A Disappointing Trip on the Amtrak Cascades

[@rleeAZ]

Thanks for covering the Cascades. I'm a regular rider, Kelso is my home station... not long ago the Talgo train sets were the standard equipment. They are all old, the ones that are still running do show their age. The Horizon cars put on the Cascades appear to be hand me downs from other parts of the country, and they are also near the end of their service life... the Cascades are overdue for new equipment, it wont' come quickly enough. They have added two more daily round trips recently. It raises the situation that if your train is late, a later departure actually leaves before you. It really confuses the boarding in Portland.

[@Thom-TRA]

Living in the northeast I am on high alert to see an Airo appear. Very excited.

[@trainglen22]

Didn't know about the joint service between Portland Oregon and Seattle WA.

[@TheJesterboy1969]

Not going to lie, I love the talgos.

[@Cupertinorail]

Cool I’m from Seattle and ride it from time to time when In PDX

[@AssBlasster]

I've had that happen with a later departure arriving before my 1+ hr late train on the Surfliner...they just let me on with no issues but I was at a no-staff station.

[@stevesteffen7001]

So far I am loving this series, you are very balanced and fair in your opinions.

[@Thom-TRA]

Yay! Got some Seattle stuff and then the Empire Builder. After that it’s on to new series!

[@sarahhearn-vonfoerster7401]

Not this "specific" episode. Decidedly on the negative side.

[@Thom-TRA]

@@sarahhearn-vonfoerster7401 you have selective hearing and it’s annoying.

[@Hotarg]

If you ever want to know what equipment a train runs, call the main 1-800 number and ask. Most of the time, they'll be able to tell you.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Horizon cars are your equivalence of "Why do I hear boss music?" 😂And then them teasing you with a Talgo when you arrived at Seattle....that's rough, buddy. You may not have gotten to ride it, but at least the views were wonderful! Besides the Talgo Series 8, they began the Cascades service with the Talgo Series 6, and when they had those, the bistro car had a really cool illuminated map of the corridor on the ceiling! The trainset that crashed on the Point Defiance Bypass was a Series 6. The last surviving Series 6 bistro car was sent to the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, WA. Mount Adams is named after John Adams but was called Klickitat, a Chinookan word that means "beyond", by the indigenous. Vancouver, WA and Vancouver, British Columbia are named the same because of British sea captain George Vancouver who explored the region. However Vancouver, WA had the name longer than the Canadian city! Vancouver, Canada was incorporated in 1886, 29 years after the incorporation of Vancouver, WA, and the Canadian city was named such over six decades after the Washington settlement (which referenced Fort Vancouver) too! The Columbia River is named such because the private American ship, the Columbia Rediviva under Captain John Gray from Boston, became the first non-indigenous vessel to enter the river in May 1792.

[@Thom-TRA]

Being the OG Vancouver, now that’s a flex! Now if only the people there could be as pro-transit as the Canadian Vancouver… I would love to see the illuminated ceiling, that sounds epic.

[@ayindestevens6152]

Avery your knowledge impresses me!

[@serria864]

To expand on this some, mostly to add additional context, when the series 6 crash happened the entire series set was taken out of service, and subsequently scrapped. Mind you at the time this was a whole PR disaster since that was the very first run of the bypass, and a whole stink came up about crew training for it and the turn into the bridge it derailed off of and a bunch of other stuff. It was initially hoped that we'd just replace two of the sixes with some sets of i believe updated series 8's earmarked for a Wisconsin run, similar to the cascades, which turned into i believe the borealis route. For whatever reason this never came to pass, and we actually had them replaced with a gaggle of amfleet1's or 2's, then replaced with horizons, which when having used the Talgos all my life was an interesting change of pace. Now the Cascades route is slated to get the first batch of airo's, which should really improve the cascades service overall. Weirdly enough i was actually almost on that train that wrecked due to almost missing the train the night before just before they 'decommissioned' the station just down the hill from the current Tacoma one. Thankfully between the airo's, the continued work on the link expansion, and some of the captial funding from that infrastructure bill actually hitting amtrak, the Seattle area is actually gaining some ground on usable public transport. now if only we can get some more regular buses in some spots...

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Kelso, WA was founded by Peter W. Crawford. Crawford platted a townsite in 1884 which he named after his hometown of Kelso in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. The trainset that crashed in 2017 was originally built to operate between Las Vegas and Los Angeles but was renamed to the Mount Adams after the State of Washington purchased it. Mount Rainier was named after Admiral Peter Rainier by George Vancouver. Although Rainier had been considered the official name of the mountain, Theodore Winthrop referred to the mountain as "Tacoma" in 1862, referring to an Anglicized version of a word for the volcano in Puget Sound Salish. So the city of Tacoma is named after the volcano! The term scientists give to volcanoes that are dangerously close to densely populated areas are Decade Volcanoes. Besides Mount Rainier, other volcanoes identified as Decade Volcanoes include Etna on Sicily because of Catania, Mount Vesuvius because of Naples, Taal in the Philippines because of Metro Manila, Galeras in Colombia, Mount Merapi on the Indonesian island of Java, Sakurajima in Kagoshima, Teide on the Canary Island of Tenerife, Mount Nyiragongo because of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Santa María because of Quetzaltenango in Guatemala, Mount Unzen in Kyushu, Santorini in Greece, and Hawaii's Mauna Loa.

