Charlie’s Trackside Postcards: A Day at the Office

View of a derailment from an office building.

Just another day at his downtown Seattle office for Charlie Conway – until he discovered that a cut of empty hoppers had derailed on the busy BNSF main line routing in front of the building! Chas grabbed his camera and captured the Hulcher Services crew working to get trains rolling again. […]

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Charlie’s Trackside Postcards: Along the Old Milwaukee Road

A gray-colored cement-lined railroad tunnel as seen from the mouth.

Charlie Conway recently joined the Cascade Rail Foundation, which prompted him to take a road trip to learn about their Milwaukee Road Pacific Extension preservation efforts in Eastern Washington State. Follow Chas and his pals Karl and Nicholas on this trek to see and explore lineside structures and more! […]

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Charlie’s Trackside Postcards: Milwaukee Road 5057

An orange-painted BNSF Railway locomotive leads a freight train with a signal bridge in the background.

Charlie’s road trip with Karl and Nicholas along the old Milwaukee Road in Washington State continues with a visit to the locomotive shops of the Pend Oreille Valley Railroad. Chief Mechanical Officer Brad Byrd explains what remains to be done to bring the Cascade Rail Foundation’s GE U25B back to life. […]

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Charlie’s Trackside Postcards: Rail Service at Hull-Oakes Mill

An bird's eye-view of a rail yard and logging facility.

It looks like Charlie has been combing through viewer comments and inquires! I think one viewer will be especially pleased to see that Chas was more than happy to address his question about the Taking Care of Business episode featuring Hull-Oakes Lumber Co. — all in the form of this Trackside Postcard! […]

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Charlie’s Trackside Postcards: Charlie’s New Office

View from an office building overlooking railroad tracks and a freight waterway in the Pacific Northwest.

When we first met Charlie, his temporary office was located at a metro Seattle airport. Nowadays, he’s happily situated in a new downtown waterfront office with all of the essential creature comforts – including a rooftop view of BNSF freight, Amtrak passenger, and Sound Transit commuter trains. It’s enough to make Drew and many other railfans […]

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Charlie’s Trackside Postcards: Rocky Mountain Zephyrs

A silver-and-blue painted Amtrak diesel locomotive moves through a treeless snow covered mountain landscape under clear skies.

What’s a guy to do on New Year’s Eve when the ambient temperature is -22˚F? Chase Amtrak long-distance trains into the Rocky Mountains, of course! Naturally, Charlie Conway’s effort was rewarded with picture-perfect postcard scenery, dashing diesels, and roads routing along the Union Pacific right-of-way for his final day in Colorado. […]

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