I really did not go looking for this video of a coal train. I was doing a bit of research on the railroad tunnel in Everett for a work project and came across a web page with a set of train videos. This clip is of a coal train on the return to the Powder River Basin heading over Stevens Pass in the Cascade Range. This route utilizes the longest rail tunnel in the United Sates, a remarkable seven mile long spiral straight tunnel that replaced a previous steeper poorly vented tunnel and prior to that a track that required switch backs and was susceptible to avalanches. The Stevens Pass route is apparently too steep of a grade to handle the fully loaded coal trains, but at least some of the empty coal trains head back to the Powder River Basin via this route. I did not count all the cars. I'll save that for when I am waiting at a crossing.
Awaiting the Colorado River 24-Month Study
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By John Fleck, Anne Castle, Eric Kuhn, Jack Schmidt, Kathryn Sorensen, and
Katherine Tara As we await Friday’s (Aug. 15, 2025) release of the Bureau
of Rec...
1 day ago
2 comments:
The tunnel under Stevens Pass is straight as an arrow for 7.79 miles. You might be thinking of the spiral tunnels of the Canadian Pacific near Field, B.C. and Kicking Horse Pass.
Thanks for catching that slip.
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