A "trashy" day on the Seattle waterfront, 3-4-2015

I found a bit of time to railfan on a sunny late-winter afternoon. My location is the SAM (Seattle Art Museum) overpass on the Seattle waterfront.

Just south of me a couple of welders were working on repairing a switch on Main 2. As I arrived, they were clearing out of the way as a MOW (Maintenance of Way) crew needed to pass through.

The MOW crew was driving what is called a "slot train". It's basically a long articulated gondola. It's commonly used to clear debris from the tracks. The excavator can travel the length of the train, scooping up debris and placing it in the train.
In this case, it's full of old ties, likely left from a previous tie crew that was in the area replacing ties.

A few minutes after the slot train passed, an empty garbage train approached northbound on Main 1. BNSF 4400 (C44-9W) was the lead loco.

After the empty train passed, the welders went back to work on the switch. The Renton Rocket local job then popped around the curve on Main 2. I expected them to cross over to Main 1 but Dispatch held them at the North Portal signal.

Sure enough, a few minutes later I spotted a train approaching southbound on Main 1. That's why the Rocket got held up, they had to wait their turn.
The southbounder turned out to be a loaded garbage train coming either from Balmer Yard in Seattle or Delta Yard in Everett and headed to the landfill in Roosevelt, WA. Lead loco was BNSF 5095 (C44-9W).
The overhead view lets you see that the 40ft containers carry garbage and are covered with tarps. The 20ft containers carry contaminated soils and debris.

Empty:
4400 / 7450
C44-9W / ES44DC

Loaded:
5095 / CREX 1314
C44-9W / ES44AC

Видео A "trashy" day on the Seattle waterfront, 3-4-2015 канала SeattleRailFan