by Adron B. Hall on September 30, 2007
As promised!
Just for some context, I work 4 10 hr days on my current job I’m wrapping up. This last week I went on site, which is in Tacoma, but stayed in Seattle and utilized the reverse commute Sounder Train to get to and from work.
I stayed at a hotel close to the King Street Station called Pioneer Hotel (owned by Best Western, but it is a nice boutique style hotel built in 1914). From there I’d rise in the morning and walk the dozen blocks to King Street Station. Once I arrived in Tacoma I’d take the streetcar to downtown Tacoma where I’d go to work. Transit rocks, and definitely commuter rail!
For a point by point of all the commuting rail action, just select the direction and trip below.
Day 1 – Monday 24th
Day 2 – Tuesday 25th
Day 3 – Wednesday 26th
Day 4 – Thursday 27th
Day 5 – Friday 28th
Technorati Tags: Amtrak Cascades, Sound Transit, Sounder
by Adron B. Hall on September 29, 2007
Supposedly, per the Oregonian, one of the Talgo sets will be back today!!!!
I don’t have the information on which time slot the set returning will fill, but whichever one it does, it’ll be nice to have that 45 minutes back on the trip to Seattle!
Thank you Amtrak & WSDOT for getting this straightened out quick like!
by Adron B. Hall on September 19, 2007
The Sound Transit Sounder Commuter Train will be starting a new frequency heading in a new direction next week. The Sounder will have a reverse commute heading from Seattle to Tacoma in the morning and a trip back from Tacoma in the evening.
Next week I’ll be traveling to Seattle to do some work. While there I will be using the reverse Sounder frequency addition to travel from downtown Seattle to Tacoma. I’m expecting it will go very smoothly. I’m going to keep a log of my trips at Transit Sleuth and then will be publishing them in consolidated format here in Dogcaught in about a week.
Full Report Due: Saturday the 29th of 2007
Technorati Tags: Sounder, Sound Transit
by Adron B. Hall on September 15, 2007
First off, the cool stuff about Port of Tacoma.
The Port of Tacoma is working on, as one of the port workers informed us today, to become the second largest port in the United States. It seems there is a lot left for this to be done, but I think they could get there with continued efforts.
The tour was really cool riding along in smooth comfort on port Amtrak coach cars through the port. There where announcers in each car, and additionally what was obviously some port workers in each car too, touring their own port. While aboard we left the Tacoma Rail yard and weaved through and across streets, viewing the primary waterway and the huge cranes that lift the cargo containers off of the ships. Interesting factoid, the Port of Tacoma moves over 2 million 20ft equivalent cargo containers per year. 70% of that is moved out of port by rail.
Second Topic, Tacoma Rail.
Tacoma Rail itself was also an interesting exhibit itself. We where able to walk freely through a diesel engine, in through a maintenance warehouse, and they also had a Lionel train set on display.
The real kicker started when we where able to board the touring train. The passenger coach cars where in great shape. As mentioned earlier they are ex-Amtrak cars which obviously are either fixed up or barely used. The tour of course went off well.
I’ve returned home tonight after the tour and dug up some interesting information about the Tacoma Rail System.
- 204 miles of track.
- 100,000 line hauls per year.
- Infrastructure has recently been upgraded in the last decade for dozens and dozens of additional track mileage.
- For a break down of their three divisions; Tidelands, Mountain, and Capitol check out their maps page which is marked up via Google Maps.
I came home with a fun trip, good information, and a better understanding of port operations.
by Aaron Hockley on September 15, 2007
One thing that is great about this time of year is that the good sunset lighting is at a time which works well for the occasional grab shot or something that can otherwise be worked into a “typical” evening. On Wednesday I had an appointment downtown and found myself down at the depot with a few minutes to spare. Hence, a photo of a UP stack train crossing over:
And on that note, I’m off to explore Tacoma Rail with Adron…
Technorati Tags: vancouver, vancouver washington, trains, railroad, up, unionpacific, pictures, photos
