Mountain railroading always gave the opportunity for a runaway train. In 1949, I was working out of the small town of Avery, Idaho, on the Milwaukee Road. The railroad crossed the Bitterroot Mountains on a 1.7% grade through St. Paul Pass. The grade began just east of the Avery depot. Avery was a crew-change, engine-change, […]
CHENA HOT SPRINGS, Alaska — A small number of the thousands of people who travel to Alaska each winter hoping to see the Aurora Borealis will have a new and very different viewing point starting in 2023. How about soaking in a large tub of natural hot spring water in a warm private room aboard […]
Passengers line up at Pacific Central Station the Vancouver, British Columbia, for that afternoon’s Amtrak Cascades departure. The round-trip that includes this train is to be restored at the end of September. (Bob Johnston) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amtrak will resume single daily round-trip Cascades service between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, on Sept. 26, two […]
KENT, Wash. — The opening of several Sound Transit light rail extension projects will be delayed a several months to more than a year because of various construction issues, the board for the Seattle-area agency was told last week. The Seattle Times reports the East Link project, a line from downtown to Bellevue and Redmond, […]
Spokane, Portland and Seattle freight trains remembered: All through August 2022, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the grit, panache, and charm that was the Spokane, Portland and Seattle. As part of the celebration, please enjoy this freight train photo gallery as the perfect accompaniment. Each month since October 2019, Classic Trains editors have showcase one “Fallen Flag” railroad — […]
Please enjoy this photo gallery of Spokane, Portland and Seattle locomotives selected from files in Kalmbach Media‘s David P. Morgan Library. The principal Spokane, Portland and Seattle locomotive shop was at Vancouver, Washington. Initially a roundhouse, it was supplemented with a four-track, three-level diesel shop in 1949 that replaced the roundhouse after the last […]
SEATTLE — A woman was killed after becoming caught between the platform and a train at the Mount Baker station on Seattle’s light-rail system, the Seattle Times reports. The accident occurred about 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, with the Seattle Fire Department saying the woman was extricated by paramedics but was pronounced dead at the scene. […]
The Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway was the product of sparring during 1905-1909 between “Empire Builder” James J. Hill of the Great Northern and Edward H. Harriman of the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific, by which Hill’s GN, as well as Northern Pacific (which Hill controlled at the time), got much-improved access to Portland, while […]
SKAGWAY, Alaska — Two rockslides in a three-day period last week have led to the full closure of the White Pass & Yukon dock at the Port of Skagway, and the dock is expected to remain closed for the remainder of the 2022 sailing season. The website Cruise Hive reports slides on Wednesday, Aug. 3, […]
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — Counties in Washington state that rely on BNSF Railway trains to remove garbage have asked for congressional help in dealing with unreliable service from the railroad. The website GoSkagit.com reports that Skagit County Public Works Director Grace Kane says the county’s trash transfer station was last closed on July 11 because […]
MILWAUKIE, Ore. — Three people were injured Friday when a Tri-Met light rail train crashed into the end-of-track bumper at the Southeast Park Avenue station in Milwaukee. KATU-TV reports the train’s operator and two of the three passengers onboard were injured; the operator was transported to a nearby hospital. Tri-Met spokeswoman Tia York said the […]
CHICAGO — A line blockage earlier this week and equipment shortages have led to the cancellation of westbound Empire Builder departure from Chicago today (Wednesday, Aug. 3), as well as the eastbound Builder departures from Seattle and Portland on Friday, Aug. 5. The move comes after the Builder slated to arrive in Chicago on Tuesday, […]
