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Rail News December 2009 /January 2020201020 101010

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Talgo’s Josh Coran speaks at All Aboard Northwest Senators question Study Washington annual meeting By Dan McFarling, All Aboard Washington had its offi- Argentina, to name a few. Assoc. of Rail and Transit Advocates cial annual meeting on Nov. 14 at F.X. To maintain the company’s high According to Assoc. of Oregon Rail McRory’s Steak Chop and Oyster standards for reliability, now and Transit Advocates Pres. Donald House, just two blocks from King St. maintains or supervises maintenance Leap, ’s recently released draft Station. The 50 people gathered heard of all of its equipment around the world. Pioneer Route Study is flawed. In an from our featured speaker Josh Coran, In , Amtrak maintenance per- Oct. 1 letter to US Senator Ron Wyden Talgo’s manager of operations in the sonnel are supervised by Talgo man- (D-OR), Leap states the study “takes a U.S. Coran briefly covered the history agers. Having an on-board service very narrow view of how this route can of the Talgo design. The first versions technician on every trainset also en- be restored.” were light weight and low slung but did hanced reliability. The technician can The study underestimates ridership not have tilting capability to provide often fix a small problem before it be- levels and overstates costs of restoring passenger comfort when traveling come large problem that may result in passenger service between Port- through curves at higher speeds. the equipment having to go out of ser- land, The Dalles, Pendleton, Baker Testing in the U.S. in the 1950s on the vice. And a passenger that needed to City, Boise and points east. Leap’s let- Rock Island, Boston and Maine, and work or read and can quickly have a ter said AORTA is “excited” about the New Haven Railroads was unsuc- burned out reading light replace is a prospect, but concerned that inflated cessful due to maintenance and rough satisfied customer. costs and pessimistic ridership num- track issues. Talgo designs continued Over ten years after WSDOT and bers could derail the plans. to evolve and improve in Spain. Amtrak bought five trainsets Talgo has “The study dumps nearly every Talgo trainsets now operate in sold two more to for possible expense on the Pioneer ,” and many countries around the world in ad- use in the Milwaukee- corridor. appears designed to dissuade mem- dition to the U.S. and Spain: Germany AAWA hopes more orders will come bers of Congress from restoring the and many other European countries, Talgo’s way as WSDOT has requested service. “As evidence: (1) The cost of Russia, China, Korea, Algeria and (See Coran, page 5) new should be a system- wide expense and equipment costs should be separated from operating costs. (2) Infrastructure expenses for new or extended sidings, crossovers, switches, signals, etc. are based on estimates by the host railroad Union Pacific. Costs associated with new passenger train services need to be evaluated by mutually trusted outside sources. Amtrak, the host railroad and Around 500 people attended the dedication and opening of Stanwood’s new Am- the taxpayers need to know that pas- trak station on a blustery November 21 morning. The festivities at the city located senger/freight cost sharing is done between Everett and Mt. Vernon were timed with the arrival of the first Cascades train to stop, number 510, at just after 9:00 a.m. About 140 of the people at the fairly.” event, including Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen (D-), had boarded Dept. of Transportation’s train 510 in Everett for the short ride to Stanwood. Following the train’s arrival Modal Programs Manager Tom Mauser there was the traditional ribbon cutting ceremony followed by remarks by local points out that Union Pacific’s cost es- and state officials. Speakers included Sen. Haugen, Rep. Judy Clibborn (D- timate in Colorado includes $15 million Mercer Island and chairwomen of the House Transportation Committee), Stan- for track improvements that are not wood Mayor Dianne White and WSDOT Secretary Paula Hammond. All four even on the proposed route! Mauser Cascades trains between Seattle and , BC now stop in Stanwood. also questioned the projected $470 This is the city’s first intercity passenger rail service since the start of Amtrak on million for capital projects on the Over- May 1, 1971. Pictured on the left is train 510 arriving from Everett. On the right, land Route in , an alignment Sen. Haugen (center of photo) speaking to the assembled crowd. that previously accommodated the Left photo by Zack Willhoite, right photo by Jim Hamre (See Pioneer , page 4)