[@Thom-TRA]

Growing up in Tokyo my friends and I would always psych each other out wondering when Mt. Fuji would erupt

[@dianethulin1700]

Yea I remember when Mt. St. Helen’s erupted. My brother lived in Kelso for about ten years and it was nice learning some history. Thanks!

[@sarahhearn-vonfoerster7401]

Thank you for that fascinating information. I really enjoyed it.

[@EddieLeindecker-re1hg]

The history of the cascades service is certainly very interesting Thank you for sharing it. The history of Amtrak is very interesting also.

[@Thom-TRA]

I find almost all history to be very interesting to be honest!

[@nerdynerdynoob3733]

There’s a plan for Cascadia high speed rail that recently got some federal funding and will (hopefully) start construction not too far in the future, and according to its website and various sources it’ll run at top speeds of 400km/h

[@Thom-TRA]

I’m not holding my breath yet but all the federal funding all these projects have received is very encouraging! We’re slowly headed in the right direction.

[@Cupertinorail]

@@Thom-TRAgood point because funding for high speed rail in the US is very hard to achieve

[@mrvwbug4423]

I hope so, but the future of rail in the US depends 100% on the outcome of this years election. If he who shall not be named wins, Amtrak will likely cease to exist by the end of the decade. The pachyderm party has been trying to get rid of Amtrak since the 80s.

[@MarioFanGamer659]

400 km/h on regular steel-on-steel operation is... ambitious, tbh. It's more likely that the tracks will be build to a theoretical 400 km/h operation (since HSL are generally build to speeds higher than for regular operation) and I see 320 - 350 km/h in regular operations more realistic.

[@BetaD_]

400km/h would be crazy.... There is a reason why most countries don't build HSR faster then 300km/h (except france with 320km/h i believe...) and also why HSR2 in GB got so extremly expensive, as they wanted trains for 360km/h . Above 300km/h prices just explode exponentially.... anything above 320km/h gets ridiculous...

[@steveszigethy]

I, too, was Talgo-blocked on my ride back to Portland from Seattle in September. We were on board the lovely Talgo ready to head south, but the Positive Train Control software refused to boot up properly, so after an hour, they decided to put us on coach buses. We hit I-5 southbound right at rush hour!

[@Thom-TRA]

Talgo blocked, love that term

[@AndreiTupolev]

They phoned you? That seems pretty decent service. Certainly in the UK they'd never bother to tell you even if it was canceled altogether until you turned up at the station 🏤

[@Thom-TRA]

Yep, robot lady voice at 7:00 AM

[@AssBlasster]

Amtrak has great service like this. I got a call from a person at 8 am that my 5 pm train from Seattle was delayed 5 hrs and made it very convenient to plan out the day better.

[@vapour_xs9235]

Amtrak Cascades is definitely outside its glory years... Back when the Talgo 8's were being pulled along the Puget Sound by F40PH's and F59PHI's. Now, you mostly see them being pulled by an SC-44 and an F40PH cab car with 3-4 Horizon cars, and rarely a Talgo set. For how beautiful the line is, it definitely needs more attention than what Amtrak is offering... I have had the privilage of riding the Talgo sets. Once when I was about 10, and now as recently as September of last year. They're amazing trains to ride on, and ride well despite the trackage being a bit rough along the route. On my way back from Seattle on my most recent trip, however, we got a 4 car Horizon train that was packed full of people. My parents and I were unlucky enough to get a car that seemed to have very worn (or possibly broken) suspension components on one of the bogeys, which was so bad it threw people out of their seats if we went over a junction at speed... I'm really hoping the new trainsets become more of a commonality for the Cascades, as the service is suffering from hand-me-down, old pieces of equipment that turn a beautiful route into a rollercoaster

[@doc7austin]

Hi, yes, I'd wish I could catch the Talgo some day on the Amtrak Cascades routes; You got a nice view of Mount Rainier; Too bad that due to Point Defiance Bypass, the trains do not run alongside the Puget Sound anymore; Yes, the Horizon Cars are not a Prison Train 😅

[@parkerjon29]

Horizon cars are the only cars in the traditional Amtrak fleet that were funded by private equity. I have a weird nostalgia for them. When I was a kid in the mid 90s, my mom and I would ride them on the Hiawatha when we would travel from VA to Milwaukee to see my grandma. They always seemed to have flat wheels in my memory

[@richs6205]

I enjoy the history you include of the area you’re traveling through. Pros and cons you provide add credibility to your review, nice job.

[@Thom-TRA]

The history helps understand the context, in my opinion!

