Visit Date: July 27, 2026
I’ts been a minute since I’ve posted anything; and more than a minute since I’ve posted anything train related. That ends today! Let’s see if I can remember how to write.
I got the itch to grab some train pictures and the Columbia Gorge between Portland/Vancouver and Hood River/Bingen is perfect for a day trip. A couple of days before heading out I reviewed my old locations and scouted some new ones.
After crossing the Interstate Bridge and turning east on Highway 14 I saw two trains pointed east waiting to head out. Perfect: I’d have time to set up in Washougal. I’ve wanted to take pictures in this town where the train runs through town but could never find the right spot. Looking again the night before, I saw a good candidate where 24th Street crosses the tracks. There is ample room to get a good view without trespassing on BNSF property. This is a quiet zone meaning the trains don’t have to blow their horns through the street crossings; so I’d have to pay attention. After less than 15 minutes waiting the street crossbars went down and I got a nice picture of the manifest as it approached the intersection. I was lucky that the sun was behind me.
I got back in my car and headed east. I have a stop in Skamania that I like but when I got there a container train was stopped in the intersection. I continued to Stevenson, Washington near the river park which is a great place. It’s where the stern wheeler stops to board (deboard) passengers; meaning there is a big parking lot.
I was expecting to see either that manifest or the container train; instead I found a local doing drop off and pick ups along the way.
A couple of years ago I sold my big mirrorless Sony cameras in favor of my iPhone. Without the sophisticated controls over aperture and shutter speed I wondered if the phone could keep up with moving trains. The picture above was shot at 1/5000 of a second with an f-stop of F1.8 (which is similar to the first photo). Unfortunately, this picture is a big blurry, which you can see if you click on the picture to look at it in its full 2,500 pixel-wide glory. I don’t know that I would have changed any settings. Maybe I just wiggled the camera.
While waiting for another train I walked down to the water front to take in the sights. I grabbed a picture of a large barge pushing sand or gravel (I think) down river as it crossed between a couple of mooring posts.
I headed back trackside giving myself some time to wait for another train. Ugh, when I saw this Maintenance of Way excavator running on the main track I knew train spotting would be scarce for a few hours. MoW are necessary for the railroads but anathema to most train spotters because they tie up traffic from both directions.
No worries, it was close to lunch time and there is a little diner in Bingen I’ve eaten at before. Unfortunately, when I got there the whole block of buildings was closed indefinitely due to flooding. I’m pretty sure it was river flooding since we were at a fairly high elevation. Maybe a water main burst or something. Oh well, I had a couple of granola bars to tide me over.
Walking back to my car I noticed this lovely statue which was created in 2017.
I would have like to have met Guillermo “Will” Fisch. I may be stealing that greeting for myself.
It was time to head across the Columbia into Hood River and head down I84 toward home. The Union Pacific parallels the freeway through the gorge, but I’ve found it tough to find a vantage point to grab pictures. On the Washington side the two lane Highway 14 meanders through towns with plenty of places to pull over. That is much harder when crusing at 65 MPH on the interstate. But! I had done some serious looking Google and Apple maps to see where I could get off the freeway and found two candidates
As I pulled out of Hood River a UP grain train was headed west. Perfect. I might be able catch it at the Vietno campground. I was far enough ahead of the train to get off the freeway and down closer to the river. But, dagnabit, there was a pay station. By the time I got to the pay station the train was rolling through about 40 yards away down through the trees. I’m going to try this spot again some day.
The freeway is much faster than the train so I hustled down to Herman Creek RD at Exit 47.
There is a crossing there and a safe place to park. Perfect. Out of the car and find a nice view safely back from the tracks away from Union Pacific property. Sure enough: 5 minutes and the crossing gate closes, the bells ring and the train comes through.
I counted four locomotives in the lead and there were two pushing. They don’t need that motive power going down the Columbia Gorge but they sure did when crossing the mountains out of Idaho, up to Baker City and down the Blue Mountains. I wonder if the engineer and conductor were irritated they got such a beat up locomotive as the lead.
When I got back in my car I realized I hit a little snag: Exit 47 is an exit only – no on ramp back on the freeway! I went under there freely and headed west on the frontage road. After a few miles I rolled into Cascade Locks. I was still a bit peckish; those granola bars were nice; but they didn’t make a lunch. I pulled into a small drive-in restaurant and ordered a milkshake and tater tots for a snack. “Are you okay with a 20 minute wait for the tots?” the cashier asked me. “Nope: just the milkshake please.” Back on the freeway and I was home about an hour and a half later.
What a great day. I didn’t see a lot of trains but I found two – and maybe three – train spotting sites. I’ll definitely be back to the campground.
