Washington Park, the DEEPEST Train Station in North America | Portland MAX Light Rail

[@amfm889]

"While the rocks may have been bored here, I most certainly wasn't." GREAT line.

[@Thom-TRA]

Thank you, thank you. I’m here every week. lol

[@amfm889]

@@Thom-TRA I also noticed the station got makeover recently. They vastly upgraded the platform lighting, painted the walls, etc. Those platforms looked pretty dim in that (older) Google streetview.

[@JunohNebula]

Had the honor to visit the station a few weeks back on a family visit to the Oregon Zoo. It was quite the experience! I loved seeing the core sample from the construction, a beautiful look into the rock structure of the hill. The sounds of an approaching train while standing at the station were visceral and powerful. I hope I can visit it again at some point.

[@oldgordo61]

Never been to Portland let alone the station but in Montreal Quebec they're building a light rail line on an old train tunnel that will have a station that will be almost as deep abt 70 metres under a mountain. It's supposed to open by next year. I can't wait to see it. There's a couple of videos in french and english showing the progress of construction.

[@ranolden9717]

It stays wonderfully cool down there all year. Got off there during a recent heatwave and didn't want to leave. There's also a secret abandoned narrow gauge train station in Washington Park. The 5/8th scale Washington Park and Zoo Railway used to have a line running all the way to the Rose Test Garden, but it was abandoned in 2014. You can still walk along the tracks and visit the station though. Just getting more and more overgrown

[@Thom-TRA]

Ooh I’d love to explore those tracks. Thanks for putting it on my radar!

[@ranolden9717]

@@Thom-TRA It's a great little adventure. Take MAX to Washington park, follow the signs for the Rose Garden, then follow the train tracks where they cross the trail. Hike or take the shuttle back and optional visit to the food cart pod at Beaverton Central

[@Seawiz21]

not enough people talk about how cool it is Portland built a subway station into a mountain just to go to a park.

[@noahmizrahi9834]

Be glad you didn't ride on that during rush hour, all those thousand's of cars at park and ride are commuters. It's standing room only on just about all max lines

[@johnchambers8528]

I got to visit this station the time I was in Portland and exploring the MAX system. As you reported it brings you up to an extensive park system with many attractions to explore. I was also delighted to see the historical facts listed on the station wall as it gave a nice background to the station.

[@Thom-TRA]

It’s a very nice station!

[@nashorn9745]

There is an abandoned station in the Gotthard Base Tunnel that would have been 800m down from street level the station is almost completed and is still used to evacuate passengers if a train is on fire but it was never planed that the station is an emergency exit of the tunnel if your train is on fire you will only change to a train in the other tube so it is possible that this station has something that one tube can get higher pressure and then be used as an emergency exit so no need for stears

[@ericyoung1478]

11 days late, I apologize, but this is by far my favorite station in the system, followed closely by Skidmore Fountain, & Rose Quarter TC.The reason these are my top 3 favorite MAX stations is because when trains are making a loud "wooshing" sound (which I'm assuming is the HVAC), they echo across the station, due to the walls of WP, or if it's Skidmore, or RQTC, the overhead bridge is what makes trains echo, both the HVAC, & even the external audio announcements. It's real fun when you're on the train, & hear the echo outside, but when the doors close, it becomes ultra quiet inside the train; it's even better if, at Skidmore, the Saturday market is open, & they're playing music, or something.

[@Thom-TRA]

I remember that noise! You could hear a train come from miles away due to how long the tunnel is. I also just love that they made the platform interesting with lots of facts. Haven’t been to your other 2 favs, will have to go back!

[@fightingfalconfan]

Your not hearing the trains HVAC system. Your hearing the air pressure as the train is moving at mph through the tunnel. It slows down to about 35 before it reaches the platform and then makes its stop.

[@michellegiacalone1079]

I can't believe you didn't do the full loop and go to the Japanese Garden (one of the best in the country) and the Rose Garden. You get back here right now, young man!

[@DragonProtector174]

5:08 It's happened before a few years back. The elevator shut down people couldn't get out so the rail had to be stopped and people had to just walk the 3 miles out of the tunnel on the side utility walk. That's in there. Edit: Not a few years back more like decade. I was 10 at the time.

[@FernandoZavalaTAT]

I had the pleasure of first visiting this station back in April 2014. Not for the station itself so much as to access the bus service upstairs, back then provided by Tri-Met route 63. It was the only route at the time guaranteed to have a Flxible Metro on it, as it required a special fleet of 30 foot buses to navigate the sharp turns on the winding road going back down the hill, and their replacements were not yet arriving. It was a fun ride down that road!

[@dennisforner6090]

Yes, another informative upload - I wonder how many people would have taken the time to read all the information provided on the station? I was thinking the same thing about what happens if there is a power failure or fire - must-have backup emergency stairs. Speaking of back up I fully can relate to your frustrations when material, for some reason or another, is lost. Very frustrating trying to retrieve it. I had a colleague who would back everything up immediately - at the time I thought he was crazy until it happened to me!.. Stay safe Thom & thank you for sharing.

[@Thom-TRA]

I read maybe half of it, but then I wanted to stay on my schedule. It’s a cool station, it looked surprisingly nice for when it was built, compared to the others. The footage loss was super sad, but I’m grateful the company was so helpful and restored it free of charge!