[@redriverwave]

In reference to disappointing experience, my dad and I rode the NYC subway in the seventies. Reading the subway map, I was hoping to see and ride on the then currently new rolling stock on the BMT. We found out the railcars were older, unkempt and full of ‘funky’ folk. It was East New York in the mid-to-late 1970’s, so that’s the way it was- old ‘n funky. So glad we made it out alive!

[@nihongobenkyoshimasu3190]

About the Talgo, you should ride the one between Geneve and Barcelone, which use variable gauge axles. If you are in this area, use the Train Jaune near Perpignan between Villefranche-de-Conflent and Latour de Carol. Best would be during winter. Also at Latour de Carol you will have a train station with three different gauges.

[@Thom-TRA]

The Genève-Barcelona TrenHotel has not run for several years

[@GabrielsReviews]

@@Thom-TRA Not since C**** I'm lead to believe.

[@dianethulin1700]

Another excellent podcast. I always appreciate the tutorial. I have not made up my mind about spending a day in Portland. I liked seeing the station and learning about how it works there. I don’t blame you for being disappointed! Oh well!

[@Thom-TRA]

Portland is worth spending a day! Especially if you’re interested in public transportation. They have the deepest train station in the US.

[@dianethulin1700]

@@Thom-TRA I loved that image of you from a previous video with the Coast Starlight on one side and the Empire Builder on the other. The Cascade service does give flexibility in terms of traveling onto Seattle. I’m buying my rail pass next week and am thinking of tacking Portland on. Your perspective is helpful! 👍

[@NorthBay43]

The Amtrak cascades goes on the ex Burlington northern Seattle sub

[@roquejo6194]

don't know why or how i ended finding this video, but i found it very entertaining, keep it up!

[@Thom-TRA]

I’m glad you found it! Feel free to stick around, this is kinda what I do

[@Cupertinorail]

I rode Cascadés a few times, they are in the category of special routes for Amtrak. These are short distance trains without sleeping accommodations. Cascades is also paid for by the states of WA and OR. You should know Hiawatha is sponsored by some state governments too. It’s longer than other locally sponsored Amtrak routes. Last trip 2019. Btw I was born in Seattle

[@michaelformaini7053]

Oh what a bummer you didn't get to ride the Talgo. I had that experience in 1995 from Seattle to Vancouver BC and thoroughly enjoyed it. Earlier today I checked out your coverage of Seattle Light Rail, the Streetcar Routes and, last evening, the Monorail. Seattle has changed quite a bit over the last 30 years (as may be expected of any city) but I was curious as to what happened to the Waterfront Streetcar that ran ex-Melbourne W2 cars and discovered that it closed back in November 2005 as the Maintenance Depot was demolished to make way for something else.I see Davion West has made a trip from Seattle to Vancouver BC with a Talgo set so I'll check out that video next. I look forward to viewing your coverage of The Empire Builder ( I travelled on that back in 1989 from Seattle to Essex Montana and stayed a couple of nights at the famous Izaak Walton Inn.🙂🙂🙂

[@kr46428]

Wow, Mount Rainier is quite spectacular isn't it; nothing like a volcano to keep things interesting! If we take the continued reduction of wheels past the Jacobs bogie and extrapolate further, pretty soon half the cars will have no wheels at all! Oh...right, that's already happening in London with the new tube trains. Too bad we couldn't have seen the Talgo, but looking forward to your next video as always.

[@Thom-TRA]

And maybe someday we’ll get rid of the wheels altogether and we’ll just have floating trains…

[@terryrobertson8382]

I really like the research you do and the eloquent delivery of that information. I don't know why I didn't find your channel sooner, keep up the good work.

[@TracyMako]

I appreciate your sharing thoughts & experience on Amtrak Cascade trip with us. It brought back memories of the numerous times traveling that route in the past. 😊

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Excellent video though mate, shame you didn't get the bone shakers but you'll definitely have to go back soon 😀

[@brianhubert8418]

Thanks for sharing and the explanation about the Talgo equipment. That stinks you didn't get to ride it. I wholeheartedly agree about the Horizon equipment. It's commuter-rail Comet cousins are the standard equipment on the surpringsily unlectrified Metro-North Upper Hudson Line. I can remember the ride quality being just as bad as those Comets and the lights being those same harsh flourescent bulbs beating down on you particularly at night. Sounds like the Airo's will be a big upgrade indeed.

[@Thom-TRA]

The airos will be state of the art

[@brianhubert8418]

@@Thom-TRA I'm so looking forward to it. Let's hope Siemens and Amtrak can avoid the whole Alstom/Avelia mess.

[@nixcails]

Thanks

[@Thom-TRA]

Thanks for your generosity!

[@teecefamilykent]

Hi Thom and Lyndsey, love your videos keep up the epic work.

[@Thom-TRA]

Thank you

[@anthonywarrener1881]

Thank you very much for this fascinating video. A great shame you were unable to ride the Talgo cars, as I have found them very comfortable, and nice to ride in. As you say, the Horizon cars are now showing their age, and the replacements cannot come soon enough ! A very happy new year to you both.

[@Thom-TRA]

That F40 in Cascades colors certainly looks good though!

