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This has more to do with geography than any particular policy decision. Most large European and Asian cities have direct navigable river/canal or ocean access, so boats are used for a lot of bulk shipping. Outside of the Great Lakes region, the US really doesn't have this. If you want to send...

Every hotel I've used in Seattle has offered an option to hold bags if the room is not ready for early check-in. I haven't tried it at the Embassy because they have always had a room for us at noon, but I would expect them to do it. You should call the hotel. It's unlikely that you will get...

And don't forget the railfan window if you are in a sleeper! We were very delayed a few years ago, and I got to catch Spokane to Essex in the daylight. Spent a lot of time back there.

Have they shared plans to lengthen the trains at some point? It seems so odd to see two engines and just 4 passenger cars.

You do realize that the National Guard is made up of regular people, with families and responsibilities, right? Pulling hundreds of these people out of their regular lives to go protect Amazon packages in a private corporation's railyard is a crazy idea. I would even go as far as calling it...

It sounds like a commuter rail style service? I'm searching but I can't find many details on the planned route. Does anyone have details?

We get storms like this about every 5 years. It's a lot of fun for those of us who go skiing in the mountains regularly, and thus have proper snow tires on in the winter. I've also enjoyed skiing around my neighborhood in the past (both downhill and cross country). About 80% of the city has...

https://railfan.com/bnsf-railway-to-acquire-montana-rail-link/ Not sure if this will have much of an effect on the passenger rail concept.

Superliner Roommette upper bunk is best described as a "bumpy coffin". At 6'5", I can't really use it. For our next trip, we're doing two roomettes and sticking the kids up top.

It sounds like the equipment pool for Cascades service is in bad shape. How are they going to find enough cars to start up 2 daily Vancouver, BC trains here in 2022?

Gateway TC can be bad at times as well. Lately, they seem to have Trimet security present at all times, but it can be a bit of a toss up. I think the safest transfer option would be to catch the Green Line at Union Station (2 blocks south, a stop that can also be sketchy because it backs up to...

Which airline? Of those that have reported numbers, vaccination rates are 90%+. United is at 99.5% with 3% exemptions: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2021/09/30/hundreds-of-united-airlines-staff-hand-in-covid-vaccination-proof-after-company-threatens-to-fire-them/?sh=3c15caf51eec Delta...

There are two Talgo VIII sets sitting somewhere... Beach Grove? Did WSDOT not evaluate the equipment issues when they chose to retire the Talgo VI? Many people were saying that they needed to acquire the Wisconsin sets at the time. I think this whole ordeal just shows that passenger rail is...

They cut corners when building I-5 in this section big time. WSDOT is spending billions re-building all over the overpasses north of here because the old ones required the interstate to dive down, preventing easy expansion. The railroad overpass was built for HWY 99, but they should have...

Landslides have occurred south of Tacoma, but were much more common north of Seattle. Much of this has been mitigated in recent years. I went looking for the project page on the WSDOT website, but it appears to have been scrubbed, which is interesting...

Yes, that is part of running a railroad. WSDOT has had 4 years to figure this out.

Just got a schedule update for our December trip up to Seattle. They shaved a whole 5 minutes off of our arrival time for train 500. No schedule improvements shown for the Coast Starlight on our trip back south, however. I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't announce extra round trips this...

I just wish they would run the early morning train up to Vancouver. Before Covid, the only option was a 2pm train that gets to Vancouver very late, and then a 6am train on the way back. I don't think it makes sense to run the Starlight over the border, though. Amtrak has very few options up...

What's the BYOB policy on the long distance trains? I'm not a huge fan of that Barefoot stuff.

Without a smart phone, I would recommend picking up ORCA cards when you arrive at King Street. You will be able to just tap on and off on all busses, light rail, and ferries. Load them up with $20 and hit the city. https://www.soundtransit.org/sites/default/files/documents/orca_tvm_list.pdf...