The Union Pacific’s eastbound City of Portland is about 30-miles
upriver from The Dalles. In another couple hours those three units will use all their power to
propel the train up and over the Blue Mountains. Passengers will detrain in Chicago the
second morning.
One would expect these train picture stories to be about the railroad or trains. But what
are those white structures at the tip of the pointers..? The US Coast Guard calls them “Range
Dayboards.” These Aids, which are usually shore-mounted come in pairs to help the vessel
operator maintain a straight and safe course within a navigable channel. Each member of the
pair is separated from the next in distance and elevation, with the one in front shorter than
the rear one. When the two appear to be vertically stacked, the vessel is on the range line,
and the center of the channel. If you look closely there is a red vertical line on both
Dayboards. A perfectly straight single red-line has the vessel dead-center, mid channel.
In this scene, the Dayboards guide marine traffic going downstream. A skipper would
view these markers from his position far out of the picture to the right (upstream). A green
buoy will guide him (her) in making a safe turn to starboard (right) and on down-river. Not
visible, but most likely there is another pair of dayboards downstream on the far shore.
In darkness red lights provide the same message. Dayboards are found not only in rivers,
rather they mark the safe course when entering many harbors, particularly entrances to rivers
and bays when entering or exiting the ocean.
Photo by Peter Cox in 1966