page 2 me draft some points for communication From the desk of to our federal elected officials. Will do the Executive same for any and all of you. Do let me Director know if you’d like a bit of assistance! bybyby ☯☯☯☯☯☯☯ Lloyd H. Flem Stanwood has now joined Leaven- worth in inaugurating a new Amtrak stop Our Washington and ARRA Funds; in recent weeks. (See page one article Antonio Perez, Talgo; Bruce Agnew, Stanwood too; College Students On and pictures.) Here I wish to applaud the Cascadia Center; Ralph Munro, former Board?; Thanks, Dedicated AAWA good work of the rail people at WSDOT, Washington secretary of state; and Members! with Kirk Fredricksen in particular having Lloyd Flem discuss passenger rail is- done the heavy lifting on the Stanwood sues with Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen The Federal Rail Administration con- project. But Saturday November 21’s first after the festivities as tinues to say that the $8 billion in ARRA train to Stanwood particularly belonged to other All Aboard Washington members (“stimulus”) grants for High(er) Speed Senator Mary Margaret Haugen (D- look on. Photo by Warren Yee Rail Corridors, of which our Northwest Camano Island). Her dedication to our Corridor is a prime example, will be passenger train program over many hundreds of mostly college students from awarded based upon merit. But I con- years came to fruition as scores of the West Coast gathered to study and to tinue to worry that political clout will people alighted and boarded at the first work for a more environmentally sound trump, to at least some degree, states stop in her legislative future. Several score attended a panel on such as our Washington, High(er) Speed Rail, with long- which has, perhaps more than Several prominent All Aboard time Oregon rail advocate any, fulfilled exactly the estab- Washington members, including your Fred Nussbaum and I as pa- lished criteria for receipt of nelists. What inspired us was such funding. I am not accus- Executive Director, feel this is now our the genuine interest of these ing the FRA of any undo top priority and are continuing a bright, enthusiastic young bending to political power, but people. I urged them to be- simply recognize that such concerted push to help our state get come involved in organized rail power usually enters in when- its deserved [high speed rail] dollars. advocacy. Two students have ever public monies are spread separately asked to work with around. And since the initial district on that chilly late fall day. us. All too many current pas- grants, supposedly to have been an- senger train activists are old guys like nounced weeks ago, have been delayed A number of All Aboard Washington members were present and were pleased me! We really need people under age 30, until “winter,” my unease grows. (Editor: even under age 40, with the skills and a Wisconsin DOT official has said that when Senator Haugen acknowledged our years of advocacy for the state’s rail pro- contacts many of us who remember the the high speed rail grants will be an- Kennedy, and even Eisenhower and nounced as part of the January 2010 gram. We were rewarded by the enthu- siastic support for a larger transportation Truman Administrations, don’t tend to State of the Union Address.) have. Evidence: The Association of Ameri- role for passenger trains from speeches by Mary Margaret and from WSDOT Sec- Welcome aboard, Facebook and can railroads, the interest group of the Twitter generation! Class Ones (BNSF, UP, etc) in a recent retary Paula Hammond. The senator also on-line news clip singled out , offered specific praise for the Talgo-built ☯☯☯☯☯☯☯ trains, which have served so well since Texas and Florida, as well as New York It is very pleasing for me to note in- State, as really pushing for big chunks of the trains began running in our corridor over fifteen years ago. creasing numbers of All Aboard Wash- the ARRA cash. I continue to fear that ington members that are taking on rail the sheer magnitude of electoral clout of Additions of station stops to the Am- trak system are rare, yet Washington, advocacy responsibilities. Some of you those big states may replace states like are doing substantive “in the field” work, Washington, which should receive a res- with Leavenworth opening in September, has added two in just a couple of months, others putting in lots of time and effort on pectable portion of the rail “stimulus” re- AAWA events and activities, and still oth- quested by WSDOT. (WSDOT’s rail sti- developed and funded totally within our state. (This should also help convince the ers lending expertise to the structure, mulus requests can be viewed at economic and “housekeeping” details an www.wsdot.wa.gov/Funding/stimulus/ feds that we Washingtonians have and will continue to be willing to make rail in- active organization must deal with. While passengerrail.htm. the Northwest Corridor is our primary fo- Several prominent All Aboard Wash- vestments, unlike some other states that are now attempting to crowd in line for cus, I also applaud several AAWA people ington members, including your Execu- involved with advocating for a return of tive Director, feel this is now our top the first serious federal money that has become available in many decades!) the Pioneer and priority and are continuing a concerted trains, and some detailed efforts to bring push to help our state get its deserved ☯☯☯☯☯☯☯ more passenger trains to eastern Wash- dollars, including our making a second For those of you who missed our an- ington and to parts of . At this trip the Nation’s Capital, if need be! Thanksgiving season I thank all those of Those of you reading this need to also nual meeting in Seattle, where Talgo’s Josh Coran gave an excellent presenta- you that are so dedicated. urge our Congresspeople to stump for our Washington back in the DeeCee tion on his firm’s present and futures