Music of the Midwest Tour, Part 1: Salem to Spokane, WA

Tuesday, 9:00 AM (Pacific Standard Time), 07/10/2012 – Salem, OR

It’s finally here! After planning since October 2011, I was more than ready to get this trip underway.  It’s been a long year and I’m hoping this vacation will provide me with some much needed rest and relaxation as well as allowing me to combine two of my extreme passions – music and travel. With this trip I will be adding 3 brand new states to my list of states visited, bringing me up to 8.  Only 42 more to go!  In addition, I will be seeing 25 drum corps compete in one of the newest college football stadiums in the country, the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium.  This promises to be an amazing trip!

Tuesday, 4:00 PM (PST), 07/10/2012 – Onboard the Cascades #506, North to Seattle

Basically, this trip is one of the weirdest I have ever taken on an Amtrak train as far as delays go. Luckily I do not have to worry about missing my connecting train, the Empire Builder, in Seattle. But it is quite unusual for a regional service like the Amtrak Cascades service to go so far off time. At the moment, we are currently running one hour behind schedule due to a combination of track work speed restrictions and being sided on numerous occasions so that freight trains may pass us by. Even the conductor admits to being bewildered about our current late status, but apologizes for the delays nevertheless.

Tuesday, 4:45 PM (PST), 07/10/2012 – King Street Station, Seattle, Washington

The Empire Builder is a cross-country train that begins in Seattle, Portland and Chicago daily.  The Portland and Seattle sections join each other and become one train in the middle of the night at Spokane before continuing eastward on its journey. When the Portland/Seattle section reaches Chicago, it is turned around, re-stocked and used the next day as the westbound train departing out of Chicago. On its way west, the train is split into two parts, again in Spokane. One section continues on to Seattle, and the other section continues on to Portland. Both sections arrive in mid-morning, IF (and that’s a big “if”) they are on time. And therein lies the rub. The two sections that arrive in Seattle and Portland in the morning are turned, stocked and re-loaded to depart later the same day going eastbound. Therefore, if the trains are late arriving in the morning, you can sure bet that they’re going to be late in departing from Portland and Seattle later that same afternoon. This is the quandary I found myself in while waiting for my eastbound Empire Builder out of Seattle.

Now I’m sure some of you are wondering, “If the train departs from both Portland AND Seattle, why did you go all the way to Seattle when you could have just departed from Portland?!?” There is an answer to this quandary, I promise you. Since the Empire Builder is in two parts at the beginning of its journey, there are two different routes you can take to either start or end your journey. Thusly, by beginning my journey in Seattle going eastward and ending my return trip in Portland going westbound, I can experience both sections of this route! Now with the exception of the 418 miles of track between Chicago and Minneapolis, I will be able to say I have experienced the entire Empire Builder route. I plan to get that mileage on a different trip in the years to come.

One of the most interesting parts of any travel experience is the people you meet along the way. Although I tend to be completely open and sometimes downright goofy when I am around people I know, I have a higher inclination to be reserved in situations where I don’t know anyone.  This trip has been no exception so far. I have no problem making small talk; I just prefer not to do so in most cases.  However, I did have some delightful conversation while waiting to board the Empire Builder with an elderly couple named Vernon and Mary Lou, who are from Puyallup, Washington. In addition to these lovely people I was also fortunate to meet an older gent named Andy from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  With these three charming folks as my company we were able to pass the time quite quickly, mostly by cracking jokes about the lateness of our train.

At 7:15 PM, the train was finally brought in from the freight yard and we were allowed to begin boarding. Weary passengers who are looking to get settled in quickly helps to expedite the boarding process and the train is underway just 9 minutes later at 7:24 PM, running 2 Hours and 44 Minutes late. Under most circumstances I would have been highly annoyed at such a delay. However upon boarding, I was just happy to be moving! When the passengers for sleeping car number 830 got to our car, we were greeted by our car attendant, Kelly.

Kelly greeted each of us cordially at the door to our sleeping car, introduced himself and described how we could get to our accommodations. Once we were rolling, Kelly personally came around to each room and made sure to give a little personal tour on how everything works and where all the switches were and whatnot. Although I am already familiar with all of these things since I’ve been on Amtrak before, I usually try to listen to each Car Attendant as they give their little spiel. Sometimes they will put a new and interesting twist on explaining how to use the equipment.

For those of you not familiar with just exactly what being an Amtrak Sleeping Car Attendant entails, think of it this way: the Sleeping Car is kind of like a moving hotel, and the Car Attendant is the only employee! The Car Attendant must be a doorman, receptionist, cleaner, server, and concierge all rolled into one. Spend 48 hours watching a good one and you’ll have a real appreciation of what a demanding job it is.

On the Empire Builder, there is one thing that is done only on this specific Amtrak route which I consider to be an extremely nice touch.  After the Car Attendant goes around to each sleeping car occupant and gives the tour, he or she then offers each adult passenger a small, 8 oz. bottle of either sparkling cider or champagne to drink while beginning the journey.  Having never had champagne before, I chose to have that rather than the cider.  I was even fortunate enough to make a toast to a friend while I was drinking it. I’m not sure I particularly liked the champagne that was served and probably would much rather have had the sparkling cider. But, at the very least I can now say I tried champagne for the first time on my first cross-country Amtrak journey!

Rolling by while I enjoyed the scenery and sipped on my champagne were the towns of Edmonds and Everett. From here, we turned eastward and began our ascent into the Cascades.  As we rolled along, I couldn’t help but be awestruck by the beauty and grace of the Skykomish River Valley. There were many winding, trickling waterways that bubbled along on their quest to reach the Pacific; above the tops of lush Evergreens stood the majestic, snow-capped form of Mount Index.  The only downside to all of this was the fact that because we were so far behind schedule, there wasn’t a sufficient amount of daylight to experience all of the beauty this area has to offer. 

One thing I was excited for on this part of the trip is to go through the Cascade Tunnel. At a whopping 7.79 miles long, Cascade Tunnel is the longest railway tunnel in the United States.  Alas, by the time we get to it the sun has gone down, so it doesn’t matter much that I can’t see anything upon entering or exiting the tunnel.  Just before we were allowed to enter the tunnel, we pulled onto a siding and came to a complete stop. As our train conductor explained, only one train is allowed to pass through the tunnel at a time. Because of the length of the tunnel, it has to be cleared of all diesel fumes by a gigantic fan at the east end of the tunnel. Before we can travel through the tunnel we must wait for all the diesel fumes to be cleared. We lose another 41 minutes here while waiting on this siding and eventually pass through the tunnel at 10:35 PM.

