Auburn at Night!

Auburn Washington. December 26, 1964. Elwin and I were having a fantastic time in Auburn, with the rare treat of seeing and riding the Spokane, Portland & Seattle 300. See previous detailed entry. Then got the arrival and departure of the North Coast Limited, an absolutely beautiful passenger train!

There is something magical about nighttime railroading. And I think I know what it is. Since the distractions of the daylight are eliminated, just the lights and sounds are in sharper focus.

I stood there mesmerized listening to the “life” of NP7000. I could almost hear the recirculating diesel oil flowing to the injectors. The rattling sounds of the air compressors, with their “fit-fit, fit-fit” cut-offs. And the hypnotizing rhythm of that magnificent V-16 diesel motor.

It took me back to the era when we lived in Prince Rupert. Another fabulous memory. Looking out my second-floor bedroom window with binoculars to see what engines were hooked up to the night time-freight. And laying there in the dark, listening to the gentle chanting of the locomotives pumping air, the sound increasing and fading in the wind and rain …

15 A-B-B-A sets in the class were built for the Northern Pacific between 1954 and 1956; road numbers 7000 – 7014.

Railroad stuff: NP7000A, 1,750 hp, EMD, built 1954, sn 19048. Sold to General Metals, Tacoma (read that, scrapped) January 1981.