[@anthonywarrener1881]

@@Thom-TRA Yes it does ! The Cabbage cars have many varied liveries, and I particularly like the ones in veterans livery now based in Chicago.

[@Thom-TRA]

@@anthonywarrener1881 sadly the veterans cabbage isn’t working on the Hiawatha anymore

[@amfm889]

Hope you're able to travel to Vancouver, BC, from Seattle. Gorgeous route mostly along the Salish Sea! After moving to Seattle, I took my first Cascades trip to Vancouver, back in 2007, and it was aboard a Superliner-! They were filling in for the Talgos. I thought it was the standard equipment. When my next trip was a Talgo, I was *very* impressed! So European. A shame that they are being replaced.

[@Thom-TRA]

Thankfully they are being replaced by even more modern, European inspired equipment

[@murraymaxwell637]

You sure got that right. For a good part of my life I have been around trains. One year while I was in school. Our Social Studdies subject was on how trains work. Then we went for a ride on a train.

[@mattm.2591]

Looking forward to your adventures in Seattle! (My former home.)

[@Thom-TRA]

We loved Seattle! It was our first time

[@joserivera-yc5rr]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing

[@Thom-TRA]

You’re welcome!

[@kevinb8881]

Thomas, Happy New Year to you and Lindsay both, I agree, Amtrak needs to get their act together!!!

[@Thom-TRA]

Happy new year to you too!

[@sarahhearn-vonfoerster7401]

What have you done to support your suggestion? Called your Congressman recently?

[@Thom-TRA]

@@sarahhearn-vonfoerster7401 literally work in DC. What have you done?

[@thomasgraf1986]

Just recently rode the Cascades for the first time 27 (ugh) years since when I was a kid. It was... pedestrian in all aspects, but I really did enjoy the trip up and the total travel time is very close to the drive time. Although, I agree with you, the scenery is not up to Amtrak standards. One of the few instances where you have much better views on the Interstate vs. the Amtrak route. A fast, frequent, and reliable train between Portland and Seattle (and Vancouver BC) would be very popular!

[@AlexBednarsky]

Hey, Thom! Thank you and Lindsey for your awesome and interesting videos! It is sad you didn't ride Talgo train. They say wheel knocking sound is a bit confusing because you can hear only two wheels per a car instead of traditional rhythm of four axels per a car. You didn't mention a cool feature of Talgo trains and boogies: Talgo have a patented option of fast gauge width changing, which is used in some countries. This is almost absolutely reliable feature because it is based only on mechanics and couple sensors, which is used for security checks.

[@Thom-TRA]

I knew about the gauge changing, but didn’t mention it since the feature isn’t used in this scenario and I only had so much footage to put under my narration! But I’d like to try it out in Spain someday.

[@caratramontano2910]

I'm so sad you were on the east side of the train. The water-side views on the west side of the train from Olympia to Tacoma are 💯💯💯. When I rode the Cascades years ago there were deer chillaxing on the beach and orcas breaching in Puget Sound.

[@Thom-TRA]

The mountains are on the east side though. And it doesn’t go past the sound anymore since the bypass opened.

[@caratramontano2910]

@@Thom-TRAGood to know! Then I am not a fan of the bypass, because that beach view next to the train was sooooo nice.

[@michaelkiesling8148]

With the Point Defiance Bypass, the Cascades don't run along the shore of the Sound anymore.

[@jeesmith99]

Love the channel. Stuff happens. Safety is most important. We’ll come along and enjoy the videos no matter what.

[@Thom-TRA]

I felt bad for the engineer who got sick

[@jeesmith99]

My dad was a freight conductor. I couldn’t imagine an engineer alone in the cab, sick, with no one to help. Hope he gets well soon too.

[@michaelb9629]

That seems like another one of those nice train trips. If I ever do that same one, I’m not sure if I’ll get the talgo rail cars but by the time I could I’m sure I’ll be able to ride in the new ones that would have those alc 42 like cab cars which I’d be happy with once they enter service.

[@gingersnap9452]

We are also train enthusiasts and we rode the Cascade line just this past week from Vancouver, WA to Seattle, WA and we also had a negative experience. Our train had equipment failures that resulted in the entire luggage car being left behind at the rail yard last minute, so all passengers had to bring their own luggage aboard the train themselves and find spots in the overhead instead of checking them. It was mayhem, unfortunately. There wasn't any guidance for customers on open seating in the fully packed route and our windows were very small. It was like a plane trip.

[@Thom-TRA]

That’s the first time I’ve heard of issues on a luggage car! Sorry to hear about your experience

[@trainzandplanes522]

I did get a Talgo set thanks to a live rail cam that had tracked my train going up north the night before. Those sets are really fun

[@Thom-TRA]

You’re smart!

[@dylanstravelreviews]

So exited for this one!

[@Thom-TRA]

Hope it’s worth the wait!