We continue to run very, very late through Eastern Washington, departing each stop more than 4 hours after its scheduled time.  One thing that made us lose so much time were some electrical problems that occurred when we reached Spokane.  Most of these problems had to do with the private railcars that were attached to the back of our train in Seattle.  Most people would not bother with the extra hassle of adding more cars at the end of a passenger train, especially when these cars are not necessary to the function of the passenger route. Amtrak, however, uses these cars as a boon to their ever – floundering business.  Amtrak charges $2.10 per mile, per car, plus additional charges for switching, coupling, or storing these cars en route.  Since we had 7 extra cars attached to the end of our train, Amtrak was making $2.10 per car, per mile by having these cars attached to the end of the train. After awhile, that adds up to quite a bit of money!

The hassle, however, is sometimes not worth it. When hooking up private cars with an electrical system unlike the ones Amtrak uses, electrical problems can and usually do ensue. Since there were so many electrical problems with the cars we had attached to the back of the train, the Conductor finally decided to ditch the private cars when we got to Spokane in the middle of the night. Unfortunately this move ended up costing us more time, and we pulled out of Spokane at 6:30 AM running 5 hours late.

There is one advantage to being so late on this particular route, and that is the opportunity to see some of the country in Northern Idaho and Western Montana. When the Empire Builder is running on time, it passes through these regions in the very early hours of the morning. Since we are running in excess of five hours late today we were able to see all of this countryside. Among the most impressive of this landscape is Lake Pend Oreille, which is crossed just before the Sandpoint station.  The sun rose this morning while we were still parked in Eastern Washington and provided spectacular views as we crossed into Idaho and across Lake Pend Oreille to arrive in Sandpoint at 7:36 AM running 5 Hours and 1 Minute late.

Music of the Midwest Tour, Part 2: Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota

Wednesday, 10:00 AM (Mountain Standard Time), 07/11/2012 – Libby, Montana

Between Sandpoint, Idaho and Libby, Montana there is not much to look at if you are on the South side of the train. Unfortunately, this is the side I am on. While the people on the other side of the train are getting views of mile after mile of the Kootenai River, I am seeing mile after mile of red rock face generously dusted with a covering of evergreen, fir and other various deciduous trees.  This landscape does not bolster my attention, but for now that’s ok since I have this travelogue to write.  Eventually we come into a small but wide valley, the location of the town of Libby, Montana. Here my Cell Phone finally decides to take notice of the time change that occurred when we crossed the Idaho/Montana border, and kicks over to Mountain Time. Libby looks to be a charming little hamlet but we cannot linger here since we are already so far behind schedule.  We leave Libby at 10:33 AM Mountain Time, running 5 hours and 7 Minutes late.

Wednesday, 12:09 PM (MST), 07/11/12 – Siding near Whitefish, Montana

After getting on the train so late last night, I was exhausted from having such a long day of travel.  Dining service was started almost immediately and consisted of 4 seatings, each about 30 minutes or so apart. From being so tired I decided not to partake of dinner last night. This morning I was worn out from such a long night of sleep with the train making all of its reverse movements in Spokane that I stayed in my roomette this morning and skipped out on breakfast.  So needless to say, it is now 12:15 PM Mountain Time and I have not eaten since breakfast yesterday morning, Pacific Time. I’m famished! I am sure I will be partaking of this afternoon’s lunch sitting.

Wednesday, 1:00 PM (MST), 07/11/2012 – West of Whitefish, Montana

As I mentioned previously, I decided to take part of today’s lunch fare. Since this is my first trip of great length on Amtrak, I want to see just exactly what the chefs on Amtrak are capable of.  However, I also do not want to lose momentum on the work I brought with me, so I almost opted out of partaking in the noon meal. That’s where our amazing car attendant Kelly came to the rescue!  He informed me that if I would prefer, he can put in an order to the dining car and have my lunch brought to my room. Huzzah! I graciously thank Kelly for turning me on to this little tip; now I can continue working!  After looking over the limited menu for a moment, I decided on an Angus Steak Burger with Kettle Chips and a Pepsi. The burger, although not the best I have ever had, is not bad. I’m surprised at the quality of the burger. Makes me wonder what else they’ve got to offer down there in the galley!

Wednesday, 2:36 PM (MST) 07/11/2012 – Maria’s Pass, Montana

When crossing Western Montana, Great Northern Railway President James J. Hill needed a route over the Rocky Mountains in order to continue building his ambitious gateway railroad from the Midwest to Seattle, Portland and the trading markets of Asia.  Earlier in the 19^th Century, the Lewis and Clark Expedition had also tried to chart a path over the Rockies but were unsuccessful. To be sure, James J. Hill and the Great Northern Railway owe their success to one man. It was John Stevens, working as a Surveyor for the Great Northern, who finally discovered a passage in 1889.  Almost freezing to death in temperatures of – 40°F below Zero, Stevens definitely earned his place in American Rail History. Upon reaching the top of Maria’s Pass one crosses the Continental Divide, marked by a large sandstone obelisk on the south side of US Highway 2. All waterways from here flow eastward, joining the Missouri and Mississippi River systems.  This is my first time crossing the Continental divide. I was only about 15 miles away from it in 2009 when I visited the Grand Tetons in Northwestern Wyoming, but I never crossed it.  Another first for me on this trip!

Wednesday, 3:00PM (MST) 07/11/2012 – East of the Rockies –Cut Bank, Shelby and Havre, Montana

Shortly after climbing down the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains we completed the station stop at East Glacier Park, Montana.  This stop is normally completed at 9:54 AM Mountain Time but we arrive here at 2:54 PM, exactly 5 hours late. At least with all the delays we had yesterday, we don’t seem to be losing any time. Perhaps we can even make some of it up along the plains of eastern Montana and North Dakota throughout the rest of today and into tomorrow morning. We leave Cut Bank at 3:51 PM running 5 hours and 7 minutes late but manage to leave Shelby, Montana at 4:25 PM, now running only 4 hours and 42 minutes late.  Somehow we managed to lose time without ever stopping or being pulled into a siding. We arrived into Havre, MT at 6:29 PM running 5 hours and 17 minutes late. This is the latest we have been on this trip as of yet.

Wednesday, 7:30PM (MST) 07/11/2012 – Harlem, Montana

I just heard some other passengers joking with our car attendant Kelly about tips. Customarily, it is considered to be a courtesy to tip your car attendant based upon the level and quality of their service. His laughing reply to one of the jokes was, “tips are a gift but are not expected.” Needless to say with this kind of an attitude, he will definitely be getting a tip from me.  Kelly’s service has been exemplary on this entire trip, and I hope he continues on as a car attendant with Amtrak for many years because he’s very good at what he does.

Although it’s only 7:30 PM (and 6:30 PM Pacific Time), I think I may consider having Kelly turn down my bed pretty soon. I didn’t sleep very well the night before I left on this trip, which is always a telling sign. Last night with all the moving and cutting of the power, I got a very fitful night’s rest again. With those two nights of bad sleep, I am really dragging this evening! I am also hoping that by going to bed early I can be up early tomorrow morning on the off chance that the train catches up by five hours to make our expected 7:05 AM arrival time in Minneapolis.

