All posts by Brian Bundridge

Brian Bundridge focuses on heavy rail and the technical aspects of rail operations, and volunteers on the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad in his spare time as a conductor or engineer.  Brian originally ran his own Washington State Transportation blog, which merged with STB.

Ferry News Roundup!

Posted on by Brian Bundridge
M/V Walla Walla departing from Edmonds on a sunny evening - By Brian Bundridge
M/V Walla Walla departing from Edmonds on a sunny evening - By Brian Bundridge

Here is ferry roundup!

M/V Sealth still out of service after damage to the vessel’s engine output shaft.

WSDOT is offering ride vouchers for those disrupted during the Port Townsend/Keystone closure.

Gov. Gregoire congratulates Port Townsend students for new vessel name class for the 64-car ferries: the Kwa-di Tabil Class, which means “little boat”

M/V Chetzemoka is progressing swiftly. Todd Shipyards are installing windows, doors, lighting and other accessories on-board the vessel currently. The Chetzomoka is scheduled to start service this Summer once six weeks of crew training and sea trials are completed.

Speaking of new ferries, the first 144-car ferry is scheduled to start construction next year.

WSF is featured in The Coast Guard Compass

Trouble deciding if you want to move to ORCA or stick with Wave2Go? Check out this handy guide by WSF

WSF is proposing to expand the reservation system to other routes

King County Water Taxi propose a 50-cent fare hike

Ever wondered what boat you are going to get? Or perhaps you have one of interest? Check out the WSF Vessel Watch

Have you pondered just what happened to your ferry and why it isn’t in service? You can see when your vessel is scheduled for maintenance by checking out this page

The state wants ferry rider opinions on the services.

Fun Facts!

Did you know that WSF also has ferry service in Eastern Washington? The little known Martha S has been making trips across the Columbia River since 1948. The free service runs from 6am to midnight, every day and takes about 10 minutes to make the crossing

Did you know that there are several other ferry systems around Washington State? Exploring some of these operations could make for a fantastic vacation this summer!

Did you know that all ferries shares something similar to diesel locomotives? The Super Jumbo Mark II vessels for example use the same high powered engines that EMD uses in their SD70 series locomotives. The Super Jumbo Mark II however has 4 engines, producing 4000HP each.

Rail News Roundup!

Posted on by Brian Bundridge
An Amtrak Cascades train meets the Portland Rose steam special
An Amtrak Cascades train meets the Portland Rose steam special in Tacoma

Its that time of the month for another rail roundup;

Passenger News

Amtrak is planning, yet again, to purchase new locomotives and passenger cars to replace the aging fleet. The NEC still will not be a true HSR route, even with the planned “Acela II” with a maximum speed of 180mph, now the low end standard of HSR.

Due for replacement are 412 Amfleet I, 122 Amfleet II, 122 Superliner I, 184 Superliner II, 50 Viewliner, 92 Horizon cars, as well as Heritage baggage and dining cars. Among the locomotives are 20 AEM7 d.c. electric locomotives (the remaining 29 have been rebuilt with a.c. propulsion), and the railroad’s F59PH, P42, P40, and P32DM fleets. Currently, an RFP is out for 125 single-level coaches/baggage-dorm cars/diners and 20 electric locomotives.

Plenty more after the jump!

Continue reading “Rail News Roundup!”

BNSF Derailment in Gold Bar, WA

Posted on by Brian Bundridge

Just got wind of a BNSF derailment in Gold Bar, Washington. It is unknown how bad the accident may be at this time. It is known to be a intermodal/container train bound for Tacoma, Washington.

This occurred on the Stevens Pass route, about 32 miles Northeast of Seattle. This will most likely affect Amtrak’s Empire Builder trains 7 and 8 depending on the location and severity of the derailment. It is unknown if Amtrak will bus passengers or detour the train if it is blocking the main line.

More details to come as I get them.

UPDATE 4:50pm: Train was the S-LPCTAC with one, maybe two cars on the ground.

