Trip Report: November 8 - December 10, 2006
by Ted & Sylvia Blishak
31 Day Grand Tour on Amtrak and the Mississippi Queen
Sunday, December 10, 2006. Day 32.
We always enjoy visits to Seattle, and recommend that our Canadian-bound clients spend more than one quick overnight stay between trains.
We have been calling this our 31 Day Vacation, but were actually counting the nights. So here we are on Day 32. After we breakfast on oatmeal, an egg and croissant sandwich, and Starbucks coffee at the Westin’s Fifth Avenue Corner Café, our bellman wrestles our luggage down to a waiting taxi. The Arthritis Foundation’s Jingle Bell Run, with many Westin guests in red jerseys and reindeer hats cheerfully assembling, is blocking Fifth Avenue as well as other main streets downtown, so we find ourselves on the longest-ever and detoured taxi ride to the King Street Station.
Our clients frequently ask if there is a hotel near the Amtrak station. Well, yes……….and no. The historic Cadillac Hotel is two blocks away, and here is what their website says:
Historic Seattle is proud to announce the completed rehabilitation of the Cadillac Hotel building…[we] transformed a pile of brick rubble into the new star of Pioneer Square. The arduous process of bringing this building back to life has taken four years and $10.6 million.
The 1889 Cadillac Hotel, one of the oldest buildings in Pioneer Square, was severely damaged by the February 28, 2001 Nisqually earthquake. Plans for its demolition were considered until negotiations between Historic Seattle and Goodman Financial Services began in September, 2001… Historic Seattle engaged Stickney Murphy Romine Architects of Seattle, and Rutherford and Chekene structural engineers from the California Bay Area, for the restoration. RAFN Construction provided the rebuilding effort. ..the building required innovative project financing, along with seismic bracing and masonry repair, as well as interior rehabilitation.
Historic Seattle also acquired a new a new tenant to help enliven this edge of Pioneer Square, the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park Museum and National Park Service Regional Headquarters.
Cadillac Hotel
Thus while the sign calls it a hotel, it is actually an office building.
The Best Western Pioneer Square is a few blocks away, but not within safe walking distance at night when the Coast Starlight arrives. We recommend the downtown hotels mentioned previously, along with the Roosevelt in the moderate category, or the Edgewater on Alaskan Way, for a Puget Sound location.
Seattle’s hotel prices are quite high, and can run between $250 to $500 depending upon the time of year. Oddly, since we opened Accent on Travel USA in 1975, we have seen airline fares remain about the same, while hotel costs have risen dramatically. For whatever reason, this explains the ongoing financial woes, bankruptcies, service cuts, salary reductions, and elimination of employee pensions the airlines suffer, as their costs of operation have certainly risen over the past three decades.
We check two of our bags to Klamath Falls and await the call for boarding Amtrak Train 11, the southbound “Coast Starlight”. According to Amtrak’s web site, the northbound Starlight had arrived in Seattle only 30 minutes behind schedule last night, which in Union Pacific territory, qualifies as on time.
The King Street Station looks a little bit better every time we come through town, and today is decorated with a Christmas tree and some beautiful wreaths.
From the King Street Station website:
Progress as of December 2006.
Workers have completed restoring King Street Station's 100-year-old Compass Room entry hall to its original appearance.
Compass Room
Remaining renovation work will include providing space for drop off and pick up of Amtrak Thruway buses, a covered walkway south of the station towards the Weller Street Pedestrian Bridge, new exterior canopies, lighting, and refurbishing the main entrance at Third Avenue and King Street.
The renovation includes new restrooms, a bigger lobby and waiting area.
Completion is expected by the Spring of 2009.
To King Street
According to an e-mail received from Friends of Amtrak a couple of weeks ago, the City of Seattle may purchase the station from the BNSF for $1.00. Also, the voters of Seattle approved a $10 million bond issue to provide additional funds for the completion of the project. Every little bit counts, and progress here is done in tiny little bits, beginning in 2003.
We are happy to see a Pacific Parlour Car in the consist as our train pulls in (and later see another on #14 as it passes us heading north). Our Sales Representative, Marilyn Machette, told Sylvia that Amtrak has reversed its decision to abandon the PPCs and plans to repair those that are out of service.
After boarding car 1130/Bedroom D, we enjoy a light Continental Breakfast in the Parlour Car, where we meet Meg Collins, a Customer Service Manager. The onboard customer service program began in June 2006 as customer complaints increased after the termination of the On Board Chief program. Meg goes throughout the train introducing herself to passengers. We understood her job is to check out the various onboard crews and to insure customer satisfaction. She is scheduled to disembark in Klamath Falls and return to Seattle on tomorrow’s train.
She tells us that the she and other Customer Service Managers have lobbied for the repair and return of the Pacific Parlour Cars, which were formally phased out with the October 31 Timetable. Amtrak management agreed to return the cars but without an attendant. Now they are lobbying for an attendant. The new president of Amtrak is on their side, so it sounds like good news for the return and retention of fully manned Pacific Parlour Cars. None of this would be happening except for the retirement of former Secretary of Transportation. And now President Bush is too preoccupied with his party’s defeat at the polls and the Iraq Study Group to have any energy left for his ongoing policy of the disassembly of Amtrak.
South of Tacoma, we view the progress of the Third Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The first one collapsed in 1940. The second one replaced it, the third one will double the lanes available. It is being built to a similar, but not a copy of the second bridge.
Tacoma Narrows Bridges
Original Tacoma Narrows Bridge, 1940
Virtual view of Tacoma Narrows Bridges
Slow orders take us past a lengthy maintenance-of-way project, with dozens of BNSF employees in rain gear on this stormy Sunday, where new concrete ties are being laid. Generally speaking, the route of the Coast Starlight south of Portland involves some of the most poorly maintained roadbed that we have experienced on this entire trip. I can barely keep my fingers on my laptop keyboard, and walking the corridors requires both hands to maintain one’s balance. Since this situation has been true for as long as we have been riding this train, I assume there is little hope for any improvement by the Union Pacific Railroad, whose slogan at one time was WE CAN HANDLE IT!
It is 8:25pm as we are leaving Chemult, and due to the schedule padding, our conductor hints that we may arrive into Klamath Falls on time at 9:50pm. If so, this will be the first time we have experienced an on time arrival in many a year. This may be due to the famous letter to the Union Pacific regarding the poor handling of this train. (See our previous trip report in October.) Again, the retirement of Norman Mineta from public life may be the best thing that has happened to Amtrak in years.
9:47pm, the Coast Starlight arrives in Klamath Falls three minutes ahead of schedule!
Now, we’re home. Our clothes still fit, in spite of all the merrymaking, eating, and drinking.
We have been forwarding suitcases to various destinations, and sending some home with clothing already worn or no longer needed, as we went. In spite of making copious notes, it appears that we made a mistake about which of two of our identical suitcases held the crashed IBM laptop.
As Ted starts to open 32 days worth of mail, Sylvia starts to unpack, and there is the missing IBM, wrapped in some clothing in the “to be laundered” category.
Our sincere apologies to Amtrak’s baggage department. They still hold a perfect record of getting baggage where it is supposed to go, in the experience of both ourselves and our clients.
It’s been a great trip, with wonderful memories to treasure. Thanks for letting us share them with you.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL!