Washington. Several of you are having plans, I mentioned the truly good confe- rence in Eugene on November 7 where page 3 We can be thankful that her ideas on the schedules, since more spare cars will The View transportation were seen by the voting be available. public as the most important reason to The Cascades service needs more Down the vote for someone else…Okay, maybe the trainsets, enough for eight round-trips Tracks general public votes on broader topics between Portland and Seattle. Reaching ======than the average All Aboard member, that threshold will cause a big jump in ri- with Jim Cusick but… dership once people don’t have to inten- sively plan around train times. If they What Else Can We Be Thankful miss one, then they have another option Whine, whine whine. For? not too much later. In some corridors, That’s the life of a rail advocate. No Now, far be it for me to deny rail de- there are no longer reserved seating trains, not enough trains, not enough sta- fendants the pleasure of their purgatory, trains. As unreserved, that means your tions, not enough stops, not enough but if we stop and look back at where we ticket works on any train. The one down- parking, not enough light rail, not enough were, and where we are now, we actually side – you’re not guaranteed a seat. commuter rail, not enough intercity rail, do have something to be thankful for. And what about light rail? Where nadda, nadda, nadda. More Amtrak Cascades service be- should it go in ST2? Plus, we always seem to be defend- tween Seattle and Vancouver BC, a new Bellevue is now struggling with the ing rail. Defending it against critics who stop in Stanwood, the routing in their downtown, and Sound cherry pick statistics and frame the ar- now stops in Leavenworth. Transit’s preferred alignment is facing the gument for us. Defending its benefits with Central Link will go all the way to the usual cast of critics. esoteric statistics and vague The most current social benefits. You’d think Now, far be it for me to deny rail change to ST’s preferred nobody loves us… alignment is submitted by Whine whine whine. defendants the pleasure of their purgatory, Kevin Wallace, the newly How depressing. but if we stop and look back at where we elected Bellevue City All I’ve got to say is: Council member. His new Time to suck it up… were, and where we are now, we actually proposal is called the “Vi- Stomach IN, Chest OUT! do have something to be thankful for. sion Line.” While I might We’ve gone over this not have picked the exact before, but time to step it up airport by Christmas. alignment ST chose, I can a notch. Time to go on the attack! The agreement between BNSF, the agree with the same mix of street running Time for a little bit of courage. Port of Seattle, , and King and in exclusive right-of-way. It will be And we had perfect opportunity with important to address auto traffic issues County for the Eastside Woodinville Sub- th the race for King County Executive. division is finalized. on NE 8 , possibly increase dwell time at We could have taken on Susan Hut- Amtrak has released the Passenger stations and have the lights coordinated chinson in her ‘common sense’ proposals Rail Investment and Improvement Act so auto traffic isn’t adversely affected. for spending on mobility, and we all know studies of the routes under consideration However, the Vision Line lacks the ri- how we were rolling our eyes when she for being reinstated, such as the Pioneer , dership potential of the current preferred made them. the between New Orleans alternative. I must say that from looking Unfortunately, as far as this race was and Florida, and the North Coast Hiawa- at the illustration, it has more negative concerned, I don’t live in King County, so tha amongst others. ramifications for the neighborhood. I didn’t play the ‘outside agitator’ by trying While the Pioneer and the the Sunset Unfortunately, the rhetoric I’m seeing to take her on. Limited suffer from low ridership and high coming from Bellevue has much the And since she lost the election, it’s a capital cost estimates, the North Coast same tone as what happened with Tuk- moot point now. shows the most promise, with wila. The compromise reached was not However, rather than just arguing it as firebox recovery percentages putting it in the best alternative. “us vs. the roadgangers,” we should have the upper quartile of Amtrak’s long I’m leaving it up to you Eastsiders to simply asked her “What is the Plan?” distance routes. Lest you think that the stick your nose into this one, since I plan Even simpler, if she was vocalizing one billion dollars needed to restart this to put mine into the north end; that is, what most people generally feel, that we service is a show stopper, that was the Central Link to Lynnwood. need to do something about congestion, price to rebuild one mile of I-90 over The alignment shown on the ballot we could have asked her “How does Mercer Island. measure was an elevated freeway align- building a lane reduce congestion?” Personally, I think all the routes ment, and we all know that’s NOT where Simply ask what the mechanics are. should be put in place, but we must ra- you need to put it! However, it was stated MAKE THEIR NUMBERS SEE THE tionalize it against the skewed thinking of that it was done that way only