What is your favorite Washington state railroad? Mine is the Great Northern.
I might be biased because I lived there but I would say the ex.SP&S line along the george. High speed trains and lots of action. And Hwy 14 between Home Valley (amtrak wreck sight) and White Salmon is one of the all time greatest zones to pace trains at. Some places there is only a couple feet seperating the road and railroad !!!
And when things do die down the UP is on the other side.
Well I only observed trains in WA once but North Tacoma was pretty OK as you had Amtrak, UPRR & BNSF there. For speed the Centinnenal station @ Olympia also gets a thumbs up!
Nothing like old GN line between Seattle and Canadian border.
Or the old GN mainline over Stevens Pass pretty hard to beat for scenery. The Bridge at Rock Island over the Columbia River is a very good spot for photos as well.
BN over Stevens Pass.By the time I got to Washington, the Milwaukee Road was long gone[:(].
The former BN Kettle Falls Route, now owned by OmniTrax (Kettle Falls International Railway LLC) [8D].
This is tough call. I got my first check from Great Northern so that has to be my choice.
My uncle worked for NP and it felt more like a family than the GN did in the mid/late 1960’s. NP had lots of interesting branch lines and I think was the most interesting railroad in the state.
The Milwaukee was all branch line, I remember one at Kanasket that had no ties, but seemed to be kept in gauge by blackberry vines.
Mac
Mac
Mine is the BNSF RWY. It is all over the state.
On the other hand, my favorite historical R/R in WA, would be the Oregon Trunk Railroad. Or the Great Northern. Definitley the Great Northern!
From someone who holds a strong passion for rr history, it would be the NP & GN. Always admired the work pratices of James Hill and how he developed his emipre. I have read alot on the psgr operations of both carriers which I found to be most interesting. That was indeed the good ole days of the rr which sadly are now long gone forever.
Right here.[:D]
Other than one end of the bridge over the Columbia River the Oregon Trunk is in Oregon, not Washington State. Still an interesting railroad and site of one of the last railroad “wars” that eventually ended in a truce.
I have three favorite railroad companies, UP,BNSF, and Columbia & Cowlitz. One of the best places to watch these trains is from Rocky Point, Washington. You can watch a train cross the Cowlitz River via a bridge, while UP and BNSF cross underneath the bridge on one of two mainlines.
The official (as declared by Trains Magazine) “All-American Railroad”, the Northern Pacific.
The Milwaukee road…nothing more said.
Solzrules: You and I have a bit in common…just a bit…[:D][:)][:D][:p]
James
My favorite Washington State Railroad?
Hands down, the Norfolk and Western.
Too bad it never got there.
Old Timer
bravo Old Timer. I needed a laugh tonight and just got it. Carry on.
[(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]You mean these forums aren’t all about politics?[(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]
I’m a big fan of the long since defunct Seattle & North Coast http://www.trainweb.org/snch&ts/ that ran on ex-Milwaukee trackage between Port Townsend and Port Angeles on the Olympic peninsula. I’ve always been pretty fascinated by the Milwaukee as well, it’s too bad I was a little too young to appreciate either when they existed.
Now-a-days whenever I’m back there I spend my railfaning time along BNSF’s Seattle-Portland mainline where it runs through Steilacoom just south of Tacoma (I’ve never found a better place to watch trains anywhere else and I’m quite convinced there isn’t one). So I suppose I’m most familiar with BNSF and UP though neither of them have the character that the Milwaukee had and both are completely un-comparable to the S&NC.
Huh… I guess I miss the '80’s… that can’t be good 
My favorite Washington State railroad?
Why the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, and Skykomish of course. The S.S.& S. is a rather unique carrier that uses the tag line “To Puget Sound, Electrified.” Its varnish is in command of second hand General Electric Bi-Polars, its freights are pulled by jack-shaft electrics, and their scarlet red over silver paint scheme is very impressive.
The last time I saw this railroad was from the front porch of my friend Charles Tanqueray who lives in Ultima Thule Canyon located a ways south of Kittitas. Vaguely I remember that I might have been on my fourth or fifth martini that evening when an eastbound mail train came through. The next morning I awoke with a splitting headache and a giant hangover, and all I saw out of my bedroom window was twin streaks of rust.