[@edmontonaviation]

Amazing like always Thom! I do still miss the talgo 6’s

[@peterfrey6062]

I enjoyed this one too--- good information about the Talgo and the Cascade line. I had a similar disappointment with this route myself: journey from Seattle to Vancouver BC was halted at Bellingham WA because of track work on the Canadian side; so we were bussed the rest of the way to Vancouver. But at least the ride along Puget Sound was really spectacular. The dining car was also very nice. We were on our way up to Alaska, and had the chance to take both the White Pass and Yukon RR out of Skagway and the Alaska RR from Anchorage to Denali NP. Both spectacular.

[@jshoe2490]

New to your videos. I think trains are awesome too! Appreciated the little History lecturettes. Nice add.

[@Thom-TRA]

Thanks for the feedback. Welcome to the crew!

[@F40M07]

I remember taking this with the NRHS back in June 2023

[@d8meister]

I love your narration...appropriately snarky. Made me laugh out loud several times.

[@Thom-TRA]

Thanks! Hope you weren’t drinking anything and spat it out

[@d8meister]

@@Thom-TRA You are a great storyteller. I appreciate the research that goes into your videos, as well as your advocacy for passenger rail service.

[@Gryphonisle]

I didn’t realize the Talgos were not the dominant train sets of the Cascades line. I haven’t taken them that often but when I did it was a Talgo. I’d be cranky too if I was expecting a Talgo and got a crappy Horizon train. I wish someone could find vintage or antique photos of Portland’s Union Station interiors. Photos that show the victorian interior instead of the unfortunate 1915 era make over.

[@Thom-TRA]

I used to ride the Pere Marquette a lot. Usually they would use super liners. One day, in 2019, it was a Horizon consist. I learned very quickly which train I prefer…

[@himbourbanist]

The Horizon cars are definitely pretty bland and dated rolling stock for Amtrak, and the Cascades service is basically in a state of transition until the Airo trainsets are delivered. I believe Cascades is going to be one of the first services to get the new trainsets in like 2026 or 27 (as scheduled but we'll see). Cascades has solidified itself as a vital service for the region and more RTs have been added recently, so Amtrak is basically using whatever equipment they can get their hands on for now. It's still a wonderful service, arguably one of the best and most reliable corridors in the country, and it has a really great future ahead of it.

[@Thom-TRA]

I hope they order a lot for the cascades to build a robust, hourly service

[@oddityscrash]

Love the locomotive

[@juvieguy]

We took one of the last trains before the ill-fated first run of the Point Defiance bypass in 2017. We rode from Kelso to Tacoma and back on Friday. The accident happened Monday. I wanted to make a final trip along Commencement Bay and we did that. We also toured the Glass Museum while in Tacoma.

[@Thom-TRA]

Very glad you are safe!

[@Joeyjoey53]

Great video Thom ashame you could not ride the Talgo train hopefully you will l always enjoy your prospective.

[@Thom-TRA]

Appreciate it!

[@georgekarnezis4311]

Honestly the livery is so sweet.

[@Thom-TRA]

It’s so different from everything else

[@jasoncassady6286]

Talgo sets are currently running only on Trains 516/519 daily and every other day on 503/518 (Day A) and 517/506 (Day B)! Hope that helps for future rides. All of our Horizons have seats that are new and refurbished so definitely too much hate on us for that :)

[@Thom-TRA]

Nah, I’m from Chicago, I ride them regularly. The new seats are the ones that are uncomfortable.

[@ryanridder4576]

Great trip report! Yes, that was a shame the talgo set couldn’t be used on your train and that the train was late

[@stevelinscome728]

I live in Kelso and my apartment I live in is a block from the tracks. My place shakes like a mini earthquake when the trains go by. Someday, I will take a ride from the Kelso station to ??? wherever.

[@Thom-TRA]

Maybe take it across the country!

[@captainmaerd]

I frequent the Pacific Surfliner, so that was my Amtrak expectation for my cascades trip yesterday. I got a ride from Seattle to Portland on a sold out horizon train set. The Wi-Fi was down and I was noticing people near me that we’re going to the café car we’re in line for 30 to 40 minutes. I’m pretty tall and the seat was uncomfortably tight. Such a disappointing experience. I hope to ride on better equipment in the future.

[@cnhaynes57]

Almost two decades ago my youngest kid had a friend who moved from Seattle to Vancouver, WA. Instead of driving the three hours we did visits by putting a 12-16 year old child on a Cascades train. It worked out quite well. Except I missed an email from Amtrak about a schedule change, and kid's friend missed the train (this was back in the days when the train had a payphone, pre-mobile phone). So we just walked up to the aquarium for the afternoon and put the teen on the train south the next day.

[@Thom-TRA]

Sounds like my childhood! I took the train everywhere and I loved aquariums.

[@pinchy08]

Happy New Year Thom. I’m sorry you’re first attempt riding Amtraks Cascades resulted in the consist utilizing those old worn out horizon cars instead of the usual Talgo series 8. I hope if you attempt to ride the Cascades again, it will be on a set of series 8 Talgo cars. Everyone needs to take advantage of those Talgos before there retired and replaced by those Siemens Aerio sets with an NPCU Charger at the other end of the set. However for this trip Amtrak should have used Siemens Venture cars instead.

