Amtrak Cascades

I think it has been 15+ years since I was last on a train in the USA. A few weeks ago I took the train from Portland to Mt Vernon as an alternative to driving home. It is a little slower thanks to frequent stops, but flies at 80 mph through the segments that are slow on I-5. The route is also different, winding along the water in the South Sound and through the farms in the Green River valley. The sun set by the time the Amtrak Cascades actually neared the Cascades, but the view through the South Sound was beautiful.

There were a few reflexes that I sharpened riding Dutch, German, Czech, Austrian, and Canadian trains in the last year, and Amtrak was a different experience. For starters, both the Portland and Seattle main train stations require passengers to walk across tracks to get to their train. Such a dangerous arrangement would never be admissible in Europe, except in the smallest villages!

Also, seats were assigned. I sat down in my assigned car, and was promptly asked to move to a seat which was at that time occupied. The man there was moved to sit in a 4-person seat, which was already nearly filled by 3 women on a “girls weekend” and the results of their shopping and wine tasting. It was so strange! Rather than letting him sit in one of the seats which would be empty until a stop in southern Washington, we all shuffled and and a yellow card with our destination placed in a plastic holder above our seats.   

One of the things I most enjoy about the train is the quiet time that one has to sit and think, or read, or write, or do sudoku… The sun finally set, and we pulled into a dark Mt Vernon station. Would I take the trip again? Probably. But Amtrak needs to run more frequent, train-only routes to Mt Vernon, and ideally have a stop at SeaTac (or at least a light rail station!) to make it really worthwhile. A simpler, more friendly seat system wouldn’t hurt, either!