought this since it has the mileage of the routes for the 2019 NRHS convention. I had not planned on buying anything else but after seeing it, "Southern Pacific's San Francisco Peninsula Route Volume 5" was added to my DVD collection.

We then joined the line to enter the theatre and had some good conversations. At 11:15 the doors were opened and Elizabeth and I saved six seats and a few minutes later, all six of us were in our seats. At 11:45, Vic and Annie did their pre-show announcements then at noon, the programs started with "Tehachapi A Railroad's Paradise by Scott Allen Sparks, which in this he showed remote areas of Tehachapi using no drone but a lot of hiking to give us fantastic views. Next was the "Southern Pacific Peninsula Route Volume 5" and I was so taken by it that made me purchase it. At 12:40 PM, it was time for "The 39th State North Dakota" by Steven Walsh which gave us a look at a very interesting and unique state with plenty of railroads in it but very nasty winters and he showed all four seasons. Next, at 1:00 PM, was the Missouri Scrapbook by Bob Edmondson which covered most of the southern railroads of the state. It did no justice to the Santa Fe, the Milwaukee Road nor the Rock Island. But it did give us a good historical look back at Missouri in the early 1980's.

The next program at 2:00 PM was excellent and it was "Toronto - Twilight of the CLRV by Kevin Sheridan" which gave us a great tour of the City of Toronto with the Canadian Light Rail Vehicles heavily featured. This was followed at 2:35 by "Steam On The Oregon Coast Railroad" by Steven Carter which showed all three of the steam engines they are currently running by the use of drones and a few still shots. One of the best parts of this program was when they demonstrated each of the three engine's whistles and they were all unique-sounding. Another winning program by Steve Carter. At 3:05, we were treated to "Restless Shorts" by Dave Oroszi which started out with Chicago commuter trains followed by the Santa Fe and then a lot of eastern steam engines throughout the last forty years. At 3:35 PM came The Shorts. Not the type you wear but the type you see in a program. The first short was "Night Shift" by Lance Lassen, followed by "Whispers Of The North" by Randy Nelson which showed many kinds of VIA trains when they had F units on them, which they always should. The final short was "Third and Townsend" by Bill Burket which showed the old San Francisco Southern Pacific station inside and out. After that, we had the three favorites which is always the most fun part of the afternoon since we get the best laughs. There was a good selection of images and a few very entertaining photographs. It was then time for the dinner break with Elizabeth and I going to Carl's Jr where I had a Six Dollar Thickburger. After dinner, we caught up the story before relaxing.

We drove back to Winterail 2019 and queued up again, taking the same seats as always, since I leave my jacket to save them. At 6:30 PM, we were treated to "Three Generations of Railroad Photography" by Charles Lange and David Lange and boy, did this family have a great story to tell. At 7:05 PM was the "Jim Boyd Tribute" by Craig Willett and Mike Schafer and was highly interesting to see all of Jim's fantastic photographs he took over the years. At 7:20 PM, the Hall of Fame Award was presented to Wade Pellizzer, owner of the Virginia City private car. Then the photo contest winners were announced. Taking fist place in Revenue Black and White was Steve Carter, first place in Recreational Color was Robert Scott, second place in Revenue Black and White was Tom Trent. Then, winning first place in Revenue Black and White was Dale Skyllingstad, followed by Scott Allen Sparks taking second in Revenue Color and finally, in first place for Revenue Color was Steve Carter. At 7:40 PM, a real treat occurred with "The Feather River Routes - Discovering the Western Pacific 1965 to 1970" by Ted Benson and Tom Taylor. We got background information about how they met and fell in love with first the Tidewater Southern then the Western Pacific, including a unique trip up the High Line. At 8:20, "Chasing Africa's Last Articulateds" by Ben Kletzer was the most entertaining program of the evening with rock-throwing baboons, elephants and crocodiles. This covered the Eritrea Railway and the National Railways of Zimbabwe. Then at 8:50 PM, we had "Wintertime Blues Crossing" by Robert Scott, dealing with the Blue Mountains of Oregon, which made me realize how much I miss the Pioneer. At 9:10, it was "Metallic Machinations" by Frederick Simon which had some very unique images. At 9:36, the final program of the night was "Going to California" by C.N. Southwell and that was it for Winterail 2019. I walked back to the Days Inn and called it a night.

After an ice-cold shower and my usual checking of things on the Internet, we met Elizabeth in the lobby and went over to Elmer's where this morning, I had French Toast and bacon. Bob joined us shortly and after breakfast, we came back and wrote the rest of the Winterail story before packing up the room and driving to Albany to catch our train to Vancouver.

We arrived at the Albany Station where Chris Parker had to buy his ticket to Portland. We all waited on the platform until we saw the train approaching and I said my goodbyes to Bob who drove back to Seattle, and we all waited to board the train.

Cascades Talgo 506 arrived in Albany. I was directed to Car 3 and took an east side seat. Robin was having his first Talgo experience and he and Chris explored the Talgo cars and Robin received a good introduction as they sat in the Bistro car. Elizabeth and I remained in our coach seats and enjoyed the trip; Elizabeth had not ridden this part of the Cascades route before. We ran to Salem, departed five minutes late and headed down the rails. Talgo trains still have wireless Internet which makes train surfing very easy. The train went through Woodburn with its steam engine and Canby with a depot, caboose and wig wag before we passed two Oregon Pacific switchers, then we went past Willamette Falls and ran into Oregon City, our next station stop. Now we would run along the Milwaukie MAX light rail line and through Union Pacific's Brooklyn Yard, then by the Oregon Rail Heritage Center before crossing the Willamette River into Portland Union Station, where the train filled up with passengers. Chris Parker detrained here and would take MAX out to the airport. The three of us would leave Portland, cross the Willamette River then the Columbia River into Washington to Vancouver where Robin and I would detrain, leaving Elizabeth onboard to ride to Seattle without us. We detrained in Vancouver, two very happy train riders after an excellent trip aboard Amtrak Cascades 506.

