Nice shots, Drew. I especially like the one combining the train with the rafters. As a kayaker myself, I have used my boat on several occasions to go train-watching on the Columbia River and the Willamette River in the Portland area.

On the Willamette, I can catch Amtrak, BNSF, Portland & Western, TriMet light rail, and UP right at the Steel Bridge and on the east bank. Up on the Columbia, I can catch BNSF and UP in the Columbia River Gorge.

It's interesting to note that, thanks to Royal Gorge Route and Rio Grande Scenic, most of the former Santa Fe and GN/CB&Q big domes that migrated out of Alaska have settled in this one corner of Colorado. It's a shame that we couldn't have the opportunity (at least this year) to see these cars climbing into the Rockies on the Ski Train.

Incidentally, one of those ex-Holland America domes that Iowa Pacific purchased is here in Oregon. The company, through its Permian Basin Railway subsidiary, owns the Mount Hood RR and brought one of the domes to Hood River.

In turn, the Mount Hood's ex-SOU open-air observation "Lookout Mountain" went to the Rio Grande Scenic. This is the same car that operated in the Southern's steam excursion program for many years. MHRR acquired it and two ex-SOU coaches after Norfolk Southern retired them.

One question -- do you know if Royal Gorge Route has repainted any of its domes yet? I know of at least two online graphic creators who have drawn these cars in the Royal Gorge's former Rio Grande colors, but all of the photos I've seen of them show them still in the Holland America color scheme.