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Two weeks ago, we called on northwesterners to start tracking oil train movements as they pass through local communities. It looks like people are responding to the call: our first oil trainspotting video comes from Everett, and it’s up on Facebook. It shows an empty oil train heading south and then east toward Stevens Pass, presumably returning to the Bakken oil fields.

Oil train in Southwest Washington, April 2013.
Oil train in Southwest Washington, April 2013. (Used with permission.)

Meanwhile, the good folks at the Sierra Club’s Snohomish County chapter have begun providing some systematic rigor to the exercise. They’re staffing track-side locations to count every fossil fuel train that passes by during the course of one week. You can sign up for a four-hour shift here.

Oil train in Southwest Washington, May 2013.
Oil train in Southwest Washington, May 2013. (Used with permission.)

Shortly after we published our post, The Oregonian‘s Rob Davis, who has reported extensively on oil train issues, produced a photo guide on how to tell an oil train apart from others. It’s a very useful resource for would-be “railfans,” as train-watchers call themselves.

Oil train in Southwest Washington, May 2013 (2).
Oil train in Southwest Washington, May 2013 (2). (Used with permission.)

So, have stuff you want to share?

  1. Photos: Upload them to our public Flickr pool. (Note that submissions will be monitored for relevant content.)
  2. VideoIf you get a video of an oil train in the Northwest, upload it to YouTube. Title your video “NW Oil Tank Car Watch [location], [direction of travel], [date & time].” It will help us all begin to learn more about what’s traveling through our communities.

Talk to the Author

SwatchJunkies

Talk to the Author

Eric de Place

Eric de Place spearheaded Sightline’s work on energy policy for two decades.

About Sightline

Sightline Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank providing leading original analysis of democracy, forests, energy, and housing policy in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, British Columbia, and beyond.

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