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WSDOT has a page with cameras showing the construction of the new Amtrak station at Freighthouse Square in Tacoma. Six different views and an archive to play with! In addition to the Talgos, Coast Starlight and Sounder trains, you may be able to see the Tacoma streetcars making an occasional appearance.
palmland Member # 4344
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Glad to see progress Vincent, thanks for posting. I see on WDOT's website (which seem pretty comprehensive) that track improvements are under in King St. station. Any idea how that will affect the EB and CS?
Wish our southern states could be as aggressive as Washington in promoting passenger rail. VA and NC are doing ok but SC, GA, and FL need to figure out how to get funding for these kind of improvements.
Vincent206 Member # 15447
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Trains that are arriving at one of King Street Station's 2 terminal tracks often have to stop and line the switch by hand before the train can pull into the station. I'm hoping that the improvement project will take care of that problem. KSS gets crowded at night when trains from Vancouver and Portland can arrive within a few minutes of each other. It's even more interesting if the Starlight is late and has to be accommodated at about the same time. The Empire Builder's morning arrival often requires passing the station and then reversing back into one of the terminal tracks--sometimes with an extra delay to hand throw a switch. Then Sound Transit has to move its commuter trains between the station and the maintenance yards which requires crossing in front of the terminal tracks and sometimes dancing around Amtrak trains. And don't forget, the 2 additional SEAPDX roundtrips will be starting sometime next year and that will bring even more train movements to KSS.
Vincent206 Member # 15447
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Another important project has recently been funded by the Oregon DOT and UP; the North Portland Junction area is finally going to get modernized. Once complete, this project will eliminate some of the 10mph running just south of the Columbia River and eliminate delays caused by BNSF, UP and Amtrak trying to run modern railroads on 1920-era infrastructure. If you've ever experienced a long delay at the Vancouver WA station while headed southbound or been on a northbound train that had a long hold at Portland, it's likely due to congestion at the North Portland Junction. This project should be able to significantly reduce the frequency and duration of those delays.
palmland Member # 4344
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Another example, Vincent, of state involvement seems to get better results on service improvements than does Amtrak at the federal level. Now if only all states followed the example of West coast states, NC, VA, IN, OK, IL, and some along the NEC. All OR needs now is the Desert Wind.
yukon11 Member # 2997
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The new Amtrak Tacoma Freighthouse Square station is going to open Dec. 18th. However, not without some confusion:
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I found an interesting video of a broken down Sounder train being rescued by another Sounder train. In the video you can see the completed, but not currently used, Freighthouse Square/Tacoma Amtrak Station at about the 5:30 mark in the video. Freighthouse Square is the long green building at the bottom of the picture, the new station has been inserted near the south end of the building.
Both Sounder trains are empty as they slowly chug up the Tacoma hill. This is the route that the Cascades trains will eventually return to once PTC is operational on the entire Pt. Defiance Bypass route.
yukon11 Member # 2997
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Nice video, Vincent. What is shown at 5:22 in the video? Is it a sports arena?
Are there still problems with regard to passenger confusion on proper boarding areas for the Sounder, Cascade trains, and Starlight?
Richard
Vincent206 Member # 15447
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That's the Tacoma Dome behind Freighthouse Square.
I don't think too many people are going to the wrong Tacoma station. The Freighthouse Square station only served one train before it was closed.
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