Sound Transit Parking a Headache for Puyallup

Commuters try to do the right thing, by parking their car and taking the train to jobs in Seattle. But the cars left behind - especially in Puyallup - take up parking spaces that the city's Main Street Association say are vital to downtown growth and commerce. The city wants to end Sound Transit's lease on several of the spaces, and give them back to use for downtown activities. But this will cause strain for those who are driving into town to take the train. It's a neverending quagmire. The issue repeats itself in Sumner and Auburn too, where hundreds of people leave their cars and hit the rails.

Since parking is static, the first thought for many is a parking garage for the downtown area to handle the cars. Problem is, Puyallup doesn't want them. Hopefully the city and Sound Transit can come to some understanding because that would be quite an impasse if parking garages aren't an option to handle the ever-increasing commuters. With gas prices the way they are, parking will become even more of an issue as the year goes on.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/353103.html

Man talking on cellphone killed by train in Auburn

Another sad story from the Valley, after a girl in Kent also died the same way. If there is a lesson more important than safe motorcycle riding that you can teach your kids, it's to stay off the tracks.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004398403_webtrain07m.html

Seattle's Waterfront Trolley Comeback Delayed

Originally the vintage Alaskan Way trolleys were to be back in service by Summer 2007. Now - according to this article - it looks like the earliest will be 2010...or beyond...or not at all. Facilities construction in Pioneer Square has been heavily delayed, and now the looming construction of the new Alaskan Way Viaduct would make any effort to get the trolleys back online short sited.

First and foremost, I was disgusted to see the original car barn torn down. Second, I had my concerns that the trolley would not be coming back to the waterfront. Out of sight, out of mind in a sense. It seems so backwards that we have a brand spanking new trolley system going to Lake Union, and we struggle to get the original back on the tracks. Thankfully the cars are stored and preserved out of the elements until such time that they are to be used again.

My thoughts? Someone needs to contract with Ballard Terminal Railroad, spruce up the right-of-way, and run through Ballard instead.

Big Orange BNSF Cranes

A person can see them from the freeway, and even from Krispy Kreme. If you're in SODO they're hard to miss. They're BNSF's big new orange cranes being used to offload shipments coming into Seattle!

Look Ma...No Brakes

Federal investigators have released their findings about a Yakima derailment - unstaffed train with no handbrakes set backs down a track and hits the end of the line. That last four cars - double hulled and filled with propane - came off the tracks and thankfully did not break open. To add embarrassment to the slow-moving derailment, the Sherriff's Office had to be evacuated after the accident because of its proximity to the cars.

I'm thankful that nobody was hurt!

Plan to Connect Portland MAX with Vancouver WA

Plans for a light-railline to Clark County are getting more tangible, with a proposal to extend an existing MAX route over the Columbia River and into downtown Vancouver. Amazingly, the money for this conservative proposed plan is already available, and Clark County is very receptive to the idea of having a light-rail connection.

Rail Corridor Deal Gets Small Delay

From the Seattle Times this morning:

Rail-corridor deal is delayed a bit
Port of Seattle officials now expect to sign a final deal sometime next month to buy the Renton-to-Snohomish rail corridor from BNSF Railway, a Port spokeswoman said Friday.
The two sides had been expected to complete negotiations by Monday, the day that King County's exclusive right to negotiate with the railroad was set to expire. The Port took over the county's position as the prospective buyer under a preliminary agreement with BNSF and the county.
Port spokeswoman Charla Skaggs aid officials anticipate signing a purchase and sale agreement next month, with the deal closing several months later. BNSF had agreed to sell the 42-mile line to the Port for $103 million, but the price may be adjusted if the railroad leaves all the tracks in place for possible future passenger rail service.

White Pass 114 Heads Home

On October 24th I blogged about the White Pass & Yukon 114 in a Then and Now segment. This week my buddy Robert McDonald also blogged about the rare narrow gauge diesel in a couple of posts:

Oil-Electric: "Going home!"

