Walt_Ainsworth_NP_Location_Photos

 

BN 6304 coming onto northbound Main Line at Auburn from Stampede Pass

BN 6304 coming onto northbound (Seattle) Main Line at Auburn wye from Stampede Pass

NP 1791 coming onto souththbound (Tacoma) Main Line at Auburn withlog train in 1953

NP 1674 with 1956 westbound PTA special at Auburn Way bridge.

Amtrak Train #7 passing signal 102.2 at East Auburn

Amtrak Train #7 Westbound East Auburn. Bus for Tacoma - Auburn transfer is waiting on the other side of the umbrella shed.

NP 1677 with westbound passenger train (probably the Tacoma - Auburn transfer) at East Auburn in 1953. The North Coast Limited or Mainstreeter is on the other side of the umbrella shed.

NP 2216 at East Auburn with the Tacoma - Auburn transfer.

NP 2260 with the easbound Alaskan, Train #4, at East Auburn. The Tacoma - Auburn connection, with NP 2185, is standing on the other side of the umbrela shed.

Amtrack #8 eastbound at East Auburn in March 1973, with bus connection from Tacoma standing on other side of Umbrella Shed.

BN 9790 with eastbound No. Coast Ltd at East Auburn with Tacoma bus connection on other side of umbrella shed.

NP4017 and 4019 on X4017 E leaving Auburn

NP crane and shovel at Auburn gravel pit circa 1944-1955

Class Z-3 NP 4023 in the Green River Valley east of Auburn, WA

Eastbound Alaskan (Train #4) crossing the Green River Bridge (100) 0n July 23, 1944. The train is doubleheaded with helper NP 2111 on point and NP 2265 as the road engine.

NP 2516, a U25C, leads two U28Cs and a GP-9 on a westbound freight train east of East Auburn WA.

NP 1678 West Bound with a 20-car log train at the Covington Bridge on Sept. 30, 1943.

A doubleheaded eastbound freight train of reefer approaching the Covington Bridge. Class Z-3 NP 4017 is on point with another Z-3 behind it.

Eastbound North Coast Limited (Train 26) just past the Covington Bridge, showing the observation lounge and Vista-Dome sleeper cars.

BN 8158 and 7146 switch a ribbon-rail train at the Covington siding in December 1987.

The observation car of the Milwaukee's Olympian Hiawatha passes under the highway bridge at Henry's in 1950. The detour was due to a wreck at Maple Valley.

M.K. Coal Mine No. 2 at Ravensdale, WA

Hopper BN 533106 is being loaded by a front end loader at Ravensdale in the mid 1980s. The material being loaded appears to be coal or ballast.

Amtrak Train #8, the North Coast Hiawatha, passes Kanaskat, WA in 1975. The last car on the train is a former California Zephyr dome-lounge. The train includes 3 other domes and avarienty of paint schemes

NP 2626 with 2nd #6, the Casey Jones excurstion returning from Cle Elum, at Kanaskat, WA.

NP 2241 passes a train of empty log cars at Kanaskat, WA in 1938

Class Z-3 2-8-8-2 NP 4008 westbound with a freight train at the Kanaskat, WA bridge on July 25, 1937.

NP heavyweight passenger car 1381 is the last car on a passenger train passing through Kanaskat, WA. This depot was replaced when the line was relocated in 1959.

NP 6503 with the heavyweight Alaskan, all in Pine Tree paint scheme, at Kanaskat, WA in 1953.

BN 6384 passing the newest Kanaskat, WA depot in 1981.

New Kanaskat, WA depot., built on the main line that was relocated in 1959.

Westbound BN local passing the newest Kanaskat depot withempty log cars standing on adjacent sidings.

Amtrak 356 leads Train #8 eastbound across the Green River bridge at Palmer Jct in Sept 1981. This was the last week of operation over NP track of the "Empire Builder", at Palmer Jct., WA. The following week, the train was rescheduled over the former GN line between Seattle and Spokane.

Eastbound North Coast Limited in Loewy green paint crosses the Green River Bridge at Palmer Junction.

Last Eastbound train on the [BN] 4th Sub. (Stampede Pass Line) BN 2512-6902 show arriving at Palmer Jct. Aug 13, 1983 Tacoma-Yakima Local.

BN 2570 leads an eastbound work train to the Veazey gravel pit, via the Enumclaw leg of Palmer Jct., on December 14, 1988.

Class W-3 2-8-2 #1776 on a log train drifting down grade (west) nearing Palmer Jct. on old main line, July 17, 1956.

BN 1888 with local from Enumclaw near Palmer Jct. in April 1971.

Bridge #79 and the Tacoma Headworks water diversion dam on the original main line near Palmer Jct.