[@AirshipsAviation11]

There are emergency stairs for the stop

[@julesdotmp4]

thank you for this video! i just moved into an apartment very close to the MAX line and was curious about how accessible any of washington park’s green space actually was by transit. i learned that it was, and then some! hope Portland treated you well!

[@Thom-TRA]

I had a great time. Enjoy all the beautiful hikes!

[@Jeff-kz5kl]

Awesome video!

[@Thom-TRA]

Thanks!

[@danielueblacker9118]

Thom very informative thank you.

[@londonwhaley8690]

I enjoy the video👍👍

[@SamNYC2000]

There are perhaps 2 other tunnels in the whole MAX system, if you count one underpass.

[@davidburrow5895]

Nice video. I think those closed doors at the ends of the platforms are the emergency stairs.

[@Thom-TRA]

They must be. Now I want to go back to NYC and try some of their elevator-only stations. I’ve heard the elevators there have operators.

[@AaronEdwards]

There are staircases - not sure if they’re always accessible, but I’ve been there when an elevator wasn’t working and the stairs were being used.

[@Thom-TRA]

That sounds like not a fun time

[@Cupertinorail]

Hey I didn't realize you were in PDX on the day you made this video. I was in the area as well. Now the 63 no longer stops in front of the tram station. I only went there once.

[@trainglen22]

Hopefully you do a video in the end of 2024 of Canada's deepest station (Edward Monpetite) on the REM when the line opens in Montreal. Fantastic video, by the way.

[@raakone]

You asked about any alternatives to the elevators. I noticed you passed a door with a large "EXIT" over it. 5:27 Maybe it's strictly for emergencies? Want a place with a lot of subway stations only accessible by elevator? Go to the original subway system. In London, UK, there are still stations that can only be reached by elevators or "lifts," but generally the stairs are also useable, but there are warnings about the number of steps and that it is "equivalent to a 15 story building" (they say that part regardless of the number of steps), the older staircases are spirals, but at a couple of stations that were rebuilt, "square-spiral" stairwells replaced them (e.g. Mornington Crescent). Many stations that previously had elevators were converted to have escalators, but this was not always feasible. At one station, Essex Road, there are "fire doors" leading to the stairs but one can still go through them. Some of the newest underground stations also have "hidden" elevators that are used by firefighters to evacuate disabled people in the event of an evacuation being needed.

[@monkeytastix]

Yes. I live in Portland and know people who have worked for TriMet (the transit authority that runs MAX) and I can confirm that those doors do lead to emergency stairs.

[@1e1001]

yup, emergency exit 26 flights of stairs

[@dfor]

Yes, there are multiple stairwells for use in case of an emergency, but be very careful with them. If the door closes behind you you have to walk up 26 stories of stairs as they are one way doors and lock behind you. If you open those doors it sets off alarms in the rail control room and pulls up cameras. You'd be met by TriMet supervisors and probably transit police to have a conversation with you.

[@bluesky4385]

I enjoyed your video and yes the Washington Park station is cold. It generally feels very nice on a hot summer day. I'm wondering though when exactly did you film this? I ask because it looks more like winter than Jun 22, 2022. I see everyone with masks on and the trees at least what I saw, did not have leaves on them. I haven't lived in Portland in quite awhile, but I don't remember people wearing winter jackets in late June.

[@Thom-TRA]

This was in March

[@DannyManny98]

Not only is the deepest in the continent, but also the deepest in the hemisphere.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Nice video Thom, it's a shame you lost that footage 😭

[@Thom-TRA]

Thank you, I really appreciate it! Fortunately only a tiny fraction of the footage was lost. Good thing, because soon I’m releasing my trip reports on the Empire Builder!

[@NonstopEurotrip]

@@Thom-TRA excellent 😄

[@OddsandEnds]

I know an engineer of the tunnel and I'm a local yes there are emergency stairwells

[@Thom-TRA]

I figured there had to be

[@dwdwone]

Are there any other underground stations on Trimet?

[@Thom-TRA]

Not that I’m aware of

[@1e1001]

nope, the only underground station is the deepest

[@car_tar3882]

Forest glen ahh station

[@BC_26fhj]

The deepest stations in the world are in North Korea and Kiev I think.

[@Thom-TRA]

I guess Portland is a little bit more accessible to me now haha

[@NonstopEurotrip]

I've been to Arsenalna Station on the Kyiv Metro. The deepest in the world at 105m. the escalators are insane! 😮

[@Thom-TRA]

@@NonstopEurotrip hoping for peace there soon

[@NonstopEurotrip]

@@Thom-TRA 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@Psevdonim123]

That is if you count below the ground level, because Arsenalnaya, is just like this one, located inside the hill, and just like there the next station on that line is above ground (and it's pretty cool because it's partially inside the hill, so it kinda like sticks out of it). The deepest below the sea level is Admiralteiskaya in Saint-Petersburg, which is more than a 100 m below the sea level, but I think only 86 m below the ground level, which makes it the third deepest in the world (or second, because I don't really think North Korean sources are that reliable, and I doubt they let in any of the international organizations to investigate it) Though I think that Washington Park may be the deepest light-rail station in the world, because rest are all heavy rail

[@burger1g]

The music is the worst thing I've heard in a long long time. (Good video otherwise, sorry for the criticism)

[@Thom-TRA]

How brave of you to admit online you have no taste lol

[@burger1g]

​@@Thom-TRA it's the opening song, the outro is a banger can't even lie