Chris Parker and Bob Riskie took off early to take the 8:00 AM Roundhouse Tour leaving me with a morning free before I met Bob to head to the Crooked River Dinner Train. Since Portland had put in a new light rail line from the Rose Center to Expo Center it was perfect timing for a ride plus a chance to check out my new camera, the Nikon One Touch Zoom 90s I had bought last night at the Lloyd Center. I walked over to the 82nd Street Max Station.
Here is a car going to the Airport at 82nd Street. I walked down to the platform and about a minute later a trolley to Hillsboro came along to pick me up. The trolley took me to Chinatown where I got off to make a rail to rail connection to the new Expo Line. You can get off at the Rose Quarter Station and walk across two streets to the Interstate/ Rose Quarter Station.
Now I waited at Chinatown. First an Airport Line trolley came and went.
Next a Trolley for the Civic Center came off the Steel Bridge.
That trolley left, could the one coming be going to the Expo Line?
Sure enough, here came an Expo Line Trolley which stopped and I boarded. The trolley went up the grade to the Steel Bridge then came to the junction of the new line. We turned left onto the middle of Interstate State as I entered new trackage as the Trolley came to the Interstate/Rose Quarter Station. We left passing the grain elevators with the UP line below. Once clear of the elevator a great view of downtown Portland. We curved into the Albania/Mississippi Station. We ran under the Interstate 405 bridge then a great view of the south end of the Union Pacific Albania Yard. The route then climbed to get on top of the hill. At Park Station you could detrain and walk to the cliffs edge for a great view of downtown Portland. We made a small "S" curve before we reached the North Prescott Street Station. We passed though the neighborhoods of this area of Portland before we headed to the separated north/south platform station at the North Killingsworth. Continuing along Interstate Street to another separated station at North Portland Blvd. Our route now ran down grade by homes and the Kaiser Permanente Offices to the North Lombard Transit Center. We turned left to our next station at Kenton/North Denver Ave. After this stop we left Interstate State and headed out on a bridge over the Union Pacific Kenton Line and then Mud Slough. We had a great view of the Portland International Raceway off to the west. We came back to the ground to the Delta Park/Vanport Station. We then made an "S" curve to the left to our last stop at the Expo Center Station. There was another train about ready to head back to Portland but a few pictures first.
The trolley that brought me to Expo Center was on the right and the one to return me to Chinatown was on the left.
I took my return trolley picture then boarded for my trip back to Chinatown. I enjoyed my trip on the Expo Line and the highlight was again seeing the UP United Way unit at Albania. All too soon we were crossing the Steel Bridge to Chinatown where I got off. Once on the eastbound platform a Gresham Trolley picked me up and took me to the Lloyd Center Stop. Here I walked over to the NRHS room at the Doubletree to buy some passenger railroad timetables. Returning to the Lloyd Center Stop I returned to 82nd Street and the Days Inn there.
Another westbound trolley at 82nd Street. That is the Union Pacific Graham Line that sees a few trains that operate over it daily. I returned to my hotel room to wait for Bob to return so we could drive out to Bend so he could see his property and I could ride on the Crooked River Dinner Train. Bob and Chris returned at 10:45 AM. Chris decided to stay in Portland.
The Drive to Bend 7/8/2005
Bob and I drove east on Interstate 84 heading for the Waterfall Drive before Cascade Locks.
Our first stop was Wahkeena Falls.
Next was the world famous Multomah Falls from many angles.
The last one on the drive was Horsetail Falls. A pair of shots
The Oregon Pony in Cascade Locks in a glass building. This is the oldest and first steam engine in the State of Oregon used from 1862 to 1905. From here we took the Bridge of the Gods to Highway 14 to Stevenson.
We stopped at the Columbia River Discovery Center where the SP&S F7A 802 is on display. We then drove east of Highway 14 with no trains stopping for gas in Bingen. We turned south onto US Highway 197 and crossed the Columbia River into The Dalles. I remembered riding The Dalles Dam Railroad as a kid and thought Bob might enjoy it. We went to the Visitor Center but the train was out of service.
Here is a picture of a picture of The Dalles Dam Railroad. Out of luck, we continued south on US Highway 197 to Maupin for the next pair of pictures.
The Deschutes River Canyon at Maupin which has the BNSF Railroad running through it. We would have ridden through this canyon had the Trains Unlimited Tour NRHS Express taken the original routing. We continued to drive south to the junction with US Highway 97 which we took south to Madras having lunch at the Original Burger Works. Out the window we saw our next picture off to the west.
The Madras High Trestle. We would have also crossed over this trestle on the TUT original trip.
Our next stop was the Crooked River Bridge north of Redmond. Our TUT trip would have crossed this bridge as well. From here we drove through Redmond in the worst traffic I had ever driven in another state. We drove through Bend out to south of town where we looked for Bob's property. He thinks he found it and then we headed back to Redmond. I took side streets to avoid most of the Redmond brake lights. North of Redmond we found the Crooked River Dinner Train parking lot. As soon as I parked the car, the City of Prineville Railroad local showed up.
The train arrived at Prineville Junction.
City of Prineville Railroad 989.
While I was shooting the 989, the crossing gates went down and I made it around the train for this view of a BNSF local at Prineville Junction.
The 989 worked their yard at Prineville Junction.
The 989 headed to the BNSF interchange at Prineville Junction.
The 989 now headed to the front of the Crooked River Dinner Train. In a few minutes I will board the train but that is another story.