Thursday, 7:30 AM (Central Standard Time) 07/12/2012 – Grand Forks, North Dakota

When I woke up at about 6:15 this morning, our train was pulling into a siding to wait for clearance to head into the Grand Forks Amtrak station. Since that time, we have barely moved one mile and have only now just started to pick up speed after finally being spotted into the Grand Forks station. By my calculation, this puts our train off schedule by 7 hours.  We must have lost some time during the evening, I guess.  So one experience I had hoped to have was to shower on the train. I wanted to see how adept I was at keeping my balance while trying to wash off! But alas, when I went down to the shower room this morning, there was no water for a shower. Bummer. I’ll definitely be having one when I check into my hotel in Minneapolis…that, and a nap! 

Thursday, 5:24 PM (CST) 07/12/2012 – Minneapolis, Minnesota

Well here I am, coming to you LIVE from east of the Mississippi River for the first time in my life! I finally arrived into Midway Station in Minneapolis at 2:30 PM CST, running 7 Hours and 25 minutes late.  By the time we got to the station all I wanted to do was sleep! I made sure to find my car attendant, Kelly, and commend him on a job well done as well as provide him with a tip. If all Amtrak employees were as friendly and efficient as Kelly, I am sure I wouldn’t hear nearly as many complaints about Amtrak as I have heard! 

After checking into my hotel at 3:30 PM and getting settled into my room, the first thing on the docket was to grab a hot shower and put on a pot of coffee. It is amazing how much more I feel like a human being when I have that combination working for me!  For now, I think I will sign off and call this the end of this travelogue series. Be watching for “Part 2 – The Return Journey”, which will most likely be posted after I get home in the middle of next week. Until then, stay awesome and God bless!

Music of the Midwest Tour, Part 3: The Journey Home

Sunday, 12:30 PM (CST) 07/15/2012 – Minneapolis, Minnesota

As I sit in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Amtrak station, I thought now would be a good time to do a quick update on the events of the past few days. Friday the 13^th was rather uneventful; I had purposely scheduled this day as a freebie because I knew I would be tired after travelling most of the way across the country – which I was. The entire purpose of my trip, however, took place on Saturday the 14^th. Just one block from my hotel was TCF Bank Stadium, better known as the home of the University of Minnesota football team. Yesterday, however, it was taken over by drum corps.

I arrived at the stadium just before Noon so I could get to my seat and scout out the field. I was extremely happy with the seats I had chosen; they turned out to be near perfect. There were originally supposed to be 26 drum corps scheduled to perform. However, Teal Sound (Jacksonville, FL) and the Racine Scouts (Racine, WI) both folded mid-season due to a lack of necessary funds to keep their tours going. With the loss of these two corps from the competition schedule, there was still a full day of drum corps. After watching great performances by all of the groups, I returned to my hotel at around 10 PM last night and began to pack my bag for the journey home.

My hotel checkout time this morning was at 11:00 AM.  However, my return trip on Amtrak’s Empire Builder is not scheduled to arrive until 10:31 PM tonight, nearly twelve hours away. I had one of two options. I could either pay for another night in the hotel but not use it, as my train would arrive in twelve hours; or, I could go and wait out my train’s arrival at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Amtrak Station. Since I have my reservations for the return trip in a sleeping car roomette, I am technically considered a “first-class” passenger, and am entitled to the use of the First Class Lounge at Midway Station. Although it is not really preferable, I chose to do the latter of the two. As I write this, I am about an hour into my twelve hour wait.

 

Sunday, 11:45 PM (CST) 07/15/2012 – Minneapolis, MN

After waiting nearly twelve hours, the westbound Empire Builder arrived at 11:06 PM, 35 minutes late. As I boarded the train, my car attendant was nowhere to be found. As it is late evening and this is a rather large stop en route to the Northwest, this strikes me as a little odd. I certainly hope that this is not going to be the normality on this trip, or I may have to contrive some amazing amounts forbearance in the next few days – something I tend to run short of at the end of a long trip. We left Minneapolis at 11:38 PM, running 23 minutes late. I decided to write this short bit of travelogue catching up on the day’s events before turning in, which I will do now. Doing nothing all day sure did make me tired!

Monday, 1:56 PM (MST) 07/16/2012 – Glasgow, MT

We are currently at a station stop in Glasgow, Montana. Today has been extremely uneventful.  I woke up this morning as we were travelling between Grand Forks, ND and Devil’s Lake, ND. We left Devil’s Lake at 7:47 AM CST, which by my calculations put us about an hour and a half behind schedule.  Unfortunately, I have only seen my car attendant once during this whole trip. He stopped by to make my bed this morning, but did not have the courtesy to even introduce himself. He merely threw the bedding together, stashed it in the upper bunk, put the seats back up and said, “Have you ridden Amtrak before?” When I affirmed that I had, he said “Ok”, and turned and left my room. He has not returned since then, nearly eight hours ago. The only reason I know his name (Miguel) is because I happened to catch a glimpse of it on his nametag as he was leaving. If this is the kind of “service” Miguel provides to all of the passengers under his watch, I don’t expect that he receives too many tips. He certainly won’t be getting one from me. 

Monday, 7:30 PM (MST) 07/16/2012 – Browning, MT

As I write this, our train is climbing into the foothills of the Rockies due west of Browning, Montana. It is taking me a long time to write, however. As I do, it is broken by long periods of stopping to look out the window at the incredible thunderstorm that is taking place outside.  There is no visible lightning; but it is as if I am trapped inside two weather systems at once. Behind me, in the east, it is sunny; the sun is nearing the apex of the horizon and is nearly ready to set. Ahead of me lie the darkest clouds I have ever seen in my life. I can see the rain falling from the clouds. And although they are dark clouds, it does not appear as if the rain is coming down hard. Rather, it appears to be a gentle, sinuous rain. I don’t know that there has ever been a time in my life I’ve ever seen anything so beautiful.  People ask me all the time why I take the train instead of flying somewhere and “getting there quicker”. If I flew on an airplane, I would have missed out on seeing this beauty of God’s creation. God can and will meet you anywhere, and He certainly met me tonight on a train west of Browning, Montana.