SE King County Commuter Rail coming soon?

Posted on by Brian Bundridge
WES by Jason McHuff
WES by Jason McHuff

Imagine getting off Sounder or a bus at Auburn station and a few short minutes later, another sleek, quiet train pulls into the station. This could happen in a few short years for Maple Valley, Covington, and Black Diamond residences.

The cities of Maple Valley, Covington, and Black Diamond have joined together for a feasibility study to implement commuter rail service, running from the Auburn Sounder Station to  the Black Diamond/Ravensdale communities, in hopes to relieve congestion off Highway 18, Hwy 169, and create transit communities around the stations or TOD, much like Kent Station.  More after the jump…

Continue reading “SE King County Commuter Rail coming soon?”

PNW Amtrak Thanksgiving trains update

Posted on by Brian Bundridge
Cascades and Amfleets by K_Gradinger
Cascades and Amfleets by K_Gradinger

Those of you traveling via Amtrak this Thanksgiving weekend, be glad you purchased your tickets early!

If you want to take the train to see your friends and family, Wednesday will be your best bet, however, Seattle – Portland trains are starting to sell out very fast.

Those traveling between Seattle and Portland, the 5 Cascades trains and extra Ambus are all sold out on Thanksgiving day with the Coast Starlight still available for coach passengers only.

There are 2 trains available currently for Portland to Seattle passengers. Amtrak Extra #514 and the Coast Starlight. Train #514 will most likely be the last resort train since it arrives into Seattle at 11:15pm.

Trains are available in all directions on Friday and Saturday.

On Sunday, there will be 6 scheduled Cascades trains and the Coast Starlight. Most of these trains are starting to sell out now. Make your reservations soon in order to ensure you have a spot. Sleeper service on the Coast Starlight and both sections of the Empire Builder are selling out rapidly.

For passengers going to Vancouver, BC from Seattle, WA, all trains and Ambus’ service is available throughout the entire weekend.

For passengers going to Seattle, WA from Vancouver, BC, all trains and Ambus service is available throughout the entire weekend. Business class is sold out on Train #513 at this time however.

For passengers going East to Spokane, WA, both Empire Builder’s (Seattle and Portland Sections) are available throughout the entire weekend.

For passengers going West to Seattle, WA, both Empire Builder’s (Seattle and Portland sections) are available. Lower level coach seating is sold out on Train # 7 and #27 at this time however.

For those that haven’t made reservations, go to http://www.amtrak.com and follow the easy steps. It takes no more than 5 to 10 minutes and you can pick your ticket up at the station or have it mailed to you. It would probably be best if you pick it up at the QuikTrak kiosk at the station.

Extra train equipment will be a mixture of Horizon and Amfleet coaches with a snack car available. The cars will be later used for the Alki Tours Leavenworth Snow Trains.

Breaking: Link Derailment @ O&M

Posted on by Brian Bundridge

[UPDATE from Brian:] I went up to check out how the clean up was progressing. The LRV is now back on the rails and clear of the SB track Damage to the pantograph and skirting is pretty bad and will most likely need to be replaced. The brandt rail truck is still blocking the SB track with several men and equipment working on the rails and/or checking out the damage to the guideway. Two BNSF trucks were also around with a heavy boom/crane truck. The wind and rain is really starting to pick up. While it has taken them a long time to get this mess cleaned up and ask a lot of questions, I have to hand it to the crew that is cleaning up the incident. I for one would not want to be in it!

[UPDATE: KING 5 reports that there may be disruptions on the Tuesday morning commute. Buses may run between Stadium and Mt. Baker whenever they decide to move the train, temporarily blocking both tracks.

Martin is planning to update here at 5:30 am tomorrow.]

