UP 844/SP 4449 Steam Locomotive Double Header Run Tacoma-Everett WA
May 19, 2007---Photos taken at Carkeek Park
Carkeek Park is in northwest Seattle, about ten miles north of downtown on Puget Sound. It is one of the finest train watching spots in the world because the tracks can be seen for several miles in both directions as the BNSF (formerly Great Northern) main line winds along Puget Sound. When I arrived at Carkeek in what I thought would be plenty of time to see the train, I was lucky to get a parking space as hundreds of people had come out to catch the action. I had my railroad radio scanner turned on, and everyone kept asking me when the train would come. Especially the children, who didn't enjoy all the waiting. I think everyone did find the wait well worth it. We could hear the whistle blowing, presumably for the hordes at Golden Gardens. Cheers went up as the unmistakable clouds of smoke rounded the bend followed by the yellow UP passenger cars. I clicked off dozens of photos and then put the camera down as the train approached so that I could take in the locomotives' duet. I had forgotten the enormity and majesty of the driving wheels until they were right at my eye level. The masses on the beach waved furiously at the crews on both locomotives and the excursioners aboard the train, all of whom eagerly returned the greeting. When the last car passed I walked out onto the beach to get a better view as she made her way up the sound towards Edmonds. I thought how my father, who used to love to take his boys to see steam locomotives in action, would have loved this moment.
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© 2007 Tom Rawson, all rights reserved
