Heed what SP5103 says about driving the interstate in N.E. Oregon. In the winter months I doubt a day goes by that there is not wreck on Ladd Canyon or the Blues/Cabbage hill. The grades may be relatively short, but when the road surface turns to a glare of ice in a matter of minutes combined with freezing fog it is about as treacherous as it gets. Locally some truck drivers on the interstate are called "chicken haulers". It is a pun at trucks from Arkansas and places without winter driving conditions who are completely unprepaired for chaining up and driving at a crawl for safety. I have seen more than one truck pass me on glare ice then find them piled up farther along this route. One of my friends a retired log truck driver was asked on the CB while heading up into the Blues if the chain up signs were serious. My freind replied, he needed to chain up all drivers, put drag chains on the trailer and another around the steering wheel so he didn't loose his grip! The "chicken hauler" replied, "you are kidding right"? My freind replied, "no I'm serious". and ended the conversation.
So apart from this the LaGrande yard has a nice residential parrallel street on the N.back side that is a great place to watch arrivals and departures from the West end. On up in the Blues, the old Hwy 30 route through Kamela is also great train watching. You can park and photo West bounds working up grade, then move up the hwy a bit to another turn out and catch them again several times as they are usually down on their knees so to speak in that area. I noticed with sadness that the wye at Kamela which is the summit has been torn out. I guess this it probably long overdue in regard to the end of manned helpers that would turn there. I wonder what they will due if we ever get a truly hard winter again that would require turning snow fighting equipment? As I recall there is still a wye in place on the West side of the mountains just as you start up into a canyon (Gibbon I think)?