Early afternoon today found my wife and me driving some of the back roads south of Olympia, WA as it was a beautiful day for a drive in an area new to us. As we reached the intersection of Tilley Road and Maytown Road we crossed the Tacoma Rail line that runs south from Fredrickson down to Chehalis. We were very surprised to see a headlight coming northward (east geographically) so I stopped to wait for whatever was coming. It turned out to be BNSF 9011, light engine, running backwards, and to my further surprise, sporting a very loud 5-chime horn. Is a 5-chime standard on the BNSF SD70ACe's?

After it moved on I looked at the rails which were somewhat, but not totally, rusty. The crossing of the rural and probably lightly trafficed 2-lane road is protected by what appear to be new gates and a cantilever setup for the flashers. The box containing the controls is stenciled for Tacoma Rail, but it has new handwritten letters "WWR" on it, with what may be a new phone number.

I knew that the WWR (Western Washington Railroad) was operating on Tacoma Rail south from Maytown to end of track at Chehalis. So now I wonder if anyone might know if there is something in the wind for the trackage north of Maytown. The miles of stored container cars are gone, of course, and presumably the track is open for business. Would someone know why a six-motor BNSF unit (and not a Tacoma Rail loco) would be running along this stretch north of Maytown?

Thanks in advance for any info.