Bridge 78, the 7th crossing of the Green River, under construction in 1885, with falseworks still supporting the bridge. Tunnel #1 ws later renumbered as Tunnel #8. This is the original main line, abandoned in 1959 due to construction of the Howard Hanson Dam.

NP Tunnel #8 on the Green River, with Bridge #78 in the foreground and Bridges 78-1 and 79 visible through the tunnel.

NP Tunnel #8 on the Green River, with Bridges 78-1 and 79 visible through the tunnel.

1885 Construction photo of Bridge #75, 6th crossing of the Green River, with the west end of Tunnel #2 beyond it. Falseworks are still present beneaththe bridge. Tunnel #2 was later renumbered as Tunnel #7.

East end of Tunnel 7, near Lemolo on the old line through Eagle Gorge, in 1955.

Log bridge across Green River Canyon near Eagle Gorge - 1885

A Northern Pacific construction gang, including a Chinese Worker, along the Green River in 1885 during the building of the switchbacks over Stampede Pass. When completed in 1887, trains could cross the lofty Cascade Mountains providing direct rail service between the Columbia River and Puget Sound and giving Northern Pacific transcontinental serivce all the way from Lake Superior on its own tracks.

Heavyweight passenger train in Pine Tree Paint stopped at Eagle Gorge, WA platform with head end cars on Bridge 74

NP 978 with loaded log train switching at the Page Lumber Co. in Eagle Gorge, WA. Postcard cancelllation is 1911.

View of Eagle Gorge, WA depot and water tank, taken from an empty drop-bottom gondola behind a locomotive tender.

Northern Pacific Station at Eagle Gorge, WA, on December 19, 1943.

A westbound freight crosses over Bridge 74 on the relocated line above Howard Hansen Reservoir in the 1960s.

NP extra X6000W with FT units in A-B-B-A configuration and freight paint scheme pull a freight train through Maywood, WA on Sept. 22, 1945.

Postcard viiew of unidentified sawmill, probably at Nagrom, WA,circa 1916. The card is addressed from, and cancelled at, Nagrom, WA, and the photo is reasonably consistent with ICC valuation map.

Hot Springs, two miles west of Lester, 1920. Track Inspectors Dominic Abinati, right and Pucci Sabatino. Dominic later became section foreman at Easton. He and his wife, Annie, and his cousin, Oronzo ("Lawrence"), who also was a sectionman for the NP in the Easton area for many years.
Pucci (pronounced "poochie") proudly told his co-workers that he came from "Tuscany, North of Rome." He began as a trackwalker, patrolling the track from Lester to Kennedy when the Weston Loop made this distance several miles greater. Later, his duties were performed by motorized speeder, as seen in the photograph. Under Roadmaster John O. Davies, who later became a General Manager of the Burlington Northern, Pucci worked as section foreman at Lester, the position from which he retired. Jim Fredrickson recalls seeing the retired Pucci, who had moved to Tacoma, as a regular visitor at the Union Station: "He lived in an apartment uptown and used to come to the station regularly and sit in an old rocking chair in the depot concourse and watch the trains."
Indeed, for Dominic and Pucci and many others who represent their era and work ethic, working for and taking care of the railroad, and watching the trains pass, was a way of life, which followed even into retirement. - by Dave Sprau per George and Walter Thompson.

Postcard of the Green River Hot Springs Hotel, Hot Springs, WA. Postmarked 1907.

Lester, WA in about 1906, looking from the mountainside to the north.The coal dock water tank, depot, turntable and roundhouse are all visible. The machine shop and hotel have not yet been built.

Looking east from the Lester coal dock in the 1920s

NP 4005 with a freight train near Lester, WA in 1939.

NP 1671 doubleheads with a Z-3 and an eastbound freight crossing Bridge 60 at the west end of Lester, WA on June 25, 1937.

A Steam locomotive and rotary snow plow clears the tracks at the west end of Lester, WA in the 1950s. Bridge 60 is visible in the background.

A Steam locomotive and rotary snow plow clears the tracks at the west end of Lester, WA in the 1950s. Bridge 60 and the semaphores at the west end of the CTC are visible in the background.

Extra X6003E eastbound at Lester, WA on February 9, 1945.