Amtrak Cascades 506 departed Vancouver and headed to Seattle with Elizabeth still on it. Have a very safe trip Elizabeth!

Now we would wait here an hour for the Coast Starlight. I wondered what we would see today.

Union Pacific South with CP Rail power in the consist.

Union Pacific West 5494 with Canadian Pacific Railway ES44AH 8932 in the consist which also had three cars with no graffiti.

We saw the train arriving, gathered our luggage and walked to the door where our sleeping car would stop.

The Coast Starlight arrived in Vancouver. We were greeted by Santi and went to room 2 in the 32003 sleeper. Our consist for this trip was Engines 186 and Big Game 50, Viewliner Baggage 61049, transition car 39014, sleepers 32003 "Edward L. Ullman" and 32050, diner 38059, Business Class 34504, lounge 33046 and coach 34059. We sat in the room and then I heard "Christopher second call" so we went to the dining car where I had an Angus beef furger for lunch which was excellent. We ran to Portland and I walked around before I turned on the computer and wrote the last part of this story before we departed on time. The train escaped Portland and ran south to Coalca where we met the northbound Coast Starlight. The train continued to Salem and onto Albany while I looked at the Route of the Chiefs book I had bought at Winterail. I listened to Ian Anderson's "Rupi Dance" as we rolled south down the Willamette Valley. It does not get any better than this. We stopped in the siding at Alford to wait on Amtrak Cascades 508 to pass us, then followed a Union Pacific freight before we made our way to Eugene, our second fresh air stop of this trip. Later at Natron we met a northbound Union Pacific freight train.

Robin took pictures of the Office Covered Bridge before we were called into the dining car under the name "Christopher", where we were served by Regina who had served many meals on the Amtrak Million Mile trip in 2008. It had been 11 years since she last served me a meal. We were joined my a very nice lady from Cincinnati and a young man from Chicago. They gave Robin green Mardi Gras beads since it was St. Patrick's Day. I had the Signature Steak and chocolate cake for dessert then after great conversations, we returned to the darkened room to enjoy the rest of the climb over Cascade Summit on the way to our next stop of Chemult. After that would be Klamath Falls, our next fresh air stop of the trip. Our room was made up and we called it a night.

3/18/2019 I awoke at Sacramento and went straight to the dining car where I had pancakes and pork sausage with orange juice and was seated with a couple who were taking their first train trip and a man who did a San Jose to the Texas Eagle, Empire Builder to Coast Starlight circle trip. With Robin still asleep, I then walked to the lounge car and met one of my NRHS Cumberland Convention members with his daughter who did the Limited, Empire Builder, Coast Starlight, Southwest Chief to Capitol Limited circle trip. He was on my bus for every convention trip last year in Cumberland. The Yolo Bypass was running fast and full with plenty of water. We stopped at Davis and then I called Chris Parker and learned he made it home then called Katie Wright to tell her I would see her tomorrow morning and finally, talked with Elizabeth who gave me the ETA into Los Angeles.

The train ran by the United States Navy Mothball Fleet before crossing the railroad bridge into Martinez, the connection point to the San Joaquin trains. I enjoyed our passage along Carquinez Strait then by San Pablo Bay followed by views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge before we stopped at Emeryville where I took a fresh air break. Robin joined me in the lounge car for the trip by the former Southern Pacific Oakland station then did the straight running through Jack London Square to the Oakland Jack London station where I took more fresh air. The train ran south to San Jose as I enjoyed my two new books "50 Years of North American Railroads Volumes 1 & 2". Robin took a fresh air break at San Jose and got us lunch and dinner reservations for 1:00 PM and 5:30 PM.

We left San Jose and headed south through Gilroy then to Pajora Gap to Watsonville Junction and then across Elkhorn Slough to Salinas. At Salinas we took a fresh air break and then had lunch before 1:00 PM, with me enjoying an Angus beef burger and chocolate cake. The train then ran onto Paso Robles. Here I put on my new "Southern Pacific's San Francisco Peninsula Route Volume 5" DVD and watched it to San Luis Obispo where I took a fresh air break. After that, I put on my DVD of Jethro Tull's "World Live Disc 4" then and Disc 3 which took me almost to dinner and into San Fernando Valley. There was a fog bank off the coast to our west and I hoped it would not thicken up when we reached our coastal running. The fog held off but the wildflowers were all in bloom after Surf. The wildflowers were also out in force as we neared Point Sol and we lost that fog bank out to sea, with a great view all the way to Point Conception.

They called us to the dining car at 5:15 PM where I had a Signature Steak and chocolate cake for dessert. The train had reached Santa Barbara by the end of our meal and we met Pacific Surfliner 777 at Seacliff siding then ran in and out and back into fog banks. We made our way to Oxnard before running straight to Simi Valley and into the siding to wait for Metrolink 123. We then ran through the three tunnels, stopped at East Chatsworth and met Pacific Surfliner 785 and made our way to Van Nuys and Burbank Airport, before finishing our journey aboard the Coast Starlight at 8:31 PM. It had been an excellent journey aboard the Coast Starlight and now waited for 10:20 PM Pacific Surfliner 786 in the lounge at LAUPT.

After an hour in the lounge, we were driven out to Pacific Surfliner 786. The train left on time and we stopped at Fullerton, Anaheim and then Santa Ana where Robin and I detrained. We went to the parking structure, got Robin's car and he drove me home, officially ending this Winterail 2019 trip. I went in, updated the mileage then called it a night.

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