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Good morning from Amtrak 501, the Seattle - Portland Cascade Talgo.
The WIFI onboard works beautifully and we have just departed Olympia-Lacy about 10 minutes late. I'm riding comfortably in Business Class Car 1, Seat 5 on the inland (left facing southward) side of the train..... that's a single seat in the 2-1 configuration.
Just a few items because the point is to enjoy the view outside the window, not a 10.1 inch Netbook screen, no?
First - the Talgo equipment is my absolute favorite short of having a Superliner Bedroom. The folks in Wisconsin are gonna get their pair for the Hiawathas and love them so much they will hopefully flood the state house questionning the governor about why they should not have more.
Wow, the Pacific Northwest is green. More so than my native Great Smoky Mountains area.
Seattle King Street Station..... so the old upper parking lot is being turned into a Courtyard with trees and there seems to be some work taking place on the clock tower. Inside the toilets work and the portajohn trailers are gone. Other than that, I can discern no significant progress made in the glacial-paced station renovation since my last visit here in 2005. The area above where the drop-ceiling was is still brown. There was no evidence of interior work going on.
A pair of video monitors in the waiting room played a video about Amtrak security on an annoyingly endless loop. The video was shot on the Northeast Corridor (Did you know the man sitting beside you drinking coffee might be a top-secret undercover agent?) and the contrast between the magnificent Philadelphia 30th Street station onscreen and Seattle's abomination was remarkable.
Can't waint to reach Portland.... classic station rehab done right.
On-board - nearly got trampled by a 30-ish something business woman. She was yakking on her cell-phone and backed into me full speed as I passed between cars. She scurried away still not acknowledging that she had collided with anyone.
Her yakking continues through a series of business calls and is a little annoying on such a quiet train...... BUT justice is served in the form of the mother and 3-year old who boarded at Tacoma and settled in the seat directly behind her. Give me a child chatting loudly about the various freight trains we pass and what Thomas likes over a self-absorbed business conversation anytime.
Our yakker has given up on her calls and retreated to the Bistro..... meanwhile, the victor in space encroachment is explaining that Mavis is a diesel........
OK..... signing off for now... looks like a 9:18am P arrival in Centralia.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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I really enjoy the Cascades service. The Talgos are very comfy, and the Bistro car serves some really nice, local snacks and drinks. I don't feel like I'm on Amtrak when I ride the Cascades, and that is a good thing!
Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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I agree, Smitty, that the Cascades are great and are different than the usual Amtrak experience.
A couple of years ago, on taking the Cascade train out of Portland to Seattle, I thought that I could wait at the Metropolitan Lounge, at the Portland station, as I had a Cascade "business class" seat. They told me that only people with sleeping car accommodations (for the Starlight or Builder) could wait in the Metropolitan Lounge. The Amtrak web site says either passengers with sleepers or "Guest Rewards Select Plus" passengers can wait in the Lounge.
Is it still true that you can't wait, in the Metropolitan Lounge, if you are only taking the Cascades and not a GWSP person?*
* GWSP = Guest Rewards Select Plus. I hate acronyms, but couldn't help it.
HSACTU (happy and satisfied Amtrak Cascade Train User)
Richard
Posts: 1909 | From: Santa Rosa | Registered: Jan 2004
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Cascades is certainly my favorite short-distance train, great trains and lovely views (though that may change when they change the route some). They usually make an announcement about discourteous cellphone use too--surprised they didn't on yours . . .
Enjoy your trip, David. I gather this is the one we helped you plan? I hope you have a splendid time.
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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Is Train #510 (the AM SEA-VAC Cascade train) still a Superliner coach train, like it was when we took it in 2008, or is that now also finally a Talgo?
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote:Originally posted by notelvis: On-board - nearly got trampled by a 30-ish something business woman. She was yakking on her cell-phone and backed into me full speed as I passed between cars. She scurried away still not acknowledging that she had collided with anyone.
Her yakking continues through a series of business calls and is a little annoying on such a quiet train...... Our yakker has given up on her calls and retreated to the Bistro......
Oh, but Mr. Presley; isn't it SOOO much fun listening to how "As The World Turns" unfolds before your very ears? And just think, it's fair game. You are not eavesdropping, aurally or electronically, it is just that, in this instance, this lady chooses to share possibly confidential business matters with the public at large.
