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.