Trains Through Steilacoom

Another post for the rail fans out there.  My visit to Steilacoom has yielded posts about the ferry and McNeil Island but it would be remiss to not discuss the rail line that runs along the waterfront.  The weekend day I was there, there seemed to be a lot of traffic.  This is the BNSF line along the coast but it is also currently used by Amtrak services.  That was due to have stopped a while back with the Point Defiance Bypass having opened but, with an accident on the opening run, trains have continued to use the old route.  That will transition at some point this year, though.

A bunch of trains came through while I was there.  Most of these were freight services but one was an Amtrak Cascades train.  It was being operated with a Talgo Series 8 train owned by Oregon DOT and on which I have done a bunch of work over recent years.  Since only one train is running per day in each direction as a result of the pandemic, it was a lucky coincidence that I was there when it came through.  I did get a nice wave from the engineer.

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