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Michael Adams and the Land of the Long White Train

As the doors opened on a rush hour Yamanote line commuter train I wondered just what on earth I was doing. Obediently the queue of people waiting to board parted and a sea of commuters excited the train. Those who were in the way held on tight and appeared to almost flap in the current, images of sea weed came to mind. Then it was our turn to board, only there was no room left. Never mind, everyone just poured in anyway and somehow miraculously there was room. The guys nearest the door braced themselves on the roof and pushed back so the doors would actually close.

So here I am, Michael Adams, in the most populated city in the world. Amazing. Michael Adams in the middle of a foreign country that speaks a completely different language! In a country where trains run on time, to the second.

My journey started several weeks ago when I fairly impulsively purchased a $900 return airfare to Japan, with the intention of meeting severa...

Day 34 - Railfanning the Feather River Canyon

And so I wake on my last full day in the US, and what better place for it than in the heart of the Feather River Canyon. The FRC is one of only three routes in California to cross the Sierra Nevadas, the others being Donner Pass, and Cajon Pass to the south. Donner Pass and the FRC parallel each other and start and end nearby each other, however only the FRC provides access to Oregon and Washington from California. The two routes are quite different; Donner Pass is steep, mountainous, and extremely challenging, while the FRC is considerably longer, albeit with a much gentler (comparatively) ruling grades. The FRC is also the junction point for access into Oregon and Washington through the BNSF High Line, a rather remote and relatively quiet line that runs into Klamath Falls, OR.

But enough of the background; first item on my action list today was famous wye at Keddie. I jumped in the car and headed off, cleverly forgetting my camera. A quick U-turn to retrieve it form the m...

Day 33 - Klamath Falls OR to Quincy CA

Good morning Klamath Falls, OR. In one of those 3am moments I have remembered everything about my apparently forgettable motel here. Believe it or not but it was run by an Aucklander; I didn't get to meet her though, but I did get good service, and a rather large & clean room with suitably powerful heater. From my window I could see the snow flurries coming in as I looked down the backstreets of Klamath Falls. Lots of small two story brick buildings here, and as the temp plunged well below freezing I could hear the trains rolling through this junction town late into the night. Klamath Falls also has a great Thai restaurant within easy walking distance of my motel.

So goodbye no-longer-forgettable motel, and hello highway. Not an especially long drive today, just 4 hours. At least it would be if I took the direct route. Naturally I went at right angles towards Dunsmuir, one of the famous "snow towns" in railroad circles. Soon I crossed the border into California and almo...

Day 32 - Madras OR to Klamath Falls OR

(Yes, I’m a "little" behind!)

Day 32 and I wake in the little town of Madras, Oregon to another dull gray day. Some quick GoogleMaps-snooping showed a good trestle up the road, so I went to have a look. Indeed, yes, it was quite a bridge, spanning a vast canyon that lead down from the plateau above Madras. Unfortunately it was very dull and gray, and with no trains around, there was nothing photo worthy. I sighed and hit the highway.

Half an hour down the road I hit the jackpot though, at the Peter Skene Ogden State Park (what a mouthfall). You know you’re in for a treat when they warn of 300ft cliffs and the warning signs feature flying dogs!

   

The history was pretty interesting, with the railroad being first across. Given the sheer drop a single span is the only way to bridge the gap, which made construction a little challenging; photos show rop...

Day 31: Portland, OR to Madras, OR

Another morning and this time I was, I have to admit, a little bit excited because I was in Oregon, and it was raining. It's just what Oregon is supposed to do! I decided that today would be my last day in Portland, so I packed up and headed off to the Lloyd Center for some final book shopping. Hopped on the MAX into town and visited Powells again to load up on more books. It was perfect book shopping weather, being dark and gray and raining. I had a lot of fun riding the light rail into town, dodgy rain showers as I ran from building to building down to Powells, and then browsing the isles of books watching the rain pouring down outside.

After Powells I went on a bit of a walk around Portland, since it wasn't raining any more.

A street car, very flash looking.

 

Another type of street car, and a street.

Portland MAX, also runn...

