I was hopeful you might get some more current info, but I'll relay what I saw a few years ago, and also was told the grain trains could run at any time and throw the freight schedule off. But note, those grain trains typically run with BNSF power if you are hoping to photograph home road power.

On a weekday, a turn came down from Elma to Centralia, and headed back about midday. At Elma, the train split into two, with one headed toward Grays Harbor and one up toward Shelton. The one to Shelton did not leave the yard. All the one toward Grays Harbor did was get to a point just east of town and tie down to be staged for the next day. I have seen photos and reports of the PSAP passing through Shelton mid morning northbound, and early afternoon coming back south. So they may alternate days between running to Centralia and then out to the ends of the branches from Elma.

I would stress this could be old, outdated info. But it's better than nothing. Depending on where your travels take you, it would be hard to beat Elma to at least get some roster shots of the power there. I have been to Elma a few times and never had difficulty finding something in a publicly-accessible spot.

If your travels will have you limited to the Centralia area, you can certainly railfan the Amtrak, BNSF, and UP trains there and hope something shows up on the PSAP.

I would welcome any other input, or if nothing else, please do let us know what you find, as this is an area to which work takes me periodically, so the information is most appreciated.

Mike Derrick