We arose at the Quality Inn and after our Internet duties, we had breakfast at the International House of Pancakes before Elizabeth drove to Freighthouse Square where we parked our car in the garage across the street from the Amtrak station. Since we had just over an hour before our train was due, we decided to ride Tacoma Link and the new extension so walked over to the station and bought tickets to ride the streetcar.
The route of the Tacoma Streetcar. The T Line, formerly known as Tacoma Link, is a light rail line in Tacoma, Washington, part of the Link light rail system operated by Sound Transit. It travels 4.0 miles and serves 12 stations between Tacoma Dome Station, Downtown Tacoma, and Hilltop. The line carried 934,724 total passengers in 2019, with a weekday average of over 3,100 boardings. Tacoma Link runs for nine to 18 hours per day, using streetcars at frequencies of 12 to 20 minutes.
Tacoma Link was approved in a regional transit ballot measure passed in 1996 and began construction in 2000. It was the first modern light rail system to be constructed in Washington state and succeeded a former streetcar system that ceased operations in 1938. Service on Tacoma Link began on August 22, 2003, at five stations, replacing a downtown shuttle bus. A sixth station, Commerce Street/South 11th Street, was opened in 2011. It was designated as the Orange Line in 2019 and renamed to the T Line in 2020.
Sound Transit extended the T Line by 2.4 miles to the Stadium District and the Hilltop area west of Downtown Tacoma on September 16, 2023. A longer western extension to the Tacoma Community College campus via South 19th Street is planned to open by 2041.
Washington Supreme Court was passed.
Tacoma Union Station built in 1909.
We passed a trolley mural on the way to the east end of the line at St. Joseph and all passengers had to detrain.
Our streetcar went east to turn around.
It returned to pick us up then we would return to Freighthouse Square.
The American Flag on top of the Tacoma Dome was blowing in the wind on the return. The trip took longer than we expected so time was running short. However, luck was with us as a handicapped pasasenger was being assisted with boarding Amtrak Cascades so we made our train with no problem. We rode two stops to Centralia on Amtrak Cascades 505 to get the mileage on the Prairie Line that neither of us ridden before since Amtrak no longer travels the scenic line along the coast of Puget Sound since the derailment in December 2017.
Amtrak Cascades 505 at Centralia with former Amtrak F40PH 229 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1976.
Amtrak Centralia station built by the Northern Pacific in 1912 and served Great Northern and Oregon, Washington and Navigation Company.
Amtrak 505 used the handicapped lift before leaving.
Amtrak Cascade 505 departed for Portland, Oregon with Siemens SC-44 1405 built in 2017.
A trolley mural on the side of a building painted by Carol Thompson in 1990.
BNSF GP60 163 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1988.
BNSF SD75M 288, nee BNSF 8294, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1997.
Locomotives at Centralia yard.
Amtrak Coast Starlight 11 arrived at Centralia.
Amtrak ALC-42 314 built in Siemens in 2021.
The Coast Starlight departed for Los Angeles.
After a few foward and reverse moves, this would be our next train.
BNSF 6801 East came through Centralia.
Amtrak 504 arrived and we boarded a very crowded train, so much so that Elizabeth and I could not sit together. We rode the two stops back to Freighthouse Square in Tacoma and waiting for us were our friends Tim Johnson and Reynold DeJager, whom Elizabeth met and befriended in 2016 at the Autumn Leaf Slide Show in Centralia. Also in the group that year was David Cantlin, who would later move to Oklahoma. They would take us out to railfan the area. Titlow Beach was our first locotion. We walked down the road to a pedestrain bridge over the tracks.
The view both ways from the bridge.
BNSF 3821 East running through Titlow Beach.
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The first bridge at this location was a suspension bridge that spanned the Tacoma Narrows strait of Puget Sound between Tacoma and the Kitsap Peninsula. It opened to traffic on July 1, 1940, and dramatically collapsed into Puget Sound on November 7 of the same year. The bridge's collapse has been described as "spectacular" and in subsequent decades "has attracted the attention of engineers, physicists, and mathematicians". Throughout its short existence, it was the world's third-longest suspension bridge by main span, behind the Golden Gate Bridge and the George Washington Bridge.
Construction began in September 1938. From the time the deck was built, it began to move vertically in windy conditions, so construction workers nicknamed the bridge Galloping Gertie. The motion continued after the bridge opened to the public, despite several damping measures. The bridge's main span finally collapsed in 40-mile-per-hour winds on the morning of November 7, 1940, as the deck oscillated in an alternating twisting motion that gradually increased in amplitude until the deck tore apart. The violent swaying and eventual collapse resulted in the death of a cocker spaniel named "Tubby", as well as inflicting injuries on people fleeing the disintegrating bridge or attempting to rescue the stranded dog.
Efforts to replace the bridge were delayed by World War II, but in 1950, a new Tacoma Narrows Bridge opened in the same location, using the original bridge's tower pedestals and cable anchorages. The portion of the bridge that fell into the water now serves as an artificial reef.
The bridge's collapse had a lasting effect on science and engineering. In many physics textbooks, the event is presented as an example of elementary forced mechanical resonance, but it was more complicated in reality; the bridge collapsed because moderate winds produced aeroelastic flutter that was self-exciting and unbounded: for any constant sustained wind speed above about 35 mph, the amplitude of the (torsional) flutter oscillation would continuously increase, with a negative damping factor, i.e., a reinforcing effect, opposite to damping. The collapse boosted research into bridge aerodynamics-aeroelastics, which has influenced the designs of all later long-span bridges.
Union Pacific 7412 West with DPU mid train 6179 at West Tacoma.
Tim, Reynold and Chris at West Tacoma.
Tim, Reynold, Elizabeth and Chris at West Tacoma, after which we were taken to Solo Point.
The Pierce County Ferry on its way from Steilacoom to Ketron Island.
BNSF 5732 East with rear DPU 5353 at Solo Point.
A train stopped out of range of us.
BNSF 7266 West at Solo Point. Next we went to Steilacoom.
Northern Pacific/Great Northern Steilacoom station built of clay tile with stucco and brick veneer in 1913 to welcome the first train in 1914. The architect of the station was Arthur P. Merrill, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was a principle with Potter and Merrill of Tacoma. The original railroad between Portland and Seattle went through Lakewood and Tenino, where it was known as the Prairie Line, and was bypassed in favor of the water level route along the edge of Puget Sound.
The construction of the railroad connected Steilacoom to Olympia and Portland to the south, and Tacoma and Seattle to the north, making it a travel destination. The depot closed to passenger service in the 1960's and freight service to the depot ended in 1972. The property was purchased by the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad in 1970, after which it was mainly used for storage. In recent years, the building has been unused and unmaintained but remains in relatively good condition.
BNSF 7803 West at Steilacoom. We went to Waterview and Tim and Reynold went one way and we stayed near the car.
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BNSF 6261 West with rear DPU 8188 was our last train of the day. The four of us went to Katie Downs Waterfront Tavern where we were joined by Mike Teskey, another friend of Elizabeth's whom she had met at the 2019 Autumn Leaf event in Centralia. Everyone knew each other and while Mike would have liked to join us earlier, he was working. We sat outside and toasted David Cantlin and wished he still lived in the area and was able to join us. I had a French Dip Sandwich and Elizabeth had Fish and Caesar Salad. After our fantastic meal the waitress took a group picture.
Mike Teskey, Reynold DeJager, Tim Johnson, Elizabeth and the author. Note the train behind that had been stopped the whole time we were at the restaurant. We walked back to the van and Tim and Reynold dropped us off at Freighthouse Square where we drove to Lacey and checked into the Quality Inn for the night.
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