Bellingham, Wa.

[pH]

Some photos taken over a couple of days in Bellingham, Washington State.

 

First is of a northbound Amtrak train accelerating rapidly away from the Amtrak station in south Bellingham. It’s headed by General Electric P42DC number 113.

 

 

At the rear of this train is control cab 90278. These control cabs have been rebuilt from F40PH locomotives. The engines were removed, and the internal space converted to hold luggage (see the brown roller door on the side). From their dual use as control cabs and baggage cars, these vehicles are sometimes referred to as ‘cabbages’.

 

 

Next picture is of a speed restriction sign, showing 3 different speeds. The ‘P’ for ‘passenger’ and ‘F’ for ‘freight’ are straightforward, but I had to look up the meaning of the ‘T’. Apparently, it’s a separate restriction for passenger trains made up of ‘Talgo’ stock. All regular passenger trains on this line are made up of such stock – see the two pictures above. (If I’m wrong about the meaning of ‘T’, ‘signalmaintainer’ will soon be along to correct me!)

 

 

This next picture is of an unusual vehicle in the Bellingham yard. Obviously converted from a caboose, but I’m not sure what it’s meant for. Perhaps it’s used in switching to reach into places where a locomotive is not permitted to go for weight or clearance reasons. It would make an interesting kitbash and weathering project.

 

 

I was caught a bit unawares by a southbound BNSF freight passing the freight depot in Bellingham and didn’t get across the road beside the tracks in time. This is all I managed to take. I do like the road sign for the crossing. The red-bordered triangle below the ‘Railroad Crossing’ sign is a ‘Yield’ sign – no kidding??!!

 

 

This is the same northbound Amtrak as in the first picture, but taken the next day in clearer weather. You can see the Talgo coaches clearly here. The ‘swoosh’ on the first (and last) cars was meant to match up with the F40PH locomotives when they were hauling these trains. These locomotives were painted in the same green/brown/white scheme as the coaches. It worked well at the front of the train, but there was no control cab or locomotive on the back of the train at that time, and the two fins sticking up at the back looked pretty weird. Now, with the locomotives and control cabs in standard Amtrak colours, it doesn’t work at all IMO.

 

 

This next picture shows the sad fate of the Milwaukee Road’s only line to reach the US/Canada border – Milwaukee locomotives would operate across the border when transferring freight to Canadian lines at Sumas. A local line, the Bellingham Bay and British Columbia, was bought up by the Milwaukee in 1912 when it built its extension to the Pacific. It was 50 miles from Bellingham to the next nearest Milwaukee line – trains were transferred from Seattle to Bellingham by carfloat till an arrangement was reached with Great Northern in the 1950s. Most of the line from Bellingham to the border was closed in 1980 when the Milwaukee went bankrupt. The first few miles remained in service, operated by BN, for a single customer, but (as you can see) nothing runs here now. The bridge carries the BNSF mainline.

 

 

Finally, a trackmobile used by one of the businesses on the Bellingham waterfront. I didn’t see any of the other (presumed) six.

 

 

(Sorry for going on a bit - I blame the duty-free whisky.)

[doctor quinn]

Nice pictures, thanks for posting. I believe the "shove platform" is for long back up moves so a trainman has somewhere to ride safely and either control the loco by remote control or keep a look out and radio the engineer.

 

I recall an article on a Washington State shortline in RMC that used a similar caboose converted into a shove platform, though it wasn't as fancy as the BNSF example with proper plated over windows.

 

Nick

[signalmaintainer]

You got it right, pH -- "T" is for Talgo!