The SunBreak » cascades

Amtrak’s Extra Train to Bellingham Leaves Seattle at 8:15 AM

Michael van Baker — Fri, 31 May 2013 16:13:16 +0000

Anticipating increased demand while the bridge is being repaired -- a temporary replacement may come sometime in June, while a better fix could take until September -- the state has talked Amtrak into adding a roundtrip train daily between Seattle and Bellingham.

Dry December May Boost Amtrak Cascades Ridership

Michael van Baker — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:51:37 +0000

One beneficiary of this unexpected aridity is the Amtrak Cascades line, which is routinely plagued by mudslides when we get steady rain. This spring and November's on-time percentages suffered because of rainfall-driven slides, but December's fair weather has Amtrak Cascades on track to surpass its target of 828,000 (2010 ridership totaled 840,000 passengers, up seven percent from 2009--or 850,000, up ten percent, depending upon whose figures you believe).

Cliff Mass vs. the Tree-Ring Gang in a PDO Classic

Michael van Baker — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:49:33 +0000

University of Washington atmospheric scientist Cliff Mass has some debating words for authors of a recent study ("The Unusual Nature of Recent Snowpack Declines in the North American Cordillera") suggesting the Western snowpack is dramatically shrinking due to climate change: "If you really check out the Science paper and look at the data, the loss of snowpack during the past few decades have not been serious. There is no clear smoking gun of anthropogenic global warming." But is there? And do we really need to wait to be shot, first?

Amtrak Plans for More Seattle-to-Portland Trips

Michael van Baker — Tue, 10 May 2011 18:20:55 +0000

By 2017, Amtrak Cascades should be making six round trips between Seattle and Portland per day, up from four trips daily now. That's possible in part because of an extra $15 million the federal government is disbursing for a Port of Vancouver project--from a pot of high-speed rail money that Florida refused. "The $15 million, along with $18.3 million in matching funds from the Port of Vancouver," reports The Columbian, "will pay for a separate track for freight rail cars carrying shipments into and out of the port."