I returned from another of my Northwest loop trips early this morning. I take an annual trip around the Northwest this time every year, to take advantage of the long daylight hours and to get in one last vacation before the anniversary date of my employment comes up (July 1st). I usually go to Seattle first, then down to Portland and back to Spokane, but being the wild and crazy guy I am :lol: I decided to go to Portland first, then up to Seattle, and back to Spokane.
I was scheduled to leave early on the morning of the 27th, so to ensure that I didn't oversleep, I woke early on the 26th.....at 2:45 AM, fully 24 hours before I was to leave.
I just HAD to start checking the status maps!!!! Of course by that time #27 was already a couple of hours late and would end up being, at its peak, 4 hours and 40 minutes late at Havre. Knowing I'd be up early, and coming from a long, proud line of fussbudgets and nervous Nellies on my mother's side of the family, I knew I wouldn't have the good sense to lie back down at all during the day, so I did put that nervous energy to good use. I planned to spend the afternoon at Spokane's Riverfront Park, site of the World's Fair, Expo '74. Part of the attraction was one of the features showing at the IMAX theatre in the park, the Rocky Mountain Express. Just something to get my train experience kick-started. I then planned to drive to Grand Coulee Dam, some 90 miles west of Spokane, to a laser light show they give nightly during the spring and summer months. It began at 10PM, so that would fill some time too.
I did spend the day in Riverfront Park, and then went to Coulee Dam. At that point, I knew that 27 was going to be late, though west of Havre it was making up pretty good time. After the show, I drove back to Spokane, had a nice leisurely late dinner at Chez Denny's :lol: and got to the Spokane station at what normally would have been an hour or so before the train was to depart. Didn't happen, of course, so had a long wait. I had my first crisis of the trip occur while waiting. I'd gone into the bathroom to freshen up, and found my bag of toiletries missing. Ohhh nooooooooooo!!!! I couldn't go for several days without them and couldn't go back home to get the bag. Fortunately there is a 7-11 a few blocks from the station so I was able save the day, especially for those who might have been near me. :lol: #7 finally came rolling in around 4:30 AM, just under 3 hours late, but thanks to the servicing crew in Spokane kicking up a notch or two, we got underway at 5:15 AM, a mere 2 1/2 hours late, which, considering the 4 hours and 40 minutes late it had been at Havre, wasn't bad at all. Besides, not that there's much to see, but I'd never seen the full Spokane-Pasco route in full daylight, so this was my chance.
When I boarded the train, fully half of the coach was reserved for groups of two or more. I was fortunate to snag the sole remaining single seat on the left side of the coach, the side for viewing the Columbia RIver. It was interesting to see those areas in daylight I'd never seen before, even around Spokane, which I've seen thousands of times, but not from a train's eye view.
Despite being 2 1/2 hours late getting started, I must say BNSF did a great job of dispatching. At all of our successive stops on 27, we not only didn't lose time, but in fact gained a little. And this was with slow orders between Spokane and Pasco, as it appears that BNSF is adding more tracks through that section and enhancing others. I suspect a huge grain terminal about 50 miles from Spokane and the resulting increase of grain trains on the BNSF line is a reason for this. We encounted numerous freights along the way and not once did we have to wait.And thanks to padding between Vancouver and Portland, we got into Portland only a couple of hours late. Not bad, really. The view in the gorge was great. It was nice and sunny, at least till Wishram, where it began to cloud up. The trip from Spokane to Portland really went very well. The conductor/car attendant Debora was excellent. First time I'd ever seen anyone working the coaches spruce things up with Febreze. Part of that was, I'm sure, to get the car ready for the short turn in Portland. She had an excellent personality, and did a great job. She helped diffuse a potentially volatile situation in the car ahead of us as a baby, who from the gist of the conversation was sick, cried and squalled at the top of her lungs for the entire length of the trip. Apparently one "suggestion" by one of the passengers was to throw the baby out the window. :angry: Now my kid threshold isn't very high, but that was ridiculous. And Debora let that passenger know just how ridiculous that was. And the lounge attendant was great too. His name was Rod Pasko (appropriate name for someone working #27 :lol: ) and he was great too. Funny, enthusiastic, and really showed he enjoyed his job. Wish all Amtrak employees were like that. He's one of the best lounge car attendants I've had. Most of them seem to prepare for their shifts by sucking on sour lemons first. :wacko:
All in all, a great trip to Portland. We made up half an hour, and I guess I was so excited about traveling on Amtrak (been nearly a year since I'd been on a train) that the baby crying didn't faze me in the least.
