The best train watching spot for me used to be my front room; a branch line runs less than 50 feet from my front door. Unfortunately, since a fire a couple of years ago burned a trestle a couple of miles away, and the trestle hasn't been rebuilt, no trains run on this particular portion of the line now. The best spot, now, I guess, is out my mom's back window, when I'm at her house; this same branch line still runs past her back yard.
Spokane has a lot of opportunities for train watching, at least as far as freights go, as 70 or so trains a day run through the city. Unfortunately, Spokane is an hour away; that's a lot of running around just to watch trains (though I've done it a few times before!!!) As for Amtrak viewing, forget it. With the ungodly hours the Empire Builder runs in and out of Spokane, if you want to see it in daylight, you're required to drive AT LEAST 2 1/2 to 3 hours, and that's when the daylight is the longest. Last summer, though, I caught a big break: I drove to a usually busy crossing near the town of Ritzville, 70 miles from here, to film some of the BNSF freights that run through there. (70 miles just to watch trains. Is that dedicated or what??? :lol: ) At any rate, I waited at that crossing for over an hour, in the dust and the wind, wondering all the while what was going on, as trains usually run through there at a rate of one every half hour to 45 minutes or so. Finally, on the horizon, the headlights of an approaching train appeared. And, lo and behold! it was a passenger train. Not Amtrak, but a BNSF excursion of some sort, on its way to either Portland or Seattle via Stampede Pass. Apparently, that passenger train had bottled up freight traffic, because just as I was starting to my car, another set of headlights appeared, and this time a freight came through. And not one minute after I'd filmed that one, and had gotten in my car and started back home, ANOTHER BNSF freight appeared. So, after waiting for over an hour waiting for trains, three had appeared in the space of just a few minutes. And on the journey back home, I followed the BNSF main line for 15 miles or so. And I encountered several more trains along the way. With the price of gas, I don't think I'll be driving 100-150 miles every day just to watch and photograph trains, but it was well worth it this day.