Trains of Edmonds, Washington

[Bill Anderson]

Two Geeps and nothing else headed north (tt/east) past the marsh on Veterans Day.

2106: GP38-2
3016: GP40-2

The concrete items are for the construction project south of Edmonds.

 

[Itsed65]

Haven't seen green and black down here in ages.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Haven't seen green and black down here in ages.

Not many left up here. Do you see any old Santa Fe yellow bonnet units down your way? I think there is one in Vancouver, WA.

 

[Itsed65]

Not many left up here. Do you see any old Santa Fe yellow bonnet units down your way? I think there is one in Vancouver, WA.

No haven't seen any of those either. They have been repainting all the old Geeps they plan on keeping it seems.

 

[Bill Anderson]

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I hope everyone has enjoyed my photos of Boeing cars, especially the photos of 737 fuselages on flat cars. There may be no more, in the foreseeable future anyway, as earlier this week Boeing announced suspension of production of the 737. This is related to the controversy surrounding the airplane after two fatal crashes.

 

[Damon Hill]

Boeing builds other models of the 737 that are unaffected by the grounding. Those will continue to ship, though perhaps not as frequently.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Boeing builds other models of the 737 that are unaffected by the grounding. Those will continue to ship, though perhaps not as frequently.

It is the 737 fuselages that I photograph passing through Edmonds on their way to Renton froom Kansas on special flatcars. Today I saw four of them sitting in a siding in the south Seattle yard. I wonder what will become of them.

 

[Bill Anderson]

It is the 737 fuselages that I photograph passing through Edmonds on their way to Renton froom Kansas on special flatcars. Today I saw four of them sitting in a siding in the south Seattle yard. I wonder what will become of them.

There are several models of the 737, but I think the cessation of production is for the entire line.

 

[markgillings]

There are several modelsof the 737, but I think the cessation of production is for the entire line.

Only the military versions of the 737 will continue to be built during this shutdown. The last 737 Next Generation has been delivered, so no more of those.

 

[Bill Anderson]

I hope recent improvements to my health will allow me to get back out to photograph. Here are some shots from the marsh taken Thursday afternoon (2-27-2020) near sunset. Same old trains at the same old location, but it beats sitting at home. Taken handheld with the 1DxII + 100-400L telephoto zoom.

Everett bound Sounder.

A very short Chicago bound Empire Builder (Amtrak #8).

 

[ShePointsIDig]

Glad you're out and about in the fresh air. Any bird activity in the marsh? What's happening up on Sunset, and any more progress eliminating the level-grade crossings?

 

[Bob]

Glad you're out and about in the fresh air. Any bird activity in the marsh? What's happening up on Sunset, and any more progress eliminating the level-grade crossings?

Do you visit my http://www.pnwphotos.com/ forum? It's about photography in the Pacific NW and we have a lot of active birders there. Stop by and check it out if you have a chance!

It too is now on the nice new server, and activity is increasing.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Both the mayor of Edmonds and the governor of Washington have issued shelter in place orders, aka total lockdown. I cannot venture outside to take photos anyway as I am in all three of the high risk groups for contracting Covid-19: age, underlying health condition, and shot immune system.

I hope members living in areas which have not yet affected by the corona virus will pick up the slack and start posting photos.
That means you, Omaha Posse!

 

[Bob]

Bill, first of all, do whatever you need to do to stay safe, that's what matters. Also, keep in mind there's no problem with posting old photos that you've edited or whatever.

As for the bans. Everett and Edmonds are really cracking down, since people were not following the rules. So they may well have stricter rules, and I don't know the details.

The state ban was very carefully worded as ‘stay at home’ proclamation for Washington state. Quoting My Northwest:

Gov. Inslee has signed a statewide proclamation for all Washingtonians to stay at home for the next two weeks. This order is similar to what we’ve seen in California.

Inslee was clear to point out that it’s not the same as a “shelter in place” order. You’re still allowed to go outside, to the grocery store, and to do other essential business.

“The less time you spend out in public, the more lives we can save,” Inslee said.

The order is effective immediately on gatherings, both public and private, social, spiritual, and recreational. Even funerals and weddings are prohibited.

So I read that to mean that if you were outside of the areas with tighter restrictions and could walk or bike to the tracks, it would be acceptable, IF you maintained proper social distancing and didn't do it as part of a group. Basically, yes, you can still go for a walk, abiding by the rules, and if you're lucky enough that walk can get you trackside, than it would be OK. The rules are in flux though, and could change at any time.

You're not eligible due to health reasons, and the tighter lockdown. But others may be more fortunate.

Gov. Inslee issues 'stay at home' proclamation for Washington state

Gov. Inslee has signed a statewide proclamation for all Washingtonians to stay at home for the next two weeks. This order is similar to what we've seen in California.

mynorthwest.com

 

[Bill Anderson]

Brackett's Landing North, where I take my beach shots, is closed. I believe the marsh boardwalk is still open. All is moot to me since I must remain under house arrest for the foreseeable future.

The experts predict the corona virus will eventually be "out there" in the general population like the flu virus. I hope I do not have to remain indoors for the next year to year and a half waiting for a vaccine for the corona virus to be available to the public.

 

[Bob]

Brackett's Landing North, where I take my beach shots, is closed. I believe the marsh boardwalk is still open.

Yes, that will possibly change as well. Being on the water like that was drawing crowds, so they tightened down more than state required. Communities can do that.

Basically, it's stay close to home. I certainly wouldn't advocate driving long distances to railfan, wasting fuel and putting pressure on essential resources. However, if you can walk to a nearby line, like I can, and do it without getting into a crowd, at the moment it should be fine. I'm only about 1/4 mile from the UP and could railfan it if I wanted. BNSF is only a couple blocks further, easily justified as exercise. But with the current weather, I don't think I'll get out there any time soon.

 

[NM_RailNut]

That's how it is here in NM. We've got a lot less people here in the middle Rio Grande valley than in the Puget Sound area, plus we have a much lower population density than just about every other urban area in the country (I tend to think of Albuquerque as more of a suburb in search of a city rather than an actual city), so there's not as much pressure to clamp down the way other cities and states have had to do. Most places where large numbers of people can gather have been closed, but the parks and open space areas are still open so long as people don't congregate and are following social distancing practices (which is a good thing given how our weather is getting much nicer, especially with the winds tapering off).

 

[timl]

Since one or two of you get out to Edmonds, Everett, or Mukilteo, have you seem a current Empire Builder? Wondering if they have cut the number of cars down due to ridership decline?

 

[Bill Anderson]

Since one or two of you get out to Edmonds, Everett, or Mukilteo, have you seem a current Empire Builder? Wondering if they have cut the number of cars down due to ridership decline?

Due to my being in all three high risk groups for Covid-19, I have not been trackside in ages.

 

[NM_RailNut]

I've been keeping an eye on some of the currently running Amtrak trains via Virtual Railfan, and although I haven't recently seen any Empire Builder trains (via the camera at Skykomish), just about all of the long distance trains I have seen are running with fewer cars. The Southwest Chief normally runs with 8-9 cars most days, but I've seen a couple that had as few as 5 cars and no baggage car (there was probably a coach-baggage car or two on those trains). I'd expect that's typical of most long distance trains now, including the Empire Builder.