Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad Trip

A view from the train platform of the charming little 1906
Lutheran church in Elbe. Come early, seating is limited.

The first weekend of October did not find me lazily snoozing under my down blanket. No, I was up bright and early with my lunch packed, my layers of clothing and my camera heaped on my arms, all ready to go on the Shipley Senior Center's trip to the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad in Elbe, Washington.

Our group started from the Center just before 8 a.m. because the sunlight, and thus the photo opportunities, fade significantly after mid-day at this time of year. The low-lying fog was burned off by the time we crossed Puget Sound and moved inland.

We had reservations on the 12:45 p.m. trip and we were required to be on the platform by 12:30. The trip from Sequim was estimated to take just under three hours.

Fortunately this trip was not dependent on the U.S. Government being operational, which it still is not at present.

The waitstaff in the restaurant were not happy to be sitting
around with nothing to do since the national park is not
open at present. Some of us decided to eat here to help out.

Although all the national parks are closed because employees have been furloughed by the government's closure, the scenic railroad is a private operation started in 1981 and is run largely by devoted volunteers with some equally committed paid staff.

Our drive took us past Mineral Lake, a milky-grey-green colored body of water. The color is caused by the waters coming down from the Mt. Rainier glacier with bits and pieces called "glacier flour"being moved downstream by the  rivers into the lake.

As we arrived, on the right side of the road are a number of brightly colored cars and a couple of cabooses, which are part of a motel offering sleeping accommodations. Other cars provide an innovative place for pizza as well as a more structured dining option.

I wonder if the sleeping accommodations are improved over
what the railroads might have offered in 1890?

On the left, the post office, a mini store, and the General Store, recreated from the old I.O.O.F. hall, offers fishing tackle, beverages and other essentials.

Just below you can click on the raw video of the train arriving in the station, complete with steam whistles and bells. (Perhaps that is where the expression "all the bells and whistles" came from"...)

Winding through evergreen and deciduous
woods, the train travels slowly past farms
and now-empty fields that once had homes
for the pioneer loggers.

The train leaves from a reconstructed train depot in Elbe, which welcomed the first train for the Tacoma & Eastern Railway in April of 1904.

Looking out from the back of the train.

This town was once a bustling and prosperous lumber center, but is now dependent more on tourism than logs with the 2010 Census showing only 10 households listed for a total of 29 people in the town.

The 40-minute ride to Mineral through the foothills of the majestic sleeping volcano of Mt. Rainier ends with an approximately 45-minute tour of antique logging locomotives in what will one day be a very extensive museum of early railroading.

Old equipment on a spur waiting for a benefactor to restore  it.

The locomotive must be turned around at each end of the line, so I asked if I could get up in the engine area for a photo of the boiler. I was invited up and given some wonderful history of steam engines and a chance to ride up there while they backed up to the cars.

Peeking into the inferno...

The fireman opened the door where, in older coal-fired
engines the stokers would have shoveled in coal.

Although the fall breezes outside were registering about 65 degrees in the sun, the engine area was more like a summer scorcher. I was shown how the water pressure is maintained with the crude oil being burned. Both the engineer and the fireman are volunteers and the engineer said he was inspired by his first trip to go to the University of Washington and get a degree in Forestry.

The engineer works for Weyerhauser for his regular job.

The fireman explained in simple terms how water and oil
are used to create the necessary steam to drive this engine.

There are open cars and cars with windows that open. Seating is not geared for comfort, and since I was hopping up and down to get photos, I don't think I spent much time in my seat. There is an old car with large doors which reminds me of the mail cars of yesteryear where riders can get popcorn, candy, drinks and souvenirs. And two rest rooms.

I imagine the staff would do all they could to make it possible for someone in a wheelchair to be included, but it would definitely be something to call ahead about. I found everyone to be most helpful, although there was a sort of casualness about the train's time schedule, after hearing we had to be on the platform on time.
Watering the train between runs took more time than usual, probably because the volunteers are only to willing to spend a few minutes talking about trains. But if you want to ride up with the engineer and fireman when they are backing up, all you have to do is ask.

During the spring and fall, I would recommend the late morning or early afternoon run because as we were heading back, the lowering sun and cooler breezes made for a cooler return trip. This is very important for children and elderly riders as the cars are not heated.

Mt. Rainier appears to have a fresh suit of snow and the Nesqually River
was running clear on this lovely bright fall day.

As the sun shone down on my face and I listened to the train's whistle as we approached the crossings, I was easily able to recall being about 4 years old, riding with Pat on the narrow gauge train we had in our back yard.

