Cool Sights in Portland

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

The past couple of weeks, I have been fortunate to hit the Western Systems webcam and see steam moving into and out of UP Brooklyn Yard.

This morning (Friday the 22d) an engine was backing out from the roundhouse area pulling three passenger coaches out of the yard to the north. Unfortunately, when I brought the site up, the steam was obscuring most of the engine, so I couldn’t see whether it was SP&S 700 or SP 4449 that was out. That was frustrating, as the wind kept things shrouded until the engine had gotten up almost to the main, where it held for a couple of minutes and then headed north towards the passenger station area, or Albina Yard, or wherever. The weather was cold enough that you could see the exhaust steam plume for quite a while.

It was pretty cool (weather wise, too) to see this, as I had seen one of the excursion trains coming back to the roundhouse area last Sunday night at about 11:30.

Yes, sometimes the Internet can be quite fun.

2

Would you care to share how us others out here get to this webcam? Danny

3

Click the webcam link in the original post, or http://western.com/ directly.

4

This is the yearly Christmas runs on “SamTrak” between OMSI and Oaks Park. Even behind a cloud of steam you should be able to tell the difference between the 4449 and 700 – there is the “streamlining” and the “stripes” on the 4449. 700 has nothing like that. I can’t remember for sure, but I think the 700 was supposed to do this week-ends runs.

5

Thanks for the link to another webcam. This one is neat as it’s in a yard, which I’m very interested in! Cool spot on the steam!

6

The two chance sightings of the steamers this month were quite a treat. It is unfortunate that the close shots of the move yesterday morning were obscured by the steam, a product probably of wind and the fact that it can get pretty cold in Portland. You can also see the Cascades come through the yard, which I often do, and occasionally the Coast Starlight. The southbound Cascades take about ten minutes to get to Brooklyn Yard from the Portland station(PDX), and you can actually get real departure times from the Amtrak website train status service.

Yard ops are varying, with the occasional shove of an IM train back into the lift area or a long IM coming out. Lots of centerbeams in manifest trains as well. Things can be interesting or not, depending on the time of day, but the cameras are at the north end of the yard, while much of the action is taking place well to the south.