Olympia & Sand Creek, Episode 14 | Details inside the passenger car

Before David jump into detailing the interior of his combine car, he first looks to add a tried but true structure from the original Olympia Logging layout display! Watch to see how he plans to revamp and return Eric White’s scratchbuilt sawmill structure (a building front) to service in a new, but similar position on […]

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Amtrak begins process to upgrade maintenance facilities at Seattle, three Northeast Corridor sites

Amtrak logo.

WASHINGTON — Amtrak has published Requests for Qualifications for maintenance facilities in Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Seattle, part of a program build or upgrade more than 20 sites nationally for new trainsets. Two requests are currently active. One is for Seattle, where Amtrak is hoping to gain permission to close a street, […]

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White Pass & Yukon operating employees vote to strike

WhitePass_Diesels_Johnston

SKAGWAY, Alaska — Operating personnel on the White Pass & Yukon Route have voted to authorize a strike, according to their union’s website. Members of International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) Local 1626 authorized the strike in voting last week. The union says it has been negotiating with the […]

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Olympia & Sand Creek, Episode 13 | Passenger car modifications

David returns to the task of pulling the painted parts and pieces together…all in manner that ensures the passenger car will operate as well as it looks. But before he puts a lid on this project, David also shows how to add the most important component – the paying passenger figures! Before he gets away, […]

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Olympia & Sand Creek, Episode 13 | Passenger car modifications

David returns to the task of pulling the painted parts and pieces together…all in manner that ensures the passenger car will operate as well as it looks. But before he puts a lid on this project, David also shows how to add the most important component – the paying passenger figures! Before he gets away, […]

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Sound Transit advances planning for light rail to Everett

Map of planned light rail line between Lynnwood and Everett, Wash.

SEATTLE — Sound Transit has advanced the process of designing a light rail line that would extend to Everett, Wash., with the agency’s board voting Thursday on potential station sites for the 16-mile extension north from the line to Lynnwood, Wash., that is now under construction. The Seattle Times reports plans approved Thursday would not […]

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Amtrak, BNSF seek closure of Seattle street for yard expansion

Aerial view of street running through railroad yard

SEATTLE — Amtrak and BNSF Railway are asking the city of Seattle to close a section of a street near the Seattle Mariners’ ballpark in the city’s Sodo neighborhood to expand the passenger carrier’s maintenance facility and eliminate a busy grade crossing. The Seattle Times reports the proposal would close South Holgate Street, which splits […]

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Portland, Ore., airport loses light rail service for four months during construction

Rendering of light rail station

PORTLAND, Ore. — Light rail service to Portland International Airport will shut down for four months beginning today (Sunday, June 18) while the airport’s station is rebuilt and a second track on the MAX Red Line is added in the area. KGW-TV reports the closure is scheduled to last through Oct. 21, according to transit […]

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Union, West Coast ports announce new labor deal

Two trains work with container lifts for ships in distance

SAN FRANCISCO — The Pacific Maritime Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union have reached a tentative labor agreement covering 29 West Coast ports, ending more than a year of negotiations in a dispute that had seen work stoppages at major ports of entry. The settlement has major implications for the rail industry given the […]

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An engineer’s life: Mad Dog and the volcano

An image showing a young man in a plade shirt and red suspenders standing in front of a green diesel locomotive

The story of Mad Dog and the volcano starts on March 20, 1980. At 3:47 p.m. on that day, Mount St. Helens rumbled to life with an earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale. It was mostly unnoticed. Earthquakes often occur in Washington State, most are light enough not to be felt. Within a week […]

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Harold Borovec, significant steam preservation figure in Northwest, dies at 96

Man in engineer's cap looking out of steam locomotive

Harold Borovec, a significant figure in steam preservation in the Pacific Northwest, died June 10 at age 96. Borovec, born in 1927 in Chehalis, Wash., served as an engineer and mechanical officer for several steam tourist operations in Washington state, including the Puget Sound & Snoqualmie Railroad, the Camp 6 logging exhibit in Tacoma, the […]

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Arson likely in fire that damaged short line bridge in Washington state

Wooden bridge on fire

MALONE, Wash. — Arson is now suspected in a fire that damaged a wood trestle on the Puget Sound & Pacific Railroad last weekend, KLFD Radio reports. The Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a fire on the trestle on Saturday, June 3, near Malone, an unincorporated community about 20 miles east […]

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