Day 30: Portland, OR - OMSI

Another day in Portland. I set the GPS for OMSI and headed off there. Was a little worried when I arrived and say many many school busses lined up outside and huge crowds of kids assembling. Uh oh. However my trek across the car park was interrupted by the sighting of railway carriages, so I went to investigate. Nice line up of iconic and famous "name train" carriages, including ones from the Southern Pacific "Daylight" series, and the Great Nothern's "Empire Builder". Plus some straight stainless steel corrugated side carriages. Was nice to see all these up close through the deer fencing.

Went into OMSI and yep sure enough there were thousands of kids. I guess I was a little disappointed because I expected more of a museum (as in Oregon Museumof Science and Industry) however it was very much an educational facility designed to teach children about various scientific phenomenon (think Science Alive here in Christchurch)...

Day 29: Portland, Oregon – Tree Museum and Japanese Gardens

So I find myself in Portland; what to do? After some frantic Googling (I planned my day for once) I found worked out how to use the MAX (their light rail system) and where he nearest stop was. I drove down and ended up parking the middle of a construction site, which made for quite a lengthy and complicated walk across the road to the station. Caught the train and sat back for the ride into the city. Nice trains these, very fast, quiet and spacious. A lot of the time they share the road with car; sometimes they have their own grade but still cross the road at intersections, and some times they have their own right-of-way alongside the highway.

I took the train all the way through the city and into Washington Park where we zoomed into a tunnel. There were some interesting passengers on the train; one was a big old lady, and while she looked like she'd suit a park bench just fine, I rather liked the idea that she was secretly very rich and just dressed this way to blend in.</...

Day 28: Cascade Locks, OR to Portland, OR

Took another look at the Bridge of the Gods in the morning, although it was a fairly gray day.

Looks like a giant Mechano set I think.

I jumped back on the freeway and set the GPS for Springfield, Oregon (not Springfield, Idaho which I had done briefly the day before!) and started heading through the Columbia River Gorge. The scenery here was pretty amazing and I was glad I waited till daylight to complete the journey. The smells reminded me a lot of the West Coast back home; the damp leafy smell and the cool humid air.

 

Up the road a bit I stopped at the Bonneville Dam and had a look around. Driving in there I crossed several dams and a navigation lock as well, which had HUGE steel doors.

End of the lock / first dam

Second dam / other side of the first dam, I think.

Day 27: Sandypoint, ID to Cascade Locks, OR

Here is a photo of my room at the Meandering Moose Motel in Sandypoint, Idaho, since it was so pleasantly nice:

Went down to the "beach" here in Sandypoint, only I had a bit of trouble finding it.

I walked down to the logs, checking every so often that I was still walking on the beach; didn't really feel like breaking through the ice. I think I eventually found the lake, but who knows? The lifeguards weren't on duty, which possibly wasn't that surprising!

I trudged back to the car and soon gave up trying to get anywhere interesting with their network of one way streets (who puts two one way roads, both going in the same direction, next to each other!? What is so amazing about that direction that everyone needs to get there?)

Headed off on my quest towards Spokane, Washington. First stop was Athol, just south west of Sandypoint, where the UP mainline crosses the BNSF. Exce...

Day 26: Kalispell, MT to Sandypoint, ID

Looking for motels in Hungry Horse: While desperately seeking a motel the previous night I passed through the town of Hungry Horse. Cool name huh. I pulled into a nicely lit up & friendly looking motel there and went into the office. "We reserve the right to ..." and "NO REFUNDS!" notices covered every surface in the office. I rang the bell. After a several minutes the proprietor came out looking annoyed. I said I was after a room for the night; he gave me a look like I'd asked if they sold camels or something! He wanted $50, which is ok but not great. I asked to see the room first. "Don't show rooms after dark" was his answer. What?! It was 7:30pm, hardly that late, but hey if you want to turn down a paying customer..?! I gave up at the point and walked out on him. (Reviews on Google usually mention that the guy at the office is grumpy, ha)

Back in the land of Kalispell MT and friendly motels, I woke up and had breakfast while reading the local newspaper. It's intere...