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I took Amtrak from Albany to Los Angeles a few years ago, and as we rolled into downtown LA, I was standing in the vestibule waiting for the train to stop. I was wearing a backpack, rain parka, shorts and Birkenstock sandals with socks. Another couple entered the vestible and he said to me, "You must be from Eugene!"  (SO, is that the Oregon Costume?) Apparently....

posted 4 years ago
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I live in Albany, which is a major Amtrak stop. There are only 2-3 passenger trains that go through the "major" stop, and they are nearly always late (not minutes, but HOURS). I have asked RR workers why this is such a problem, and they gave me their impressions--the freights get priority (which has been discussed), but I see them every day and they travel fairly slowly, which just holds up the passenger trains that much longer. The other reason the RR workers have mentioned is that the tracks are in such poor shape that making up time is just not safe! Also we have mountains here (especially going south into CA) that create many switchbacks that don't allow speeds much over 15 mph, and winters impact that even more. In my opinion, using funding to repair and maintain tracks, and creating better solutions between freight and passenger trains seems more logicial than high-speed rail, which in many instances would be nearly impossible due to our lanscape.

I have used the Cascadia to travel to my work in Salem, and northbound is usually fine, but coming home, due to only two trains a day, my days become 14 hour days. It's nice, but not worth the loss of my day. We need MORE trains, and I would use them more.

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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