North of the Ballard Locks bridge there's a row that branches off the BNSF main line and heads through Ballard and Fremont. Some the the line looks like it's in service and there's a few Alcos stored near the Fred Meyer near the line right before it enters Fremont. Can anyone tell me anything about the line or the alcos stored? Are they used?
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Ballard, Seattle
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That's the Ballard Terminal Railroad, which operates mostly at night. They also have a streetcar in their engine house area, IIRC. The Alcos aren't active as the Ballard Terminal operates with a red SW1.
Does anyone know where the active part of the line ends? If you follow the bike path towards Fremont, the ROW seems to get worse and worse until it pretty much disappears.
They do not own any ALCOs. It is two SW1s on the property plus the trolley.
[quote="atsf sp"]They do not own any ALCOs. It is two SW1s on the property plus the trolley.[/quote]
Are both active? What's the story on the railcar? Does anyone know what this railroad is used for?
Are both active? What's the story on the railcar? Does anyone know what this railroad is used for?
theseaandalifesaver wrote:Does anyone know where the active part of the line ends? If you follow the bike path towards Fremont, the ROW seems to get worse and worse until it pretty much disappears.Time to revive this thread...with a link to a decades old website! The Ballard Terminal Railroad.
Using Google Street views (mostly from mid-2017, so recent enough) I find that nominally the line starts around N 40th St. and heads north (in the 2009 street view, they were storing bathtub gondolas south of 7th Ave NW. - you have to futz around a bit to see them).
Of the two industries mentioned on the BTR website, Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel around 20th Ave NW & Shilshole Ave. was active, with at least 4 covered hoppers on nearby trackage and several more waiting in Shilshole yard. The other industry mentioned on the article, 'Western Pioneer Shipping' (fish wholesalers) which is located near the intersection of Shilshoe & 46th St NW. doesn't seem to be any reefers in front of the green building on Google Street. The locomotives are still located on a spur off 45th St NW, east of 14th Ave. NW. So the line was active south to the 45th St. NW engine spur as of August 2017, but south of that I cannot say.
I recently saw some hoppers stored in the "yard" by the Fred Meyer very close to 45th. I doubt anything beyond (south) of that is still active. The line eventually trails off to nothing and doesn't look very used at all.