Tuesday, 11:45 AM (PST) 07/17/2012 – Union Station, Portland, OR

I’m in the home stretch of this journey! I arrived about a half hour ago as the Empire Builder’s Portland section terminated here at 11:18, one hour and eight minutes late. After I finished last night’s post about the rainstorm in the Rockies, I put on the movie “Remember the Titans” and went to bed just after our station stop in Essex, Montana.   I woke up this morning just before we arrived into the Tri-Cities. I stepped outside for a breath of fresh air as we made our stop in Pasco, Washington; it was 6:45 AM. After getting back onboard the train, I watched as we turned again towards the west and began to follow the Columbia across southern Washington. Somewhere between our station stops of White Salmon and Vancouver, I hit the 5,000 mile mark in my total rail travel! This trip really helped me with that goal, since I will have travelled 3,915 miles by the time I step off the train in Salem tonight. That’s an average of 559 miles a day since I left Salem last Tuesday. Wow!!  On that note, I think I’ll sign off of this travelogue. It’s been a long week and I’m going to take this last little bit of time to relax before catching my last train home to Salem tonight. As always, I hope you enjoyed reading of my experiences on Amtrak.

Safe and Happy Travels!
The Musical Traveler

Seattle Trip on Amtrak Cascades 500

The idea for this trip started as an inkling just one day before taking it. I was doing some railfanning on a sunny but chilly Sunday afternoon at the Salem Amtrak Station when I decided that it had been far too long since my last train trip. As I sat on a bench outside the station, I decided that I would take just a short day trip to Seattle, since it allowed me to be back in time for my full day of classes at the college on Tuesday. Between going to school, volunteering two days a week at the high school and working at my job, I have been needing a break from the everyday challenges of life. What better way to do this than to plan a day escape to the Emerald City?

For this trip, I was able to do something that was quite unconventional: I convinced my mother and one of my sisters to come along as well. Getting my sister to come along was no big feat; if you’ve read my previous travelogues from earlier Amtrak trips I’ve taken, you already know of my sister’s love for Seattle. Getting my mom to go, however, was a whole different story.

When it comes to some things, my mom tends to be somewhat of a worrier -- always full of questions and scenarios of what could happen at any given moment. I answered her questions, listened to her voiced concerns and met them with as much knowledge about Amtrak as I could. She wondered how much time we would spend on the train. She wondered what to do if she were to park her car at the station all day (The Station provides both short and long term parking). She wondered what kind of activities I had in mind for Seattle (No plan whatsoever!) After a few hours of explanation and letting her sift through the idea of train travel, she decided to go.

Since there are only a few trains between Salem and Seattle each day, the best idea is to catch the earliest train into Seattle and the latest train back to Salem in order to optimize the amount of time you have in the city. If you’re staying for more than one day with no plans, this isn’t a problem. However, if you only have one day in Seattle, it is more of a necessity. With that being said, the plan is to catch the train #500 out of Salem at 6:42 AM, and come back from Seattle on the 5:30 PM train, Amtrak #509. In order to do this, we had to be up at about 4 AM in order to be prepared to be at the station by 6. Looks like it’s going to be an early evening for us!

Monday, 6:00 AM (Pacific Standard Time), 02/13/2012, Salem, Oregon
The day dawned pretty chilly and a bit rainy, typical of a February day here in the Willamette Valley. Of course, everything appears to be a little bleak when you have to be up at four in the morning. A quick call to the Amtrak hotline (1-800-USA RAIL) tells me that our train is currently on time and is en route to Albany, which is one stop before Salem. After preparing our carry-on baggage and grabbing a quick bite, we’re out the door and on our way to the station at about twenty minutes after five.

We arrived at the station at about five minutes to six. There were many passengers who were already there, as well as many cars parked in the parking lot from travellers who had left them there for the duration of their trip. I think this helped to alleviate some of my mom’s fears about leaving her car in an open parking lot, although I had assured her that it would be far from empty. After making sure we have everything, we venture through the wet and cold into the Salem Amtrak Station. Built in 1918, this station has one of the better-kept interiors of the stations I’ve been to and reminds one of the glory days of rail travel in this country. While my mom and sister tagged their luggage, I went to print our tickets from the Quik-Trak ticket machine provided in the small vestibule of the Salem station. That vestibule also includes a vending machine with snacks for hungry travellers. After printing our tickets, the only thing left to do is wait for the train.


Monday, 8:00 AM (Pacific Standard Time), 02/13/2012 – Union Station, Portland, OR
Train 500 left Salem at 6:45, about three minutes later than the scheduled departure time. Between Salem and Portland there is only one station, which is in Oregon City. Between Oregon City and the Portland station, there is quite a bit of slack time built into the schedule to allow for freight trains, city traffic, etc. When the trains are running close to on time and everything aligns just right, you can actually be late coming from Eugene, Albany or Salem and make it into Portland earlier than the scheduled arrival. This happened to our train this morning, and we glided to a stop at Portland’s Union Station at 7:50 AM, a full 15 minutes ahead of schedule.

After taking a short fresh air break, we are back on the train. It winds its way out of Portland, past the stock yards, and on its way to the Columbia crossing and the next station, Vancouver. Before we are able to cross the Columbia, however, the train slides to a stop. After waiting for a brief moment, the conductor comes on the intercom and explains the reason for the delay:

“In 1856, future President Abraham Lincoln represented a railroad company in a lawsuit against a company that controlled barge traffic on the Mississippi River to find out which held precedence. The barge company won that lawsuit, and the ruling was stated that river traffic took precedence over rail traffic. With that being the case, we’ll be on our way just as soon as these Columbia barges clear the bridge and the tracks are realigned.”

It would be nice if more Amtrak employees could have fun like this. I think that providing information in a fun yet informative way would make their passengers more sympathetic to delays like this one. Eventually the barges did clear the river, and we were on our way again. Unfortunately, however, it was not without some delay as we rolled into Vancouver, WA at 9:06 AM, 21 minutes late. From here on out we continued to be late, and eventually arrived into Seattle at 12:40 PM, 40 minutes late. From here, we need to be back to Seattle’s King Street Station by about 4:45 in order to catch the last train back to Salem.

Monday, 4:30 PM (Pacific Standard Time), 02/13/2012 – King Street Station, Seattle, WA
The four hours we spent in Seattle went by rather quickly. We went from the train station over to the ferry terminal to have lunch. This is mainly because I knew where it was, knew what the food offerings were and it allowed us to grab something quickly so not to lose any more time in the city. The ferry terminal was quite empty, as empty as I’ve ever seen it; however, I attribute this to it being the middle of winter and also the middle of the day. The only time I’ve ever been on the ferry has been early morning, mid-afternoon on a weekend, and once late at night on the last ferry out, so seeing it this empty is somewhat of a surprise for me.

Upon finishing our lunch, we headed over to the world-famous Pike Place Market. I had been here once before already and I thought that since my mom and sister like things like window shopping that this would be the perfect place to spend the remainder of our time in Seattle. I gave my sister my camera because I had already been there and really didn’t feel like taking any pictures today. She took some pretty cool pictures of various signs around Seattle and around Pike Place, so I’ll post some of those pictures at the end of this travelogue. We stopped at various venders, including one who did some pretty impressive graphic art. There was a piece that he had done that I would really like to have had, but I couldn’t justify spending $80 on it. Luckily, the vendor was able to help me discard my sad mood when a man that looked EXACTLY like John F. Kennedy passed the booth and he popped off with “Hello Mr. President, have a great day!” Needless to say we laughed really hard, and the JFK look-alike got a chuckle out of it as well.