Two Little Boys Who Grew Up to be Railroaders.
Lester, looking east, 1913. Depot is hidden behind foliage of a huge Maple tree wich was removed a few years later. John R. Sauriol, left, and his borther Elmer O. Sauriol, right, two little boys who grew up to be NP Railroad conductors, stand in front of their father's office building. Their Dad, Chas. J. Sauriol, was Roadmaster at Lester for many years. Elmer appears to be wearing a Soldier's helmet, perhaps obtained from the U.S. Army men who were in Lester about that time, "Guarding the scabs during the carmens' strike," as one railroader describred it.
During a 1990 meeting of former Lester people this photo was submitted to the group for possible identification of the children. "Why, that's me, with my Brother Elmer!", a surprised John Sauriol exclaimed. Elmer, his brother, has been deceased for many years. Both spent their entire working lives as brakemen and conductors out of Auburn, WA. Another brother, Frank, worked in the NP track department for many years until killed in an accident on the Darrignton Branch. Caption by Dave Sprau per George Thompson.

Lester, WA depot in August 1969. the depot has been repainted in solid Sand without the brown band below the windows.

Lester, December 13, 1955. NP Engines 2626 and 2601 doublehead what was known as the "Santa Claus Specials" - a yearly all-mail section of the passenger trains. Owing to the large amount of mail during this season, as well as the additional numbers of the travelling public, it was necessary for several weeks around Christmastime, to split the trains into separate passenger and mail sections. Judging from the absence of white or green flags on the lead engine, this train appears to be operating as the last section of eigher the North Coast Limited or the Mainstreeter. Both of the regular, passenger-carrying segments of these trains normally passed Lester just before daylight in wintertime.
One year later, diesel locomotives had replaced steam to the extent that such a photograph was no longer possible; and scarcely a dozen years later, the U.S. Post Office no longer even utilized passenger trains for the shipment of mail. Caption by Dave Sprau.

Westbound freight passing the Lester depot in August1969.

Westbound Amtrak Train 7, the North Coast Hiawatha, passes the Lester, WA depot in September 1981.

Lester , WA depot in BN white, after removal of the train order signals.

Back side of the Lester, WA depot, looking toward the waiting room end, possibly about 1970. The depot is painted in solid sand paint without dark trim brown below windows.

East end of the Lester, WA depot, showing the eave bracket details, possibly about 1970. The depot is painted in solid sand paint without dark trim brown below windows.

Lester Depot during a snowfall, 1924. Note the station platform lamp at extreme left. A few years after the photgraph was taken, the train order signal was replaced with a shorter model; the first time the semaphore blade was lowered to "stop" position, it struck the side of the building and thereby failed to lower all the way to horizontal. The solution? Somebody got a saw and uniformly shortened both blades, so that the westward blade (nearest the structure) no longer contacted the building. Ever after, photos of Lester depot shw the unusual train order signal with its short, stumpy semaphore blades. - caption by Dave Sprau per George Thompson

Several men, possibly employees, stand on the platform of the Lester Depot in about 1910. A wooden platform for the operator to hand up train orders(the "pulpit") is located immediately west of the depot.

The Lester, WA depot in solid sand paint, in August 1969.

Eastern end of the Lester, WA depot, painted in BNSF white with green trim.

Sunnyside Local (Traqin #334) prepares to depart Lester in 1925. Conductor appears to be talking to passengers through open coach window; flagman stands at rear of rear coach; telegrapher pulls express cart away, loaded with can of cream or milk and crates of what appear to be produce. Probable cause of delay: waiting until scheduled departue time. Caption by Dave Sprau per George Thompson.

Looking west from the Lester, WA coaling tower on a winter day in 1925. The wooden water tank is built on a high frame.

NP 2626, the Timken engine, runs over to the Lester fueling track during the 1957 Casey Jones excursion to Cle Elum.

NP 1785 and a box car near the Lester coaling dock. The crew appears to be putting out a fire in the box car, possibly from an overheated journal.

NP Train #4, the eastbound Alaskan, with new FT diesel set #6008 on the head end as helper to NP 2248. The train is passing the Lester coal dock on March 31, 1945.

Class Y-5 No. 1216 doubleheads as helper on an eastbound passenger train leaving Lester, WA with the coaling dock visible in the background.

A work crew poses with NP 1272 and a string of MOW gondolas near Lester, WA in the early 1900s. The crew is likely ballasting track during Lester to Stampede line relocation.

NP 1783 doubleheads on the point of an eastbound passenger train leaving Lester, WA.

Westbound NP extra X5407D W enters Lester, WA on 1/25/1964.

When the Northern Pacific double-tracked its "mountain" between Easton and Lester in 1914, two additional bridges crossing the Green River had to be constructed. The first one was the "Viaduct" at milepost 56; the second one was Bridge 59 at the east end of Lester, here pictured. The view is looking east, up the Green River. A faint outline of the "new" grade can be seen about one-third up the mountain in the background. The old mainline through Weston ran behind the cottonwood trees at left in photo, and persists to thes day as part of the Stampede Pass road. - Caption by Dave Sprau per George Thompson

Rotary No. 9, based at Lester, shown durin gthe winter of 1924-25 clearing the westward main track. The usual procedure in plowing snow is t begin with the track nearest a hillside or other obstruction (in this case a cut of cars on one of the yard tracks), and plow snow away from this track even if it means covering the next track over with snow; the, plow that track and so on, until with the last pass over the last remiaing track, the entire right-of-way is cleared. In many locations this means that the snow is flung over the bank with the last sweep. Caption by Dave Sprau per George Thompson.

