Today was to be a landmark day in the history of Amtrak and Washington State DOT. And it was. Unfortunately, the debut of new Talgo passenger train service along I-5 from Tacoma to Nisqually met with a serious fatality accident which at this time still has part of I-5 closed and is under investigation. The state and Amtrak spent nearly $181 million to shave off 15 minutes of running time between Seattle and Portland and the first train left Seattle at 645 am today. At 740 am it met its fate by flying off the track at 81 mph as it approached a 30 mph bridge not replaced in the improvement process. Time will tell why this happened. I share two photos of the beginning of this experiment back in January 1995 with the original Talgo set operating behind an Amtrak F40PH at Black River Jct., south of Seattle. My thoughts are with the families that suffered losses on this day, and in the hope that this type of accident will not repeat itself in the future.
From Vancouver, BC, to Eugene, OR, this route runs along stretches of Puget Sound and the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. The TALGO trainsets that were the line's backbone for many years were withdrawn from service after they were cited in the 2017 crash
With two sections of the Empire Builder, the Coast Starlight, Seattle, the Cascade Mountains, Columbia Valley and Puget Sound, Washington state offers rail buffs plenty of variety and beauty.