After spending about three and a half hours at Pike Place, we returned to King Street Station to catch our train home. One thing my sister and mom both decided is that transportation by taxi is definitely not something they enjoy. Since I have been in larger cities such as Seattle, taking a taxi is not as big a deal to me now as it used to be, but I definitely understand their point of view and I make sure to tip my taxi driver extra when he provides a safe, smooth and quick ride to the desired destination.


Monday, 5:30 PM (Pacific Standard Time), 02/13/2012 – King Street Station, Seattle, WA
Although our tickets this morning were in coach, we are returning to Salem in Business Class. For being mom’s first train ride, I wanted her to experience both classes offered on the Amtrak Cascades, which is the Amtrak Route we travelled on today. It also allows us priority boarding and a coupon for a free item from the Café Car. (For more of a description on business class and the services provided by the Café Car, read my travelogue from July 2011.) We departed Seattle on time and continued to run mostly on time all the way into Portland. There were two gentlemen in business-type attire who already smelled of alcohol by the time we were leaving Seattle and kept going to the Café Car to purchase more. During one of their forays, I asked the conductor if we could be moved to a different part of the car and because the train was fairly empty tonight, he complied.

Between Portland and Salem, my sister and I went to use our cards for the purchase in the Café Car. While there, we met a nice Café Car attendant named Isabella who was interested to know about how we liked train travel. I told her of my travels on Amtrak and that I planned a long-distance trip for this summer on Amtrak’s Empire Builder route, she became quite excited. Apparently, she is moving to this route in a few months and will be either a Lounge Car attendant or a Dining Car attendant. I forget which it was that she said she would be doing, but perhaps I will see her later this year on my Empire Builder trip.

We arrived on time into Salem at 10:17, and after grabbing a late dinner we arrived home at about 11:15 PM. This was a fairly uneventful trip as far as the train travel, but after putting more than 500 miles under our belts we were definitely ready to call it a day by the time we got home! Stay tuned for my next rail travel blog, which will most likely be coming to you from Amtrak’s Empire Builder route.


- The Musical Traveler -

Salem Railfanning Trip - February 12, 2012

It has been quite some time since I last rode the rails! My last train trip was in July 2011 during my five day vacation to Seattle. I have been planning my 2012 Summer Vacation since October of 2011, and it includes a lot of planning regarding trains since I’ve decided to make my first trek to the Midwest via Amtrak’s Empire Builder train to Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota! Needless to say I have gotten the itch for some railroad-related fun, which brings me out to the Salem Amtrak Depot today.

The trip started with my mom and sister deciding that they would like to go shopping in Salem today. I quickly grabbed at the chance of making the twenty minute trip into town if they would drop me off at the depot for a couple of hours of train watching. They complied, thus making me a very happy camper!

I have decided in the short time span I have that I will be at the station for the arrival of both the Northbound and Southbound Coast Starlight trains. Since the Northbound arrives at 2:03pm and the Southbound arrives at 3:37pm, there isn’t much of a gap when it comes to railfanning these trains.

After calling 1-800-USA RAIL and listening to the delightful Julie (Amtrak’s automated telephone system), I find out that the Northbound Coast Starlight is running about 20 minutes late with an estimated arrival time of 2:25pm. This works fine for me, as I find out that the Southbound Starlight is right on schedule for its 3:37 arrival. I take my place on a bench on the platform and begin to watch for the Northbound Starlight. I am not disappointed; less than 10 minutes after I sit to wait, the station agent makes the normal boarding call over the outside public address system:

“Attention passengers: Amtrak train #14, the Coast Starlight, will be arriving shortly on track number one bound for Seattle and all intermediate points. Again, Amtrak train #14 will be arriving shortly on track number one bound for Seattle. Please have your tickets and identification ready.”

No less than two minutes later, here comes the Coast Starlight blaring into the station. Here’s a list of today’s consist:


132 P42DC Engine
467 EMD F59PHI Engine
1261 Heritage Baggage Car
39031 Superliner Sleeping Car
32009 Superliner Sleeping Car
32068 Superliner Sleeping Car
37016 Superliner Dining Car
38065 Superliner Dining Car
33048 Superliner Lounge Car
34037 Superliner Coach
34510 Superliner Coach
34113 Superliner Coach





This train is deadheading an Amtrak Cascades engine (467), most likely on its way from the Oakland or Los Angeles yard back to Seattle. I found it very interesting and also quite odd that this consist had two dining cars instead of the usual one. Perhaps one of the dining cars is also on its way up to Seattle, maybe as a substitute for the Empire Builder Dining Car. That is the only logical explanation I can come up with as to why the Coast Starlight would have two Dining Cars attached to its consist. Either way, the train is in the station but a minute, picks up its passengers and continues on to Seattle.

After the departure of the Northbound, I go into the station to wait for the next arrival. Although the weather is somewhat sunny, it is quite chilly and a bit windy so the indoor accommodations are quite welcome to me. As I go into the station, people are already beginning to arrive for the next train. I take a look around from my seat. We are quite lucky to have such a nice station in the Salem area for Amtrak patrons to use. I have been in other stations that are not nearly as nice, nor as well-kept as the Salem station (e.g., Seattle). I took a short look at the available literature for Amtrak patrons and grabbed an Amtrak National timetable as well as timetables for the Southwest Chief, Empire Builder, Texas Eagle, California Zephyr , Coast Starlight and Sunset Limited. I plan on making a lot of trips on Amtrak in the next 6 – 7 years, and these timetables will help me in my preparations in these journeys. When all is said and done, in the next 6 years or so I will have ridden almost every long distance train Amtrak offers, covering 38 states and more than 40,000 miles. Something to look forward to!

The Southbound Coast Starlight pulled into the station about 10 minutes late. It was a lucky thing for me, because I was so engrossed in my newfound literature that I completely forgot to be watching the clock for the arrival time! Luckily, the station agent made the announcement about five minutes before the arrival which still gave me plenty of time to get outside and have my camera ready. Although I got a video of both the Northbound and Southbound trains coming into the station, I failed to get a consist listing for the Southbound Starlight.





As I watched the Southbound Starlight round the corner at the far end of the platform and fade away into the distance, I knew that I had to travel on the train again – and soon! The plan I hatched in my head at that precise moment turned into an impromptu daycation for the very next day – a train ride to Seattle and a visit to Pike Place Market! I will have a travelogue and some updated photos from that trip soon. Until then, stay well!

Travelogue from my first Amtrak trip!