Left side view of NP Rotary #42 in action at Lester in February 1949.

Unidentified NP Rotary snowplow in action near Lester, WA.

NP 1610, a Class W Mikado, moves onto the Lester, WA turntable with its cylinder drain cocks open.

Burt the dog posses on the pilot of NP 3008, a class Z 2-6-6-2, circa 1910-1915. He is accompanied by Engineer Clay Emmerton and Machinist Jesse Griffen.

NP Rotary #10 is turned on the Lester, WA turntable in February, 1949, with the coal dock in the background.

Signal Supervisor's tool house at Lester in Oct. 1975

King County Assessor's photo of the Lester Depot on 6/19/1940.

King County Assessor's photo of the Lester roundhouse on 6/19/1940.

King County Assessor's photo of the Lester coal dock on 6/19/1940.

King County Assessor's photo of the Lester water tank and pump house on 6/19/1940.

King County Assessor's photo of the Lester hotel on 6/19/1940.

King County Assessor's photo of the Lester General Store (Hocking and Morgan General Merchandise) and an adjacent residence on 6/19/1940.

King County Assessor's photo of a vacant store at Lester, WA on 6/19/1940.

Bridge 56, the Green River viaduct, nearing completion circa 1914. This view looking southeast shows the soon-to-be abandoned tracks from Lester to Weston beneath the viaduct.

Bridge 56, the Green River viaduct, nearing completion circa 1914. This view looking east was taken from the soon-to-be abandoned tracks between Lester and Weston, passing beneath the viaduct.

BN 6703 leads a westbound grain train across Bridge 56, the Green River viaduct, on July 13, 1997.

Helper 3008 assisting a heavy drag on the "viaduct" over the Green River enroute to NP's Stampede Tunnel.

Looking westbound across the snow-covered Green River Viaduct (Bridge 56).

Amtrak 264 with the eastbound Train #8, the North Coast Hiawatha, crosses the Green River Viaduct in Sept. 1981.

Looking east circa 1914 along the soon-to-be abandoned tracks one mile west of Weston, WA. Sign: Station 1 mile Water.

Two trains use the Weston loop circa 1910.

A group of people pose in front of the Weston, WT depot and hotel, probably in 1886.

NP #1775 on point leading an eastbound passenger train up grade at Kennedy, WA on June 9, 1940.

BN 5499 pulling GE dynamometer car and a test train with two more diesels and hopper cars near MP 54 on the Stampede Pass line on July 6, 1984.

NP 6503 pulls #26 (the North Coast Limited) along the Borup Loop on August 20, 1954.

A westbound Jordan spreader passes the eastbound North Coast Limited, Tr #26, about 2.8 miles east of Kennedy on Jan. 11, 1964.

Color panorama view with the Borup Loop in the foreground. The line through Old Stampede, between Tunnel #3 and #4, crosses the recent clearcut above Borup.

NP 1780, in helper service, is pushing in the middle of an eastbound freight rounding the curve at Borup, WA.

BN 8157 pilots a reroute train near New Stampede in August 1985. The other locomotives are Southern Pacific 8287, 8334, and 9407.

Southern Pacific 8287, 8334, and 9407, piloted by BN 8157, pull a reroute train near New Stampede in August 1985.

BN 1921 and 1922 Westbd at New Stampede in September 1977.

Eastbound NP 2110 on a passenger train climbs the grade between Borup and New Stampede on August 7, 1924.

NP 1784 & 2258 climb the grade with a passenger train near Tunnel 6 between Borup and New Stampede in 1926.

BN 7049 with an east bound empty grain train climbing the west side of Stampede Pass in September of 1985. The train is being detoured over the ex-NP line due to a fire damaged bridge over the Columbia River at Wenatchee.

Tunnel 6 from cab of helper engine, June 8, 1940.

New NP 6003 FT Diesel set and NP 4016 Class Z-3 2-8-8-2 at west end of New Stampede siding on February 11, 1945.

Color postcard of doublehead steam engines on front of westbound passenger just west of New Stampede.

NP 4019 pulling eastbound freight near west end of New Stampede siding.

Recently plowed tracks at along the New Stampede siding.

NP "Casey Jones" excursion to Cle Elum in Aug 1957, with NP 2626 on head end, rounds a curve near New Stampede.