The train in the rain (1 of 2) - a photo on Flickriver

            Back in 1988, there was an excursion operation on the former Longview, Portland & Northern line in Clark County, Washington. It was called the Lewis & Clark Railway. Trains ran out of Battle Ground to Yacolt. On selected Saturdays, the train would run all the way to the end of track at Chelatchie. 

Since the line south of Yacolt had originally been built by Northern Pacific, the excursion operation had an NP theme. It made extensive use of NP's Monad logo. Additionally, LINC used NP-inspired paint schemes on its locomotives and rolling stock. 

On a miserable, rainy day in November 1988, I rode one of the trips from Battle Ground to Chelatchie with my girlfriend Jennie Hunter. We spent a fair amount of the time standing as close to a coal stove in one of the coaches as we dared. Also, we logged some time riding in the cupola of an ex-Union Pacific caboose that LINC used on the train. From that vantage, we noticed that as we got close to Chelatchie, the rails were buried under a bumper crop of weeds and underbrush. When my girlfriend asked if there were any safety issues, I observed that if the ride suddenly smoothed out, we had likely derailed.  

This image was taken as the train pulled into the depot at Battle Ground prior to loading passengers. You can see the raindrops from a passing shower reflected by the headlight. A former NP outfit car was used by LINC as its depot. In addition to being a shelter from the elements, the car sold a variety of swag items, such as tee shirts and hats. 

Apparently, my girlfriend didn't find the trip to be overly objectionable, as we married a little over a year later.

Taken on: November 12, 1988

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Camera: Plustek OpticFilm 8200i (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Plustek OpticFilm 8200i
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Elements 15.0 (Windows)
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