A Link light rail vehicle has derailed on the wye switch on the elevated section of the Operations and Maintenance facility. The cause of this is unknown at this time but it appears that the vehicle “picked the switch”. No passengers were involved and the operator is fine. This train appeared to be going out of service when I saw it. I was curious as to why it stopped! Saw it all from my window. (pic to come later)

Expect minor delays of 10 to 20 minutes to light rail service. Trains are crossing over at the O&M and using the northbound tunnel for Beacon Hill and Mt. Baker Stations. The trains will cross back over at South Walden Street.

King 5 has aerial pictures of the incident here.

Breaking News: Airport Station opens December 19

Posted on by Brian Bundridge

Martin just tweeted that Seatac Airport Link Station will open on December 19th at 10am. This station will be the new south terminus of our light rail line. More details to come.

Ben: As a regular 194 user, I want to point out that the “32 minute” versus “36 minute” nonsense is just that – nonsense. On top of all the user quality points like offboard payment and plenty of space, both improving boarding times and reducing delay, your average wait for a Link train will be half that of the 194 – off-peak, you’ll probably save ten or fifteen minutes in door to door time.

Passenger Rail Roundup (III): News Reports

Posted on by Brian Bundridge
The last Amtrak Pioneer on May 10, 1997, by WashARP
The last Amtrak Pioneer on May 10, 1997, by WashARP

New Studies: Amtrak has completed the studies to possibly return two long distance trains back in service. The North Coast Hiawatha (Trains 9 and 10), which would run from Seattle to Chicago via Stampede Pass, lower Montana, and North Dakota. The cost of the train would be steep at nearly $1.2 billion dollars but has a farebox recovery of 58% and serve nearly 380,000 passengers a year, putting it in Amtrak’s top 5 best performing trains.

The Amtrak Pioneer (Trains 25/26), which would has several different options. The first 2 options would serve Seattle to Denver or Salt Lake City via Portland, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, (Wyoming or Colorado, optional route) This however would be around $400-500 million dollar start up, 40% farebox recovery and serve between 107,000 to 111,000 passengers a year, putting it in tier with the lower performing trains. I will have more about this 2 trains in a 2 part series starting next week.

Washington State DOT: I was pleased to come across this report on an HSR workshop that WSDOT hosted but was displeased with some of the notes:

Shared corridors will only allow trains a maximum speed of 79mph, even after the installation of Positive Train Control. This means trains that run together, freight, Sounder, etc, will be restricted to only 79mph. My opinion is passenger trains and freight trains should increase speeds accordingly, meaning, where applicable, 90mph passenger trains, 70mph intermodal/container trains, and 60mph non-tonnage restricted freight trains.

I was pleased with the rest of the report as WSDOT is looking proactively at all manufactures for future tilting equipment. Requirements such as 8 inches of cant deficiency, 290 to 350 passengers a train, powered locomotives at both ends of the train and faster acceleration above 79mph. This still of course fits within the range of Talgo but it also allows bids from other manufactures, such as Alstom and Bombardier.

Gobble Gobble: Amtrak will be running the special “Turkey Trains” for the Thanksgiving week, November 25-29. These trains will use conventional Horizon or Amfleet (or a mix) with a journey time of 4 hours and 15 minutes. The extra trains will only run between Seattle and Portland. There will not be any extra Seattle – Vancouver BC service. Trains are now available for reservation but as I scanned through already, several trains are sold out or near sold out!

Passenger Rail Roundup (II): South of Seattle

Posted on by Brian Bundridge

Old Seattle train stations, unknown era - Vintage Seattle
Old Seattle train stations, unknown era - Vintage Seattle

Continuing yesterday’s article with projects South of Downtown.

Seattle: I may have been seeing things this morning but it appears the the King Street Station clock has stopped working. I’ll e-mail the City of Seattle on Monday if it appears that way.

Construction bids for the new Seattle Amtrak Maintenance Facility seem to be slow. So far, only McGraw-Hill Construction appears to be the only bidder Construction is estimated to take 36 to 40 months. This would provide about 382 jobs according to Recovery.org. More below the jump.

Continue reading “Passenger Rail Roundup (II): South of Seattle”