Greetings, one and all! I mentioned in my last travelogue that I would be writing a travelogue about the first time I ever took a train. The events from that day have somewhat faded into memory since it has been over a year since that first trip. I will try to recall the events as best as I can, but I am only human. :- )

With that being said, here is the travelogue from my first Amtrak trip.
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AMTRAK CASCADES TRAIN 500 – SALEM, OR TO SEATTLE, WA

Friday, 6:00 AM (Pacific Standard Time), 11/12/10, Salem, Oregon
I have been a train enthusiast since childhood, so you might think that I would be excited for my first journey on the rails. However, the purpose of this trip is not a happy one. My sister and I are on our way to attend my Grandmother’s funeral. She passed away at home, 4 days after her 65th Birthday. The plan is for my sister and I to ride the train to Seattle, Washington, arriving at Noon; take a taxi over to the Colman Docks and then take a ferry over to Bremerton, where my grandparents live. We will then meet my uncle and go see the rest of the family. Soon, we find out that these plans are for naught. When riding an Amtrak train, it is best not to plan to adhere to a strictly set time schedule.

It is a cold November morning here at the Amtrak Station on 13th Street in Salem, OR. My sister and I are about to board Amtrak Cascades route 500 to Seattle. Neither of us has ever taken a train before, and although neither of us is thrilled about the circumstances it is still kind of exciting to ride the train! After leaving home at about 5:30 AM (after having been up since 3), we arrive at the Salem Amtrak station just a few minutes before the station opens at 6:00 AM. After the station is opened for the day, we promptly went inside. There were quite a few of us waiting to get into the station; there are maybe 20 people, with most of them taking the train and a few people there just for a send-off. Upon trying to print our tickets via the Quik-Trak Ticket Kiosk, I find that the machine is out of order. I then went over and spoke with the station agent (who was rather discourteous and snide), explained the situation about the Quik-Trak machine and requested to have her print our tickets for the approaching journey. Irritated, the station agent went over to the kiosk, slapped a hand-written “Out of Order” sign on it, came back to the desk and reluctantly took care of my request. After tagging and weighing our baggage, we are ready for travel!


Friday, 6:45 AM (PST), 11/12/10, Salem, Oregon
As I have come to find out from my other trips on Amtrak, trains are rarely exactly on time. This is the case today; we are all on the platform for the scheduled arrival time of 6:42 AM when we are told that the train is running a few minutes late. Fortunately, it really is only a few minutes. The train arrives at 6:47 AM. The conductor meets us at the door to our car, checks our tickets and identification, and instructs us on how to get to our seats. Little did we know that these would be our seats until 6:00 PM that evening, nearly 12 hours later! The train does not stop for very long at the Salem station; after making its 6:47 stop we are under way one minute later at 6:48. After taking our seats in our coach car, we began to experience some of the thrill of riding the rails for the first time!

Although the sun is beginning to come up, it still appears to be quite cold outside. We speed past the towns that dot the I-5 Corridor along our route as it meanders in a northerly fashion to Portland. Along the way we make a stop at Oregon City. To people outside of Oregon, Oregon City is known as the end of the world-famous Oregon Trail. To most Oregonians, it is known simply as a suburb to the much larger Portland. We stop here at 7:31, about 7 minutes behind the scheduled arrival time of 7:24. We sit in this station for what seems to be less than thirty seconds, as no one is apparently boarding or detraining here today. As we continue towards Portland, it is quite clear that the train is making excellent time. We have yet to be pulled into any sidings by dispatchers, and there have been no other trains to pass us on the adjacent tracks. I estimate that we will arrive into Portland ahead of schedule; this estimate turns out to be correct as we glide into Portland’s historic Union Station, 9 minutes before the scheduled arrival time of 8:05 AM. It would appear that there is quite a bit of padding built into the schedule between Salem and Portland!


Friday, 8:15 AM (Pacific Time), 11/12/10, Portland, Oregon
With an extended layover in Portland, my sister and I take advantage of the time by going to the Bistro Car to get some breakfast. On most long distance Amtrak trains, the Bistro Car is normally referred to as the Café/Lounge car. I’m not sure why it is referred to as the Bistro Car on this particular route; perhaps it is simply because this is not a long distance train. The corridor in which the Cascades trains all operate is only 466 miles long between Vancouver, BC and Eugene, Oregon and the trip takes just 10 hours. Perhaps this is why Amtrak has not labeled it as a Café Car. We are greeted in the Café Car by the attendant, a hearty fellow with a red goatee named Jeff. We exchange a few pleasantries with Jeff as we wait for our food.

As we waited for our food, I barely noticed a tip jar at the far end of the counter. I get the feeling that Jeff purposely put the tip jar in an out of the way place so that it was not noticed, an act that speaks volumes about the character of our cheerful car attendant. When the service is as good as Jeff provided, I have no problem leaving a robust tip! After receiving our food, I make sure to leave a few dollars in the inconspicuous and almost unnoticeable tip jar for Jeff as we return to our seats. Just about the time we finished our breakfast, the conductor announces that we are underway and that our next stop is a short jaunt across the river in Vancouver, Washington.

We arrive in Vancouver right on time at 8:45 AM, and continue on our way to the next stop, Kelso, Washington. We arrive at Kelso at 9:36 about 16 minutes late, and sit at this stop for several minutes for no apparent reason. No announcement is made regarding why we are stopped, and nobody seems to have an idea of what could be causing the delay. Right about the same time I notice some train inspectors from Burlington Northern walking past outside our car, a voice comes over the train’s PA system. It is the voice of Duncan White, the Conductor for our trip to Seattle. Duncan explains that the engineer running the train was experiencing a loss of air pressure in his brake system. Officials from Burlington Northern were walking the train to check hoses and try to locate the source of the problem. Little did we know that the announcement Duncan made was going to be the most detailed and informative notice us passengers would get all day.

Friday, 9:45 AM (Pacific Time), 11/12/10, Kelso-Longview, Washington
After the brake check, we are cleared by the Burlington Northern crew to continue on our journey. We go along at a steady pace for a bit as we clear the freight yards of Kelso and make our way back out onto the BNSF mainline. We go at a quick clip for the next several miles. It is then that I start to notice a substantial amount of slowing in our speed. Just as many of the other passengers are finally starting to pick up on this decrease of speed, we glide to a stop. We are stopped here for maybe 5 minutes, and then continue on at a very slow speed, maybe 30 miles per hour. After less than two minutes, the train once again comes to a stop. At this point we begin to back up, going about the same speed of 30 or so miles an hour. The reason for this is that the train is being pulled onto a siding, or an adjacent track to the mainline. It is here that we will sit for the next 8 hours right outside the city of Vader, Washington, which is about halfway between Kelso-Longview and Centralia, Washington.

