Sandpoint, ID is a great place to watch trains. I wish the photos were better. This train is headed to Spokane along the beautiful Lake Pend Oreille. The lake is quite large and we are on the highway bridge on Rt. 95. Idaho nicely widen the bridge and made the old part a bike path. So, you can sit there undisturbed all day if you wish and shoot trains. We caught 3 in 30 minutes on this Friday evening. I would like to thank the "Funnelfan" for his excellent railfanning pages. I wish we had had the time to take full advantage of the info he provided. Check it out! We are on our way to Cranbrook in British Columbia, Canada. BNSF heads West just a few miles West of the Izaak Walton Inn on Rt. 2. These photos are from our trip to Canada and Montana via Washington and Idaho. The trip was a mixed bag. We had bad weather and camera problems which hurt the pictures. My wife shot some of the photos while I shot video. I'd like to thank her for her efforts. BNSF 4341 leads a trailer train near Glacier National Park in Montana. After our rainy visit to Canada we dropped down for a rainy visit to Montana. We had a great stay at the Izaak Walton Inn in Essex. Actually the inn is Essex. It was built in 1939 by the Great Northern as a crew hotel. Well, now it is oriented toward the railfan. They have a nice library of books and tapes, a gift shop and lots of old photos and railroadiana around. There is a liberal but tasteful use of rail spikes for anything from lamp fixtures to toilet tissue holders. BNSF 4962  heads a container train near Glacier National Park. One can chase trains and get some great scenes off of Rt. 2. The Izaak Walton Inn provided us with a train chasing map. Note the concrete ties here. This may be a shot from the new pedestrian bridge over the tracks at the inn. It was built so inn customers and staff wouldn't have to walk on the tracks to get to their quarters. The inn has 4 caboose which have beautifully finished interiors. They are sitting on the hill on the opposite side of the tracks from the main inn. The bridge also makes a nice railfan perch. They just put it in service several days prior to our arrival (Sept. 4, 2000). At Essex there is a small yard. If you are lazy or it is bad weather, you can sit on the porch and watch trains. They keep several sets of helpers and some work train equipment there. My wife took this shot of the work train being setup for the day. We were there from Monday through Thursday morning. Traffic was very light, perhaps 10 trains in 24 hours plus 2 Amtrak trains which often stopped at Essex. It was totally dead between 10 AM and 5 PM. We took that time to visit Glacier NP. Goatlick Trestle is pretty spectacular. It can be found just about a mile East of Essex. This is the spot where mountain goats come to lick minerals from the valley walls. It is part of the park and there is ample off-road parking and a restroom. Good place to hang out if the trains are running. A tunnel is always an attraction for train chasers. There are several on this line as well as a snow shed or two. I hope you have better weather than we did. This shot is also West of the inn. BNSF enters a tunnel. I have since forgotten the exact location.

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Last Update: 04/22/2001