Thursday, March 28, 2024

Wishram, WA: BNSF/Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railyard

(Satellite, it looks like most of the tracks are still present.)

Timothy D. Sievern posted
Burlington Northern Railroad freight yard in Wishram, Washington, on July 18, 1974. Photograph by John F. Bjorklund, © 2015, Center for Railroad Photography and Art. Bjorklund-08-12-05
Richard Olson: Noting the [Oregon Trunk] bridge is down too.
Donald E. Thomas: Richard Olson, according to Wikipedia, the vertical-lift span is usually in the raised position. Perhaps a train was expected when this pic was taken.

Viral Media posted
Wishram Yard
A 2017 view of of BNSF Wishram Yard in the Columbia River Gorge. Note the BNSF fire fighting train that is always stationed at the west end of the yard. Across the Columbia River a Union Pacific train can be seen on the UP Portland Sub.
In the late 1960s Wishram was a crew change where the Oregon trunk secondary crossed the Columbia River south into Oregon. The SP&S Wishram yard that blocked trains heading westward for Portland.  To the east were connections with Great Northern and Northern Pacific in Spokane. Wishram served as a division point with engine house for repairs and service, and a car shop. Whishram is about 106 miles east of Portland and 114 miles west of Pasco.
The Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway was built as a direct link into Portland, Oregon for the Northern Pacific and Great Northern. The SP&S survived as a bridge road for over 60 years until on March 2, 1970 it merged into the Burlington Northern system.
Today the former SP&S is the BNSF Fallbridge Subdivision, which runs on the north bank of the Columbia River. This is a  230 mile long route starting at Pasco to Vancouver, then south to Portland, and is considered part of the BNSF Northern Transcon to Chicago. By the 1980s, the repair shop and engine house were demolished as today Wishram is a minor yard.

In many images, just the white boxes are parked here. This 2019 image has a longer fire train.
Google Earth, Jun 2019


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