Tag Archives: Bellevue

Line 2 Opening Weekend

The spring timetable change was the opportunity for Sound Transit to open a new line. The troubles with the crossing of the I-90 bridge mean that the Redmond to Bellevue section of what is to be Line 2 is isolated from the rest of the network. However, it was decided to open it up as a starter line to provide some service for the area pending the completion of the connection to the other side of Lake Washington. They had a grand opening. Rather than go on the Saturday when everyone was due to be out, I decided to try out the line on the Sunday.

I drove to the South Bellevue station which has a large parking garage. It is the southern/western end of the line for now. Trains run every ten minutes and I hopped on one to ride to the other end at Redmond Technology Center. This is also an interim terminus as there will soon be an extension into downtown Redmond. I checked out the route in the trip out and decided I would stop off at a couple of stations on the way back.

Plenty of people were out on the Sunday too. Many seemed to be like me and exploring the new service. Sundays aren’t a day to judge utilization of a system, but it will be interesting to see what ridership is like as the service gets going and people find out how best to use it for their purposes. I hopped off at Wilburton Station to have a look at the platforms and the view across to downtown Bellevue. I bumped into a guy I know from Sound Transit who was part of the opening support team for the weekend, and we ended up chatting for a while.

I then went to the station in Bellevue itself which is a nicely designed station just at the end of the tunnel that runs under the city. You get a long view of the trains approaching from east as they come across the bridge while you can hear the trains coming through the tunnel as they approach. After checking out a few elements of the station, I decided to head back to South Bellevue to pick up the car and go home. The alignment was pretty good. Ride quality was good in most areas and the stations seemed nicely put together both operationally and aesthetically. It will be a good line when it is fully connected but, as an interim step, it seems to be worthwhile.

Lunch At Newcastle Golf Club

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A work event at Newcastle Golf Club that I posted about previously introduced me to this location. Since it has such great views over the area, it seemed like a good spot to have lunch when mum was visiting. I also took along the camera so, after we had eaten, I could use the longer lens to get some shots of the area. I also shot a few panos to see how they would work out and how bad the heat haze might prove to be. Things came out better than I had expected. I did also shoot a bunch of identical shots to use the statistic function in Photoshop to try and remove heat distortion but, to be honest, the original distortion was not that bad and the edited shots weren’t any better.

Killdeer With Attitude

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Nancy and I were at Meydenbauer Park in Bellevue when we saw this Killdeer. A crow was hopping about nearby and it seemed to be causing the killdeer some concern. We wondered whether the crow was going to harm it in some way when we suddenly realized that the killdeer was far from defenseless. It suddenly went on the attack and charged the crow which freaked out and took off. There was I worried about this bird and it was totally in control.

Meydenbauer Park

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I was on a bike ride through Medina and Bellevue when I came upon Meydenbauer Park. Nancy had mentioned that we should check it out some time but I hadn’t realized it was on my route. I stopped off as I came by and, while enjoying the view, realized this was the spot she had been talking about some time before. I figured we should both go there and so we headed out one weekend.

The park is spread up the side of the hill and then has a beach with a walkway out over the water. It was a popular spot the day we went. Lots of families out with kids playing on the park equipment. There was still no problem keeping spaced from the other visitors. You are surrounded by some pretty high-end properties – I wonder how much they like having a busy park nearby. It is a pretty spot to hang out with lots of little spots to have to yourself despite the number of other visitors. We shall be back.

Trestle Out of Use

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The east side of Lake Washington used to have a lot more train traffic. A line ran up that side of the lake but the railroad closed it down and then the interstate was rebuilt and went over the previous right of way. In Bellevue, the tracks crossed a valley on a large trestle bridge, the Wilburton Trestle. This wooden structure was modified at some point to allow an expansion of the road that ran underneath it but, once the railroad was closed, it fell out of use.

For the longest time, I didn’t even notice it. While it is close to the interstate, it is off to one side at a time when you don’t have much time to look around. When I finally noticed it, I was amazed I had driven by so many times. Even then, I never got a chance to take pictures. I was hoping for better weather but winter has not really helped in that regard so, one afternoon, as I was heading back from Bellevue, I stopped off to check it out.

Wooden trestle structures are a curious thing and very typical of old American railroads. The dull light may not have helped emphasis the structure much but it does reduce the contrast you can get with something so sheltered underneath. Even so I used HDR a bit to help manage the exposure range. Supposedly, the future for the trestle will be as part of the expanding trail network for the eastside. It is suggested that it will reopen to trail users by 2020. I think I shall ride down to it at that point to check the view out. I imagine it is pretty good from up there.