Oil-Electric: White Pass & Yukon Arrives in Skagway

In short, the first one has photos of the engine being loaded on a barge for Alaska, and the second has a link to Skagway's news about the engines arrival.

Nice to see this unique machine get home!

Yakima County railroad crossings -- Safety off track?

This Yakima Herald article quantifies how dangerous rural crossings can be:

Yakima County railroad crossings -- Safety off track?

Best quote from the article is poignant: "I don't trust that just because the lights aren't flashing that there isn't a train coming." The more of these I read, the more likely I am to look both ways - and even stop completely - before crossing tracks.

Local News | Sims to let Port buy rail line | Seattle Times Newspaper

11th hour and counting...

Local News | Sims to let Port buy rail line | Seattle Times Newspaper

This is a story that simply never rests. Even in agreeing to allow the Port of Seattle to buy the Woodinville Subdivision from BNSF, all the players disagree on who pulls up the tracks in parts of the line that King County wants for a bike trail. In fact, there is disagreement even on the idea of pulling up the tracks at all. I love the end of the article, where Port Commission President Creighton says, "I've gotten a letter from the Woodinville mayor saying don't tear up the tracks, I've got a letter from the mayor of Bellevue saying don't tear up the tracks, and I just got out of a meeting with the mayor of Burien who said you would be crazy to tear up the tracks."

I agree with all those mayors.

Local News | New streetcar suffers power glitch | Seattle Times Newspaper

First ball-bearings and now glitches!

Local News | New streetcar suffers power glitch | Seattle Times Newspaper

Someday we'll all look back at this and laugh...

Police investigate streetcar sabotage attempt

Man, the thing just started running and someone sabotages the tracks!

Police investigate streetcar sabotage attempt

While some of the comments are off-color, the Sound Off regarding this article has some funny points.

South Lake Union Streetcar rolls today

Throught activist griping, through bad acronyms, and through a neighborhood that is slowly changing from blue to white collar - the South Lake Union Streetcar finally gets rolling today!

Look for the big red cars from the Czech Republic to get underway at 12:12pm.

Seattle Streetcar Timeline

This is a wonderful piece of research that I want to share with you, and it goes back 120 years!

A funny bit in the timeline shows voters rejecting a plan to replace trolleys with busses, only to have the plan go forward anyway without a vote (sound familiar in our political history around here?).

Seattle Streetcar Timeline

One family's Seattle streetcar heritage

Great human-interest story involving the South Lake Union Streetcar, and three generations of rail history.

One family's Seattle streetcar heritage

Ron Sims backs off Eastside rails-to-trail deadline

There are so many unanswered questions about the Woodinville Subdivision and its future. It's nice to see activity in this matter, but there is very little consensus on the appropriate way to handle it. I disagree with the article's contention that the line would prove useless as a light-rail corridor because of its location on the Eastside. Hogwash. I align with Eastside Rail Now! on this one, believing that something in place now is better than possibly something in place in the future. More hogwash from the Port of Seattle, who say that the line is in "poor shape and not upgradeable." It's a wonder anything gets done when two public bureaucracies and one private entity all try to find a win-win...

Anyway, you can read the article and make your own decision:

Ron Sims backs off Eastside rails-to-trail deadline

Design of UW light rail station on display

Everything happens in baby steps. There's been a lot of press this week about light rail and about street cars. I'm happy to see this progressing.

Design of UW light rail station on display

Streetcars: Old Idea, New Century

The South Lake Union Streetcar got a balanced write-up in the Seattle Times this morning. There are hopes - like I mentioned in a previous post - that this 1.3 mile line will morph into a city-wide system.

Just like Seattle had prior to 1941. What goes around comes around.

Local News South Lake Union streetcar on the past track Seattle Times Newspaper

Bike Meets Track, Then goes SMACK

Amtrak Cascades Talgo Cars Back in Service

Sooner than expected, the Talgo cars that went out of service in August have been approved and sent back to run the rails once again. Service north of Seattle, however, will continue using the "Superliner" cars, much to the dismay of anyone hauling a bicycle on their trip since there are no racks on board!