Friday, 1:15 PM (Pacific Time), 11/12/10, Vader, Washington
We’ve officially been stranded in the same location for 3 hours now. Conductor Duncan made an announcement right after we pulled into the siding that we had lost all pressure in our air braking system and that the brakes were not able to be applied when the train was in this condition. That assessment seems quite silly to me as we were able to go forward, stop, back up and stop again to get into our current position. Either way, the engineer called for a Burlington Northern crew including a mechanic in from Portland, an hour and a half drive from where we are at currently. The work crew showed up at about 12:30 and has been working since then. At least, we have to assume that they have been working, because there have been no further on board announcements.

Around 11 o’clock, I supposed that the Bistro Car would eventually run out of supplies since we were stranded. I saw many people going back and forth to the Bistro Car, and I figured that if my sister and I wanted something for lunch, now would be the time to get it. I am glad we went when we did, because not long after that Jeff came across the PA System to let us know that the Bistro Car was out of supplies and that he had nothing left to sell his passengers in the way of food. He did mention to us that he had plenty of Amtrak souvenir items left to sell, but advised us that they would not make the tastiest of meals. Boy, does this guy have a sense of humor! I imagine that if more passengers weren’t irritated with the situation, they would have found the situation quite comical.

Speaking of comical situations, there is always much to be said about the people who are travelling around you. A young gentleman named Huey was sitting across from my sister and I. When he boarded the train in Portland he had been quite talkative, but had since gone to a back and forth position of being on his cell phone and listening to an iPod. Across the aisle from us, the situations were no less comical. Seated next to each other were an older lady (whom I believe was named Mary) and two college students. One of the college students seemed like he must have been exhausted, because I only ever saw him leave his seat to use the restroom or to go to the Bistro Car. Otherwise, he slept quite soundly in his seat.

The other college student in the seat next to the sleepy passenger deserves a paragraph all of his own. This young man was quite honestly the most entertaining thing happening on board the train for the first few hours of our marooning. Although he was asleep until Kelso, once he awoke he was nothing but entertainment for us. I don’t particularly find public displays of foul language to be something that is appropriate, especially in the company of those who are older than you. Apparently, this young gent never got that memo! From the time he awoke in Kelso, he was on his cell phone. I’m not sure who he was talking to, but every other word out of his mouth was the “F” word. Normally in these kinds of situations, the Conductor would be told and the person would be put off the train. In this case, however, it didn’t matter much; it’s not like he’d be going anywhere any faster than the rest of us! Overall the entire scene grew less funny and became wearier as the day progressed.

Friday, 3:15 PM (Pacific Time), 11/12/10, Vader, Washington
We’ve been stranded at the same spot just outside of Vader for just over five hours now at this point when an announcement comes across the intercom: They’re sending busses from Portland to ship us to Seattle and all intermediate points! This is the good news. The bad news? They have just now ordered those busses, and they have to come all the way from Portland. Best case scenario, they will arrive at 5 PM. During all this, the Conductor attempts to take a head count. We have one of two options: We can either take the chartered busses to Seattle and all intermediate points; OR, we can stay onboard the Amtrak Cascades in its current position until the northbound Coast Starlight arrives, around 6 PM. My sister and I make a quick decision to wait for the northbound Starlight. It seems as if many people are taking the busses, and at this point we won’t mind an hour wait on an emptier train.

Friday, 6:30 PM (Pacific Time), 11/12/10, Vader, Washington
The charter busses from Portland arrived at around 4:45 PM. Since it is November, it was completely dark outside by this point in time. The busses leave at about 5:15, once it is confirmed that everyone who wants to take the busses is on them and those of us that are left want to wait it out for the Coast Starlight to show up. Thankfully, the Coast Starlight shows up right at the quoted time of 6:15 PM. It stops directly aligned next to us on the adjacent track. We all grab our baggage and step off the Cascades and onto the Coast Starlight. Since it is early November and the train is usually pretty empty this time of year, the Car Attendant puts us upstairs into a roomette. I am seated in a roomette with Huey on the west side of the train, and my sister is seated in a roomette across the hall from us with a young college girl named Taylor. We are all thankful to be on a train that is moving!

Friday, 7:15 PM (Pacific Time), 11/12/10, Centralia, Washington
We have been quoted an arrival time of 9 PM into Seattle’s Union Station. Unfortunately, we are pulled into a siding by the BNSF dispatcher and told to wait until a southbound freighter has passed us. All in all, we waited almost 25 minutes until this freighter finally passed, and started moving again at 7:40 PM. We manage to lose some more time between Centralia and Seattle.

Friday, 9:45 PM (Pacific Time), 11/12/10, Seattle, Washington
After this harrowing and exhausting day, the Coast Starlight glides us into Seattle at 9:45 PM - Nearly 10 hours after our scheduled arrival time of Noon, and merely an hour late from their own scheduled arrival time of 8:45 PM. For a train going from Los Angeles to Seattle in the course of a day and a half, an hour late isn’t bad! Completely exhausted, my sister and I are both fed up with Amtrak and emotionally drained at the further stress of this trip -- not counting the stress of the original reason for the trip -- remember, this trip was for my grandmother’s funeral to begin with…not really an avenue for relaxation! That being said, my sister and I opt to just go straight to the Washington State Ferry terminal at Colman Dock and decide to not even deal with Amtrak’s Customer Relations Department. Being a person who gets somewhat hot under the collar when I’m irritated and under stress, I figured this would be the better option.

I didn’t expect to get any of the cost of my trip refunded by Amtrak, and in that instance I turned out to be right. I heard a person being turned away by an Amtrak employee with the explanation, “It’s not our fault; we don’t have to guarantee an on-time connection.” This person obviously missed a connecting train, and Amtrak should be at fault for that despite whether or not the person was connecting with a train that is a guaranteed connection. Normally I would side with Amtrak on this, since the Cascades is not a guaranteed connection train; however, under the special circumstances of this trip I think Amtrak should have made the concession of refunding some of the passengers’ money.

My sister is quite disappointed with the events of this trip. It would turn out to be her only trip to Seattle, a city she loves dearly. I had hoped to show her around the city a little bit, but arriving 10 hours late doesn’t afford many opportunities for sightseeing. We had originally decided to take our first taxi ride ever in Seattle, but by the time we got to the station neither of us had the energy or patience to deal with more public transportation. Being a Friday night in Seattle, it was quite busy; however, this did not hamper us in our decision to walk from King Street Station to the Ferry Terminal. It is about a one half mile walk, and we did it in just under 15 minutes. We waited about 45 minutes in the Colman Dock Ferry Terminal before our 10:45 PM ferry to Bremerton. After taking an hour ferry ride across Puget Sound we are picked up at the Ferry Terminal in Bremerton at 11:40 PM by our father, and finally got to bed at around 2 AM. At this point, I had been up for 23 hours and was more than ready for a good night’s rest! Thankfully, we had not paid for round-trip tickets on this journey as we would be returning to Oregon with my other sister, who was driving up early Saturday morning.