[@ck4426]

I don’t blame you for being disappointed. You did your research and did everything you could to try to ride a specific train so the disappointment is valid. I hope that you can return and ride the Talgo. I’m personally sorry that Amtrak operates the way it does and have also experienced disappointment and frustration with Amtrak as well. All that being said, Trains are still awesome and so are your videos!!!

[@Thom-TRA]

That’s right, trains are still awesome! And this was only a minor disappointment

[@nihongobenkyoshimasu3190]

I was thinking that you will use the Cascade Tunnel which has a door used to force air circulation after a diesel train pass inside the Cascade Tunnel which longest train tunnel in the US, about 8 miles long. I believe that when inside the tunnel, the train operator has to wear a gas mask like fireman or scubadiver use.

[@Thom-TRA]

That tunnel is on the Empire Builder route! I will share that video in a few weeks.

[@roycereidnm]

I've ridden on Cascades many times and yr experience was par for the course. The Oregon funded portion has dismal performance to say the least. While the Pt Defiance cutoff saves time, its also cut the most scenic part of the route south of Seattle. Cascades north of Seattle to Vancouver BC is probably one of the most scenic stretches of passenger rail in North America. Rolling stock predictability is really shaky, a couple of times I took Superliner coaches to BC and back (and only 2 coaches and a cafe at that) Crossing the border takes time. Almost all of my cascade trips makes me wonder if the thruway bus would have beat it. The summertime clientele seems to be mostly made up of cruise line passengers not on a tight schedule. The two remaining Talgo sets are in ok shape though, they bought them off Wisconsin for the failed Hiawatha line. If/When you get to retry spring for the business class tix, access to the Metropolitan Lounge is kinda worth it. I would have waited for the Talgo, even to the point of staying at one of the finest hostels in the world another night.

[@Thom-TRA]

I loved the Puget Sound views we saw from the Empire Builder. We even saw some porpoises!

[@johntousseau9380]

That's unfortunate with the Cascades. I've ridden that route many times from Seattle to Eugene. The Talgo is very nice, but the last few times I rode the Cascade I got stuck on the Horizon cars. The best views are along the Columbia just north of Vancouver WA.

[@johnalder6028]

Good report.

[@Thom-TRA]

Thanks!

[@roxxma]

I really empathize with you on this one. In March, 2017, after taking the Empire Builder from Chicago to Portland and spending a few days there, I was supposed to take a Cascades for the same reason as you, but all trains were cancelled due to the potential for landslides along the route, so bustitution it was. I missed out on the Talgos and seeing the more scenic (but more landslide prone) Point Defiance route before Cascades service was rerouted to the soon to be ill fated bypass. Like you being taunted with the Talgos at King St Station, my bus plodded up I-5 along the newly completed but not yet in service Point Defiance Bypass, the only portion of the route in which I had no interest. I haven't had a chance to return to the PNW since.

[@Thom-TRA]

Oof, that’s even rougher than our experience!

[@dalecaldwell]

At least you got to ride the Cascades. It was shut down for several years beginning with the recent Great Inconvenience. As someone else already said, it's an extremely scenid route north of Seattle, and the trip to Bellingham is cheap and beautiful.

[@Trainsaregreat365]

Nice another good video i like what you said in the beginning trains are the best way to travel

[@Thom-TRA]

Appreciate it!

[@stevesteffen7001]

Thom, my wife and I are taking the Cascades from Seattle to Vancouver, BC in September.

[@Thom-TRA]

Have a great trip!

[@londonwhaley8690]

I enjoyed the video👍👍

[@pinchy08]

Happy New Year Thom. I hate to see your first attempt riding the Amtrak Cascades wasn’t aboard the Talgo 8 series. Now if Amtrak were to think of a better improvement if they couldn’t utilize a Talgo 8 series, they could use Siemens Venture Cars instead.

[@jnrfalcon]

Pretty sure Pioneer runs between Seattle and Salt Lake City. Further on to Chicago required train change. Also, I think they are keeping Talgo 8s for a bit and replacing Horizon first, but I could be wrong.

[@Thom-TRA]

Pioneer doesn’t exist anymore, but it did run from Chicago to Seattle. It was attached to the California Zephyr.

[@dianethulin1700]

My grandmother was born in Evanston Wyoming and my father was born in Ogden Utah. This line has been long gone; much to our chagrin. My sister travels by train from Seattle to Utah to visit family and that would be perfect! Plus the train station in Ogden is still gorgeous

[@erik_griswold]

I rode the last Pioneer out of Seattle. It was May 10th, 1997.

[@samtrak1204]

LOL. You should have a ridden the next Talgo back to Portland.

[@moira329]

As a person who lives in the surrounding area I can’t wait until Lynnwood station opens. I never drive into Seattle anymore, it’s either the commuter bus or link. So much more convenient and cheaper.