Me, on my first train ride - a long time ago. I think the
photo credit should go to my father,  but finding it for the
blog the credit goes to my younger brother.

The clackety-clack of the steel wheels on the rails beat a staccato melody of memories... riding the Cranberry Express in Carver, Massachusetts on our way to have a vacation on Cape Cod... taking the Long Island Express out to Orient to visit my uncle and aunt... catching the Amtrak from Jacksonville, FL, to visit a friend in Tampa... I still have one ride on my Bucket List: to go through the Canadian Rockies by rail.

Maybe I really am a Hobo at heart...

Ruta del Sol to be constructed in Colombia

This news was just announced by Colombia Reports:

"Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos on Friday announced 30 bids worth $22.65 billion for construction of the ‘Ruta del Sol’ motorway.

Part of the Ruta del Sol might cross over the
Chicamocha Canyon, This shot was taken on
the current road from Bucaramanga to Bogotá.

The motorway is set to link the Caribbean coast with the Pacific via Bogota. The World Bank recently cited poor transportation as one of the main factors of economic uncompetitiveness in Colombia, something an efficient transnational route will dramatically improve.

President Santos also announced that the $22.65 billion will only be delivered "when the works are...complete.” This addendum comes after numerous reports of infrastructure project funds being embezzled while the works go unfinished.

In addition to hopes of faster-paced construction, Santos claimed that the 'Ruta del Sol' project will create 5,000 jobs.

According to the Economist, "the costs of Colombia's deficient infrastructure -- which came 79 of 139 countries' networks ranked by the World Economic Forum -- are massive." Luis Carlos Villegas, the head of the national industry group, likened the infrastructure deficit to a 10-15% tax. Government planners added that resolving it could raise annual GDP growth by a full percentage point."

My hope is that some of those 5,000 jobs will be developed as 'intern' positions for students to learn more about projects like this and also for those young people who have no training but want to move up the construction ladder to become supervisors, etc.

No news about when it will be started, or how long it will take to be completed, but this is exciting news for the country. Truckers, carrying products, will be able to travel more easily from the north (Atlantic) to the south (Pacific) providing more driving jobs as well. I suspect it will open up more of the country for tourism as well.

Harleys in Colombia? Si!

All around the central square and on many of the side streets, there were
bikes and there were Bikes... Harley Davidson to be precise. About 200
one of the organizers estimated, but I didn't count and it looked like more.

And in Venezuela and Brazil and... now Barichara. It was a sort of “Bike Day” instead of a whole week, but well over 200 Harley Davidson motorcycles of all vintages and styles, from all over Colombia and other places, came roaring into this normally quiet village in north-central Colombia, 5000 feet up in the Andes mountains. Staged from their gathering spot in San Gil, (the extreme sports capital of Colombia) apparently a large number of bikers enjoyed a lunch out in the country before arriving at the central square about 2:30 p.m.

Yesterday I heard four of them arriving as those throaty pipe sounds reverberated off the stone streets and rammed earth walls. I had to go out and see, of course, and sure enough the riders were just getting off as a crowd gathered to take pictures and ask questions. One young boy was clearly eager to get much closer, but his father held him back and if I was a betting woman, I am sure that 25 years from now he will have found a way to realize his dream to be really close.

There was a huge speaker system playing Colombian music as the “vroom-vroom” and rumbling, chest-vibrating motors assembled all around the park, making an interesting kind of modern rhythm. I managed to grab a photo of what I thought was the HD Motors team from Colombia posing, although I later learned one of the guys in the shot was from Venezuela. And apparently not ALL the big bikes were HDs as I spotted several hefty BMWs, Hondas and Yamahas.

A fellow from Bogota spoke English very well and told me he had been to the U.S. and had ridden a Harley thousands of miles, exploring much of the country. He said, “There is no better way to experience a country than by riding through it on a motorcycle, seeing and hearing and smelling the land around you.” I partially agree as a former 'biker', but now instead of 1200 horses, I would be quite happy on just one.

This looks like a vintage Harley with a sidecar. But I was
also looking at the flag... it does say FLORIDA on it!

This visit to Barichara is just one of several events that Harley Davidson of Colombia organizes and while some folks might complain about the noise, I found it entertaining for the short time they were all here and I am sure some of the shopkeepers were glad for the business.

So all you Harley riders in the U.S., it’s time to experience 129 turns in 25 kilometers (that’s coming from San Gil to Barichara) or come and see some other parts of this amazing country of Colombia by bike, and I’ll bet Harley Davidson in the U.S. can help you make that happen through their contacts in Colombia.