I can recall a few years ago, riding a Regional STM-NYP (to connect with #49 Lake Shore). Over the course of the 45 minute ride, I learned, from a cell phone conversation in the seat behind me, about some guy's marital troubles, how he'd swear his divorce lawyer is working for her, how he'd bought a cabin on Lake Winnipesaukee (NH) for $310K....and she's not gonna get it because new girlfriend just "loves it".....
After a "non-stop" 45 min (I thought it would be over when we entered the East River tunnels, but nope guess what; they're wired as well!!!) of this stuff, I was thankfully gone. A Roomette on the Lake Shore is a good shield from that kind of tripe.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Sounds like a good trip, David. Does the Cascade still have the onboard video monitor that tracks your progress? Probably that has been replaced by personal mobile gizmos that have their own GPS tracking app.
What did you think of the cafe/bistro car. Too bad the diner is no longer operating, but if I remember the food is one or two notches better than standard Amtrak fare. Is that still the case?
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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Yes, the pace of renovation at KSS is amazingly slow! I've said before that it seems the City hired someone's uncle and cousin to come in on nights and weekends to putter around for a couple of hours. Here are some pictures from one year ago. The benches in the lobby are actually new, the Jackson Plaza official opening and ribbon cutting is Friday (6/24). If anyone wants to keep up on King Street Station news, here's a link.
I think they've turned the sound down on the TSA video so that you only have to hear it a couple of times while you wait in the ticket line. It used to be much louder and more obnoxious.
Posts: 831 | From: Seattle | Registered: Jan 2011
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Video monitors were in place but not used and they did make the announcements regarding courteous cell phone use..... but those were ignored.
Frank, I hit the platform in SBA just in case but as we were running about 15 minutes late....delayed by a tardy northbound Starlight, they ushered us back on board after just a couple of minutes.
Full report to follow but that may not happen until next week...... about to hit the rack in a surprisingly decent, not too pricey, room at the Metro Plaza Hotel in LAX!
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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I was already envious reading about your trip, but the Ivar's clam chowder put me over the edge! I could imagine myself taking the train from Milwaukee to Seattle just to eat that chowder & watch the Puget Sound ferries. My rule, though, is never eat clam chowder unless you can see the ocean.
-------------------- My new "default" station (EKH) has no baggage service or QuikTrak machine, but the parking is free! And the NY Central RR Museum is just across the tracks (but not open at Amtrak train times. . ..) Posts: 337 | From: Goshen, IN | Registered: Jun 2006
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Well rats, I don't check in very often anymore or I would have known you were headed for my neck of the woods. Would definitely have made the trip down to King Street Station to welcome you to the great Pacific Northwest. Next time! Have a great trip!
Sue
Posts: 31 | From: Seattle, WA | Registered: Apr 2006
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For the Y2K debacle, my wife & I flew to Denver, train-tripped to Seattle, ate supper at Ivar's with a co-worker and his wife, got on the train the next day to San Fransisco and flew home from there.
So basically I traveled 3000 miles to eat supper at Ivar's House of Clams. It was a great supper!
Posts: 1418 | From: Houston, Republic of Texas | Registered: Jan 2001
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Mike, my wife needs a 'good reason' to board a train. I'm not sure the eating out in Seattle would have enticed her to make a cross-country train ride BUT dinner out in Ft. Worth did once get her on the Trinity Rail Express from Dallas!
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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quote:Originally posted by notelvis: Mike, my wife needs a 'good reason' to board a train. I'm not sure the eating out in Seattle would have enticed her to make a cross-country train ride BUT dinner out in Ft. Worth did once get her on the Trinity Rail Express from Dallas!
There is always the romantic San Antonio river walk, say, over the Fourth of July weekend... {Hint... hint...}
Posts: 1418 | From: Houston, Republic of Texas | Registered: Jan 2001
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I'm surprised, David, that they haven't made more progress in the renovation of the Seattle King Street station. The renovation is supposed to be completed in 2 years.
One nice sight, as the train rolls through Tacoma, is the old Tacoma Union Station which can been seen from the Coast Starlight or Cascade trains, I believe. Once a Northern Pacific station and then a joint NP and GN station, it is now 100 years old. It has been renovated into a federal courthouse and they say it has retained its orginal integrity as a first-class train station.
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