[@Thom-TRA]

Transit for the win

[@moira329]

@@Thom-TRA you should next time when you’re in the area start up north from Everett or Marysville and take the commuter bus, depending on the time of day it either does into Downtown or drops off at Northgate. It’s actually very relaxing. I also use to work in Bellevue, so I’ve done the East Side out of Lynnwood.

[@Thom-TRA]

@@moira329 I’ve ridden a few of the commuter buses

[@pdxproductions1613]

As someone who lives in the northwest and rides the cascades regularly, you got quite the short end of the stick here. If I had gone all the way across the country, I too would have been disappointed to end up on a horizon due to a last minute equipment change. It’s a relatively rare occurrence, only happens maybe once or twice a month. Hopefully better luck next time!

[@Thom-TRA]

I was like “this is Chicago but nicer scenery” lol

[@allenm.5363]

The Vancouver BC, Canada to Mount Vernon portion is the best view along the Cascades, but it runs very slowly and only 2 daily round trips daily. I'd still highly recommend it!

[@Thom-TRA]

I’d love to someday! I’ve never been to Vancouver

[@RADZADproductions]

I could imagine the horizon cars aren’t that great. They’re based off the comet design and they’re sort of horrible on NJT. They’re very rough riding.

[@davey1121]

Grr I really enjoyed my Talgo ride on my first visit to Seattle. Shame you didn’t get one on this occasion. Maybe you should visit Spain, I think they have some in Romania too.

[@Thom-TRA]

Next year they will be running between Amsterdam and Berlin as well

[@BalooUriza]

Wonder what's going on with the Talgos. Last time I took Cascades, it was almost always a Talgo, but when it wasn't, it was a rail replacement bus.

[@Thommygun-qv7um]

"The american Railjet". YES, THANK YOU Thom for pointing it out!! I heard almost everything said about these trainsets, yet, almost nobody was able to pin down their origin so accurate! Also, I like your diverse point of view. It makes your videos entertaining and educational. Keep it pls.

[@Thom-TRA]

A Siemens push-pull set. Aka yankee railjet.

[@mrvwbug4423]

@@Thom-TRA Being pulled by essentially a Diesel Vectron. I do wonder if NEC Airo trains will use the ACS-64s instead, since kinda pointless to couple a Charger to a consist that's going to spend its life on 100% electrified line. The dual mode Airo trainsets will be great for mixed corridors like Empire and Keystone though.

[@Thom-TRA]

@@mrvwbug4423 the point of the airo is to extend them to Virginia. Once the new long bridge is built, Amtrak Virginia service will be hugely expanded. I think every Northeast Regional will continue beyond DC at that point.

[@mrvwbug4423]

@@Thom-TRA Having Acela level service from Boston to Florida would be the dream

[@Thom-TRA]

@@mrvwbug4423 Boston to Atlanta seems very likely at this point! Since they want to upgrade DC-Charlotte and build HSR from Charlotte to Atlanta.

[@shawnbell6392]

I like the Cascades route but I've experienced my share of things not going as plan or envisioned. I'll never forget the multi hour delay at the bridge after Portland going into Vancouver WA when the bridge guy opened it for a ship and then was unable to close it. That's rail in America.

[@Thom-TRA]

Bridge no close, train no run

[@scooterxx6094]

I guess I was lucky (?) to have been on Talgo equipment the two times I rode the Cascade line. (Still arguably the ugliest locomotive.) The Cascade cafe car menu is pretty nice; it would be great if every regional train had fun regional food options. Even the beer, wine, and whiskey is regional on the Cascade.

[@kevanhubbard9673]

You read about these 'equipment swaps'with aeroplanes a lot especially by those who book Business/First Class.Say you were flying from JFK to LAX you might spot an international configuration being used which obviously would give lie flat seats instead of the internal US First which is more akin to international Premium Economy.You would be most let down if you had taken the trouble to research when the nicer aircraft would be used only to have it swapped for an internal US one!Of course if, like me, you are in steerage it doesn't make much difference!

[@samtrak1204]

I can't figure why a large station like Seattle King Street serves the Cascades, Empire Builder and Sounder commuter trains but does not include a live cafe or coffee shop?

[@Thom-TRA]

Probably because so few trains use it

[@IronHorsefan1869]

They should never have prematurely retired the Talgo 6 Sets, I agree the Borizons are nothing to be excited about compared to the Talgos, the New Airo Sets can't come soon enough

[@electrourbantrans1018]

Thom, don't be upset, you'll be lucky next time😉!!! I understand how unpleasant it is to plan for a long time and then not only get it, but also the train arrived with a huge delay... In my native country, even if someone from the staff gets sick, there will be definitely someone who replace the sick person, immediately. But this is in railway and in metro systems, but many other transport companies with the staff shortage, could just cancel the bus or tram run. The toilet in the train car is similar to the ones we used to have in all long-distance trains. But waste was dumped directly onto the rails... Now there are still such trains, but they are already a minority. And I saw taps with a similar dispenser on the railways of the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Serbia. The seats are wider than ours... Generally, similar seated cars are very rare in post-soviet countries, it is more often for intercity express services - electric multiple unit trains with the same seats arrangement.