(to be continued)
I was scheduled to leave early on the morning of the 27th, so to ensure that I didn't oversleep, I woke early on the 26th.....at 2:45 AM, fully 24 hours before I was to leave.
I just HAD to start checking the status maps!!!! Of course by that time #27 was already a couple of hours late and would end up being, at its peak, 4 hours and 40 minutes late at Havre. Knowing I'd be up early, and coming from a long, proud line of fussbudgets and nervous Nellies on my mother's side of the family, I knew I wouldn't have the good sense to lie back down at all during the day, so I did put that nervous energy to good use. I planned to spend the afternoon at Spokane's Riverfront Park, site of the World's Fair, Expo '74. Part of the attraction was one of the features showing at the IMAX theatre in the park, the Rocky Mountain Express. Just something to get my train experience kick-started. I then planned to drive to Grand Coulee Dam, some 90 miles west of Spokane, to a laser light show they give nightly during the spring and summer months. It began at 10PM, so that would fill some time too.I did spend the day in Riverfront Park, and then went to Coulee Dam. At that point, I knew that 27 was going to be late, though west of Havre it was making up pretty good time. After the show, I drove back to Spokane, had a nice leisurely late dinner at Chez Denny's :lol: and got to the Spokane station at what normally would have been an hour or so before the train was to depart. Didn't happen, of course, so had a long wait. I had my first crisis of the trip occur while waiting. I'd gone into the bathroom to freshen up, and found my bag of toiletries missing. Ohhh nooooooooooo!!!!
I couldn't go for several days without them and couldn't go back home to get the bag. Fortunately there is a 7-11 a few blocks from the station so I was able save the day, especially for those who might have been near me. :lol: #7 finally came rolling in around 4:30 AM, just under 3 hours late, but thanks to the servicing crew in Spokane kicking up a notch or two, we got underway at 5:15 AM, a mere 2 1/2 hours late, which, considering the 4 hours and 40 minutes late it had been at Havre, wasn't bad at all. Besides, not that there's much to see, but I'd never seen the full Spokane-Pasco route in full daylight, so this was my chance.When I boarded the train, fully half of the coach was reserved for groups of two or more. I was fortunate to snag the sole remaining single seat on the left side of the coach, the side for viewing the Columbia RIver. It was interesting to see those areas in daylight I'd never seen before, even around Spokane, which I've seen thousands of times, but not from a train's eye view.
Despite being 2 1/2 hours late getting started, I must say BNSF did a great job of dispatching. At all of our successive stops on 27, we not only didn't lose time, but in fact gained a little. And this was with slow orders between Spokane and Pasco, as it appears that BNSF is adding more tracks through that section and enhancing others. I suspect a huge grain terminal about 50 miles from Spokane and the resulting increase of grain trains on the BNSF line is a reason for this. We encounted numerous freights along the way and not once did we have to wait.And thanks to padding between Vancouver and Portland, we got into Portland only a couple of hours late. Not bad, really. The view in the gorge was great. It was nice and sunny, at least till Wishram, where it began to cloud up. The trip from Spokane to Portland really went very well. The conductor/car attendant Debora was excellent. First time I'd ever seen anyone working the coaches spruce things up with Febreze. Part of that was, I'm sure, to get the car ready for the short turn in Portland. She had an excellent personality, and did a great job. She helped diffuse a potentially volatile situation in the car ahead of us as a baby, who from the gist of the conversation was sick, cried and squalled at the top of her lungs for the entire length of the trip. Apparently one "suggestion" by one of the passengers was to throw the baby out the window. :angry: Now my kid threshold isn't very high, but that was ridiculous. And Debora let that passenger know just how ridiculous that was. And the lounge attendant was great too. His name was Rod Pasko (appropriate name for someone working #27 :lol: ) and he was great too. Funny, enthusiastic, and really showed he enjoyed his job. Wish all Amtrak employees were like that. He's one of the best lounge car attendants I've had. Most of them seem to prepare for their shifts by sucking on sour lemons first. :wacko:
All in all, a great trip to Portland. We made up half an hour, and I guess I was so excited about traveling on Amtrak (been nearly a year since I'd been on a train) that the baby crying didn't faze me in the least.
(to be continued)
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