All in all, my first Amtrak journey was not the greatest although it did afford me the opportunity to take two trains on one route, which is quite rare. I can look back at this trip now and make jokes about it, having ridden more than 1,000 total miles on Amtrak. It is definitely a story I will never forget, and hopefully it will have been the worst experience I ever get to have with Amtrak as I plan to travel with them again in the future!

Introduction and Travelogue

After reading and becoming entranced with the travelogues of fellow rail travel enthusiasts, I decided to try my own hand at writing a travelogue. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the works of other authors on a fantastic site called Trainweb. (Go to Trainweb!) I especially enjoy those of fellow writers Steve Grande & Geno Dailey. If you have the chance, I urge you to give them a look here: Steve's Travelogues and Geno's Travelogues. These travelogues contain a lot of very useful information from seasoned Amtrak travelers and will tell you about a lot of the things that Amtrak brochures leave out simply because of space concerns. They are also quite interesting and definitely entertaining to read! That being said, here is my first travelogue.



AMTRAK CASCADES TRAIN 500 – SALEM, OR TO SEATTLE, WA
JULY 2, 2011 – 5:30 AM
It is a bright, clear day in my hometown of Stayton, Oregon. We’re a small bedroom community to Oregon’s capital, Salem. Lying about 15 miles east of Salem, Stayton is a gateway to the Central Cascade Mountains and eastern Oregon. This morning I’ll be leaving the picturesque Willamette Valley and traveling north on Amtrak’s Cascades route to beautiful Seattle, Washington.

After a brief but nice breakfast with my best friend who has graciously offered to take me to the train station this morning, I arrived at the Salem Amtrak station about 35 minutes ahead of my scheduled departure time of 6:42 AM. After weighing my baggage on the handy baggage scale located inside the Salem station and tagging my luggage, I’m finally ready for travel. The platform is rather cold for this time of morning, even in July. This particular train has been late for me the few times I have ridden it before now, but not today! It arrives right on time at 6:42, and I board the train and find my seat in Business Class.



Salem Amtrak Station.

Now, I have to make mention of Amtrak’s Business Class on the Amtrak Cascades route. Quite simply put, it is fantastic. Being someone who has a preference of peace and quiet, I truly love the Business Class service on this train. The Business Class cars are similar to the Quiet Cars on the Acela Trains in the eastern part of the country. The leather seats are very comfortable and have plenty of legroom. In addition to this, you get a coupon for up to $3.00 off any purchase you make from the Café car. There are also free newspapers available to read, and on this morning’s ride it is a choice between the USA Today and the Eugene Register-Guard. If you find yourself taking this route at some point, I would highly suggest taking your trip in Business Class. It is only an $8 - $20 upgrade (depending on how far in advance you schedule your trip), and it is thoroughly worth the investment.


Here's a shot of my Business Class seats on the Amtrak Cascades. Note the nice leather seats and the space that is provided both in the corridor and in the legroom of each seat. Truly a first-class experience.

After departing from the Salem station, the train meanders along north through some scenic Willamette Valley farmland. After passing by charming hamlets such as Gervais, Canby and Hubbard, the train rolls to a stop in Oregon City, Oregon. We stop for less than a minute here, as there are only a few passengers at the station. The sun continues to rise up over the eastern horizon as we roll along the Willamette River at quite a steady speed; we are able to carry on at a fairly steady speed all the way into the city. In fact, our speed is so good that we arrive at our next destination, Portland’s Union Station, at 7:48 AM -- about 17 minutes ahead of schedule.


The clocktower of Portland's Union Station, featuring the popular "Go By Train" sign on the side of the tower.

Knowing that I have about 40 minutes until our scheduled departure time of 8:30 AM, I decide to de-board the train to take a look at the trainset. The Amtrak Cascades route runs on a Talgo trainset. After taking a few quick snapshots of the station and the train (I’m on the Mt. Olympus trainset this morning), I return to my seat and take advantage of my business class coupon by ordering a cup of coffee in the café car before departing at 8:30 as scheduled.


This is the Amtrak Cascades Mt. Olympus trainset, from Spanish train-maker Talgo. I didn't have quite enough time to run up to the front of the train to get a picture of the Engine, as there was another train boarding when we came into the station.

After taking on about 125 passengers at Portland, we continue northward, stopping in Vancouver, WA at 8:45 am. The Vancouver station is just over the Columbia River from Oregon and seems to be put in a forgotten area of town, down by the shipyards and docks. We take on a few more passengers here and continue to roll northwards at a good clip. The noiselessness of this car is quite delightful, and I take full advantage of this by cracking open a book I’ve been dying to read – this IS vacation, after all! Deciding to save part of my book for later, I quit reading just before pulling into the area known as the Tacoma Narrows. Since I have family in the Puget Sound area, I am no stranger to the majestic waters of this fabled pass. This is, however, the first time I have seen it from the train during daylight hours. I snap many pictures as we roll under the bridge and through Puget Sound country. The weather is magnificent this morning and allows for many great photo opportunities. It is very upsetting to me that with the proposed Point Defiance cutoff would eliminate the portion of the trip which allows the best views of Puget Sound and The Narrows. This area has been a highlight and crown jewel of the Cascades route and should continue to be so.


5,400 feet long, The Narrows Bridge spans the Tacoma Narrows.

We continue to be on time at every station except Tacoma and Tukwila, which we are 2 and 4 minutes late to, respectively. Pulling into Seattle on the Cascades route allows for many photo opportunities. I personally am somewhat of a self-proclaimed coffee nut, so snapping a picture of the world headquarters of the Starbucks Coffee Company seemed like a perfectly natural idea. Also afforded were opportunities to shoot photos of Qwest Field, the home of the Seattle Seahawks. I am quite surprised that there is nearly no delay at the station. We are pulled into a siding for only about 5 minutes as a short southbound freighter passes us, and we roll into King Street Station 12 minutes early at 11:48 AM.




The World Headquarters of Starbucks Coffee. As a coffee aficionado, I couldn't pass this shot up!




An outside shot of Qwest Field, Home of the Seattle Seahawks. This is just about a week and a half after the name was changed from Qwest Field to CenturyLink Field due to CenturyLink's acquisition of Qwest, so the stadium signage had yet to be changed.


King Street Station, home to the Amtrak Cascades and Empire Builder routes.



King Street Station Clock Tower.


Overall, this was a fantastic trip. I have not taken any long distance trips as of yet, but I plan to take a round-trip tour on the Empire Builder in July 2012 from Portland to Minneapolis and back. Riding the train is something I have come to enjoy greatly with the exception of my very first train ride, but that is a story for another travelogue.