This website has been archived from TrainWeb.org/delmonte to TrainWeb.US/delmonte.

Portland's Chinese Garden

Saturday 6/1/02 My mother and I drove up to Beaverton to visit my Niece Barbara and see her new condo. Maggie was there (she gets around, doesn't she?) having spent the night with her daughter, and we had a nice family lunch. After awhile Maggie left for home in Medford, while the rest of us went into downtown Portland to see the new Chinese Gardens. We stopped in the tea house. Not being a fan of tea, I did not partake of its offerings. Mom and my Barb tried two types of green tea, at almost $5.00 a cup. Neither of them cared for the product. Barb and I agreed that one of the teacups smelled like boiled green beans. The garden themselves were beautiful. There were lots of nooks and crannies to explore. A large pond was spanned by two bridges, and at the rear was a waterfall. Union Station was just a few blocks away, so afterwards we drove by there. Two Cascades trains were on the platform. I was sort of hoping to see inside the station, but all of the easy-access short term parking was taken, so we moved on.

Sunday 6/2/02

My mother and I went to church, where I saw a number of old friends. One of them was Trudy. She and I once attended a private high school in northern California back in the '70s. She was part of a small group of Oregonians who traveled with me on the Starlight during school breaks. I also met her daughter, and I think I persuaded them to take a train trip sometime, perhaps to Monterey.

Trudy and I talked a little about her dad. I recalled that when he put us on the train twenty-some years ago, he seemed to have some knowledge of the railroad business. Trudy then informed me that he had once worked as a fireman many years before. He never struck me as a railroader. When I knew him he was a chaplain at the Oregon state penal institutions.

I also met a couple named Russ and Julia. Russ, it seems has an interest in trains. Russ commented that the train whistle we heard during the service meant that the morning's Cascades train was on time. Later in the day Julia called and asked if we would like to see their trains and have some burgers Monday evening.

After lunch I decided to run down near the airport in the hopes of getting a photo of today's train #11 near the airport. There was a time many years ago when I was a resident of this town, that I would spend my time taking photos of airplanes here. Back then it never occurred to me to photograph trains. I wanted to get some train photos here in Salem, because the tracks are just a few minutes from my mother's house. The closest tracks to Monterey are almost a half hour drive, so photographing trains at home is a challenge. But in Salem, it is an easy matter to drive over, wait a few minutes, get my photo, and be back home before my mother awakes from her nap.

Sunday's Amtrak #11 led by locomotive #114, near Salem airport.

A few days later, I took a photo of the same site from the train.

This scene was taken two days later. It shows the spot where I took the above photo. The yellow X marks approximately where I was standing to photograph the train on Sunday. Note the lumber in the foreground of both photos. the southern boundary of Salem airport property is in the background across the road.

After getting my photo, I scouted some nearby photo sites before heading back. We then went with a family friend, Vic, to visit his daughter's garden. For dinner my mother, sister Liz, and I took Vic to the Night Deposit restaurant in downtown Salem. I had hazelnut crusted chicken with peaches on top. Interesting. The peach sauce was nice, and the nuts on the chicken were different, but a little dry to my palette. I can't say I would have it again, but it was worth trying. For dessert we all had vanilla cake with orange buttercream frosting. That was good.

Out the window I got to see a BNSF freight train on that forgotten set of tracks that runs on the west side of downtown, along the riverfront park which overlooks the Willamette River. After dinner we walked around the park a bit. The centerpiece of the park is a beautiful carousel, which celebrated its first birthday on Saturday. The event was the biggest news story in this morning's paper. Yup, Salem is a small town, though the population statistics would suggest otherwise.

Monday 6/3/02

I slept until almost 10:00 am and I knew that the northbound Amtrak Cascades train #552 would be passing just a couple miles away in about half an hour. I wasn't sure if I wanted to have breakfast, or get a photo. I turned on the scanner and there was a tremendous amount of activity. It sounded like there were at least three trains out there, maybe four. Two Union Pacific freight trains were too far north to be accessible, but it was evident that if I acted quickly, I would be able to photograph #552.

I gobbled a bit of cinnamon bread and swallowed a bit of juice then went over to Boone Road, just on the other side of the freeway, to photograph the train. Boone Road ended at the tracks. On the other side was another dead end street and a warehouse. After looking both ways, I carefully crossed the tracks and found a good vantage point. A man was outside the warehouse cutting some pipes. I asked if he had seen an Amtrak train go by yet. He said he had seen two freight trains but no Amtrak. Wonderful! I made it in time.

Cascades #552 pulled by a California beach bum.

I waited just five minutes or so before #552 came by at 10:50am, about 15 minutes late. In the lead was a Southern California Surfliner locomotive, which closely resembles the Cascades locomotives, but instead of green and ivory, they are blue and silver. I got my photo, and was able to get a so-so shot of the train after it passed. The fellow at the warehouse said "Wow, that one was going fast!"

The back side of Cascades #552 under the Keubler Road overpass.