[@roguefamily7630]

happy new years

[@Thom-TRA]

You too!

[@erik_griswold]

Two Vancouvers both with the same origin. 54’40” or bust!

[@tommarino1056]

Nice video. Too bad you had such a delay and equipment change.

[@baseballfan99]

I rode this train in February and I agree it’s a poor relation to the other Amtrak trains. It was a means to an end and certainly knocks Greyhound out of the park but it could be a nicer overall experience. In Europe I can book and choose my exact seat. On this train, like all Amtrak, I have to queue up for ages then hope a window seat is free. I think it’s not helped by taking the less scenic route though I can see why they switched for time purposes.

[@StevesWanderlust]

Great video, Thom. Your casual positivity remains inspirational to me when it comes to producing my own travel videos. I'm interested to ride the Talgos too, but I'd take the Horizon/Amfleet seats over how I saw the Talgo seats depicted in Lonestar Trip Reports' Cascades video.

[@Thom-TRA]

I liked your new orange line vid! One of my favorite L lines

[@UnionPacificTrainMan1988]

When i rode the Missouri River Runner to St Louis in 2022 most of the consist was Amtrak horizon cars with one amfleet cafe car. half way to st Louis the horizon car i was in lost its air conditioning and it got very hot pretty quick so that was unfortunate + the train had to stop at the nearest signal because Union Pacific had to reboot there computer system in there headquarters in Omaha to work the signals. I eventually made it to st Louis and wasnt that happy but it was much better on the the train heading back towards kansas city.

[@Thom-TRA]

The car became a regular old toaster oven at that point

[@Cupertinorail]

I never rode the Pioneer because it died very quickly resulting in Wyoming losing Amtrak service

[@sarahhearn-vonfoerster7401]

I was on the last Pioneer route, unknowingly. They made the journey memorable, with a guide constantly relating historical events as we traveled across that gorgeous vastness for the last time.

[@drregmonster4371]

I guess you'll just have to come back to try for the Talgo trains.

[@Thom-TRA]

I guess so!

[@kiosk5595]

It just occurred to me, if you come back and fail again, just book several tickets from King Street to Tukwila. They’re like $7 each. Then show up and cancel if any are not Talgos. It’s a short ride but it’d give you at least one chance to ride them

[@Thom-TRA]

That's a good idea

[@supermanifolds]

That hole in the ground toilet and the sink that spills water everywhere is really something.

[@Thom-TRA]

It belongs in a museum really

[@AndreiTupolev]

It was the norm everywhere until the 1990s at least

[@damascus6478]

Always love your videos, especially when Lindsey is in them. Thanks to KZbinrs such as yourself and others I have started taking overnight trains and have loved every minute of it. I took the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle last February, and will be going all the way from New York to Seattle at the end of this month. I also took the Caledonian Sleeper for 11 hours from Inverness to London. Thanks again for piquing my interest in rail travel.

[@Thom-TRA]

This comment brightened my day! I’d love to hear how your Caledonian sleeper trip was

[@damascus6478]

Best sleep I ever had. I was out 15 minutes after leaving Inverness and didn't get up until the alarm went for breakfast. Which is a better night's sleep than I get at home.

[@gdrriley420]

They had an agreement for 13RT a day between Portland and Seattle with 5RT extended to Vancouver and 6RT to Eugene along with some minor speed ups reducing the travel time to about 2.5 hours between Portland and Seattle. They rejected buying the extra talgo 8 which is a shame as it could have really helped them keep more sets in service. But ODOT, WSDOT are only focused on the 250mph ultra high speed ground transpiration plan which is just insane and is open to every random idea from maglev to hyperloop.

[@Thom-TRA]

13 a day really is the minimum the states should be striving for. That would make it a more reliable option. Especially if they left at the same time every hour.

[@gdrriley420]

@@Thom-TRAdon’t forget the coast starlight. Could result in a train every hour from 7am-9PM

[@Thom-TRA]

@@gdrriley420 I feel like the starlight is really only reliable southbound for corridor services. That being said, I want them to bring back the Pioneer.

[@gdrriley420]

@@Thom-TRA definitely. I feel it’s the opposite between LA and Sac. LD trains just have too much track to cover to not have delays

[@vlad2838]

Practically medieval accommodations. That said, unless the business model for Amtrak improves, I don’t see things changing. Thanks for your delightful content, and Happy New Year!

[@sarahhearn-vonfoerster7401]

How patronizing! Support train travel positively, and those who sit on their hands in Washington will be forced to take greater action to maintain the greatest travel opportunities in this country, that should be available and affordable for all citizens...not just marketing opportunities!

[@Thom-TRA]

@@sarahhearn-vonfoerster7401 you want a better Amtrak, yet you refuse to let anybody criticize them.

[@Eric-l6n1c]

I used the talgoor what ever you call it on our why back from Seattle to portland

[@Thom-TRA]

Nice

[@boweandrew3]

Great video

[@johnburke1317]

Nice video 👋