Mukilteo Waterfront - Train #5: Mukilteo

Just north of Picnic Point is the little town of Mukilteo, with a ferry dock and a few waterfront restaurants and not much else. At this juncture the train tracks go under an overpass, so freight trains zip past without slowing down or signaling (passenger trains have a terminal in Mukilteo). Freight trains -- unlike passenger trains -- also do not run on a schedule, or at least not one published to civilians. Therefore "catching a train" is a matter of patience and happenstance and planning and a bit of luck. I scoped out a likely recording spot near the tracks on the edge of Mukilteo Lighthouse Park, and returned to my car to get my equipment. By the time I returned to my spot, a disabled old man (with a walker) and his caretaker (son?) were just settling into the park bench I had planned to use. They sat and chatted amiably (but loudly, because he was also hard-of-hearing) while a mile-long oil-tanker train rumbled northbound behind them. Alas, I missed that one. After 45 minutes they left, and I set up to try to catch the next train, if there was going to be one. By this time a class of kids (daycare?) was exploring the beach with all the exuberance of adolescents, but this added a different backdrop from my previous train recordings. After an hour or so another oil-tanker train came down the tracks southbound, probably empty (didn't sound as massive) and I was finally able to catch my train. See also: https://anode1.bandcamp.com/track/train-5-mukilteo