I would have gone home, but on the scanner I heard a UP freight train was not too far behind. I expected about a 15 minute wait, but it was half an hour before it showed up. In the meantime I went back across the tracks to the car, and scouted out vantage points on the west side of the tracks. There were some nice bushes with flowers on them, which I thought might make a nice foreground. Unfortunately, they were along a gravel road, which was more heavily traveled than one might expect. Anytime a car went by it raised so much dust that I had to leave the area. So I went back to the end of Boone Road and waited by the car. Eventually the train came into view, and I got a shot of it as it appeared from behind the trees.

Union Pacific #4406 at Boone Road

We didn't do much that afternoon. But there is an excellent little hobby shop, Sky Sport, near my mother's house, and we went over to see what they had in HO scale. I found a couple of Santa Fe boxcars with the name of two of their famous streamliner trains. I grabbed those along with a UP boxcar. I mentioned to the owner that he had a nice selection, but he seemed apologetic for its small size. Small? Compared to the hobby shop in Sand City, which has maybe a couple dozen cars and maybe three locomotives in stock at any one time, his collection was enormous.

I found at the top of the shelf, in a Walthers box, two of the cutest little passenger cars. They were called "Oscar" (short for "observation car) and "Piker." They are short, very short, caricatures of 1920s "heavyweight" passenger cars. I had seen Oscar and Piker on-line, and wanted a Santa Fe set, to match a small Santa Fe steam switcher I have, but they were no longer available. These were in Milwaukee Road colors. I asked the owner if he had a locomotive that might work with them, but he didn't have anything that matched in any way. Well, I really wanted a compatible locomotive before committing to these two because at $40 for the pair, they weren't especially cheap. So I just continued shopping for other things.

After a time the owner then "I guess you've given up on the Oscar and Piker set." "I guess so...." I replied, but then thought a little more and added, "...unless you might be willing to make me a deal." He replied "I'm willing to be half serious if you're willing to be half serious." I said OK, I'm half serious!" he gave me a 15% discount, I accepted, and now I have a very very short Milwaukee Road passenger train of my very very own, pulled by a little Santa Fe switcher. Perhaps one of these days I will find a Milwaukee Road locomotive, but then I'll have to get more rolling stock and the cycle will never end. So it's a good thing I got a discount.

Mom asked me when I would be available to visit Russ and Julia. Well, I was hoping to get another train photo of the 6:37pm Cascades train. I said anytime after 7:00 would probably be OK, so she made the arrangements.

I drove down to the downtown station figuring I could get great photos of both ends of the train there. The Cascades trains don't really have a front and a rear. They have a locomotive at one end, and a "cabbage" car at the other. A cabbage car is a retired locomotive with its engine removed, and the empty space is used to carry baggage. The cab of this stripped locomotive still contains controls for the locomotive at the other end, so it functions as a cab control car. Southbound trains are operated from this end while the train is pushed by the locomotive at the rear. To go north, Instead of turning the train, the engineer simply goes to the north end of the train and operates the train from the cab of the real locomotive. The cabbage car gets its name from its dual functions as a "cab" and "baggage car", hence the term "cabbage."

The whole point of this is to explain that when the train approaches the station, I can get a shot of each end and it will look like the train is coming towards the camera. With the train stopped at the station I can take my time getting shots of the rear locomotive.

The Cascades train was nearly on-time. I decided to get a shot of the approaching locomotive next to the crossing signal, then I was able to get several shots of the train at the platform. Curiously, the cabbage car was preceded by a powered Dash-8 locomotive.

Cascades #753 comes into Salem led by an unexpected Amtrak Dash-8

The Dash-8 leads the F40 Cabbage Car	The powered F59PH pushes the train past the camera

The train stopped for only three or four minutes. Standing alongside the locomotive at the rear it sounded as if it were pushing under power. So the presence of the Dash-8 was a mystery.

Cascades #753 stopped at Salem

The Cascades trains are manufactured by Talgo. The cars tilt while going around curves, allowing greater speed and comfort than would otherwise be possible. They are of a European design that has been in use for over 20 years in many parts of the world. They were not introduced in the United States until just a couple years ago. Although they are capable of speeds up to125 MPH, the deplorable track conditions in this country prevent them from going more than 79 MPH in most areas. As of this writing, those lucky folks in the Pacific Northwest have the Talgos all to themselves.

Two views of the Cascades at the platform

As it was beginning to roll again, I looked at the wheels, and was surprised to see only one wheel between cars! These cars are articulated, meaning that each car shares a common truck with the next one, but I expected to see two wheels on each truck. I was also surprised by how low the cars sit.

The single wheeled Talgo truck.

I was able to get home and off to dinner with Russ and Julia just a few minutes late. This couple was a lot of fun. Russ had a garden railroad running around the back yard. Though his scenery was somewhat spartan, and a freight yard was still under construction, it was a fun layout. Along their back fence were a number of railroad signs, and a switch stand stood just off of the patio. There was also a small HO layout in the garage. Naturally, trains dominated the conversation, and I picked up a few model railroading pointers to aid my little setup at home. Next to Russ, my qualifications as a train nut were seriously challenged!

Turn to page 5
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |

Return to
Mr. Toy's Train Travel Tales
or the
The Del Monte Club Car
or the