I don’t know jack about train watching except that sometimes you can get a pretty good view of certain railways while sitting on the water in a kayak. There are many situations where a kayaks allows you unobstructed and/or uncrowded views of certain subjects of interest, and this includes the massively powerful trains that run along the coast.

BNSF at Golden Gardens, Seattle

Many of the parks in Seattle – such as Carkeek and Golden Gardens, for example – are traversed by a portion of the extensive Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railway that spiders across the western United States. For much of their length along the shoreline north of Seattle, the trains and tracks are bordered on the land side by forested areas so that the only clear view of the trains is from the water. If you feel like having a calm picnic-on-the-water sort of day, you can launch your kayak from a Seattle park, bring your lunch, and paddle up or down the coast to watch the trains.

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Some of the parks, such as Richmond Beach and Carkeek, have pedestrian overpasses for crossing the tracks. For a slight thrill, you can stand on the overpass directly over the trains as they pass. Some of the cars are double-stacked and look like they are close enough to hit you.

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