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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