so a rea- LIGHT OF DAY! our current unbalanced transportation sonable cost estimate could be calcu- I still fight the perception that most planning. Now, about reinstating the lated. people have that the cost of driving en- Great Northern’s … This is where I plan to get deeply in- tails only the price of gas. Well Santa… volved. The north end faces a number of You all have been paying attention obstacles. One would think “Why not run haven’t you? When you do the math, you Here is My Wish List it on the old route?” The pro- see that the argument for rail is that it With money from the American Re- blem is that in a number of areas the old COSTS LESS than roads. covery and Reinvestment Act, more of Interurban route has been sold and de- Plain and simple. Amtrak’s railcars will be getting back in veloped, or I-5 completely obliterates it. Be Brave! I’ve armed you with the service, which means better reliability for (See Cusick, page 5) weapons, now go forth and fear no evil. page 4 Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) has also Bonds would provide a one-time federal written to Boardman questioning the cost bonding program of $50 billion in addi- Pioneer, from page 1 figures cited in the report. He noted that tional funding for all types of transporta- Pioneer . projected ridership in the report is 30% tion including roads, bridges, rail, mass While public investment in freight rail lower than actual ridership before the transit and ports. This funding would be infrastructure can be in the public’s inter- Pioneer was discontinued 12 years ago. in addition to the dollars states receive est, it is not appropriate to allow Class I Senator Crapo said , Oregon and from the Federal Transportation Trust freight haulers to independently deter- have all experienced 41% growth in Fund.” mine what investments are required to population along the route since 1997. (The Pioneer restoration study is available improve passenger rail, according to Another factor that would be expected AORTA Vice Pres. Jim Long. by going to Amtrak.com, clicking on Inside to indicate higher ridership numbers is Amtrak at the bottom of the page, clicking AORTA’s letter to Wyden pointed out the dramatic reduction in intercity bus on Reports & Documents on the left, and that “some of the study’s proposed sche- service over the route in the past decade. selecting the Pioneer Service Study link.) dules serve Oregon and key cities like “The passenger rail experts I have Boise at unmarketable times. Long dis- contacted say that there are many more In the next newsletter we will have a criti- tance trains are critical for the success of creative and less expensive ways to start que of Amtrak’s Amtrak as they link regional corridors to- and operate the Pioneer ,” Crapo added. restoration study. To view the study go to gether, but a single train inevitably will “The report needs to be reworked so that Amtrak.com, click on Inside Amtrak at the bottom of the page, click on Reports & pass through some communities in the its assumptions can withstand scrutiny middle of the night.” This problem can be Documents on the left, and select the North and comparison with the other fifteen Coast Study link. alleviated by a second train scheduled to long distance trains that Amtrak oper- serve those communities at more rea- ates. The goal for the study should be to sonable times. “A second train provides develop a blueprint to reinstate the Pio- The strength of our transportation the frequency and choice that passen- neer …at the lowest capital investment system lies in networks gers need and increases the productivity cost that supports safe and efficient op- The following was posted on the Progressive of staffed stations where they exist.” eration and to quickly grow the ridership Railroading blog by Kevin Brubaker, deputy “For example, as Portland to Boise to a level that will bring a fare box recov- director of the Environmental Policy and Law Center (eplc.org) has long been identified as an Amtrak ery and the net cost per passenger mile corridor, now is the time to think about a to the median for Amtrak long-distance As America embarks on its first second train providing day/evening ser- trains.” investment in passenger rail in decades, vice in each direction in combination with Crapo said the draft report contains it is important to remember that the the Pioneer …[R]idership would be sig- too many “unanswered questions, broad strength of our transportation system lies nificantly more than just double. It would assumptions and rough cost estimates” not in single corridors, but in networks. grow exponentially.” to stand as is and should be updated. He The less reliant we are on a single cor- “The study does not show how feeder points to language from the report that ridor or mode, the stronger our transpor- bus connections at key locations could suggests capital improvement figures are tation system. enhance the ridership and utility of a subject to “significant uncertainty.” Thus, when critics of high speed rail restored Pioneer . Bus connections might “Idahoans favor reinstating the Pio- point to the small portion of Americans be established by contracting with exist- neer …at a reasonable cost. I pledge to who will use a particular train, they are ing carriers.” work with Amtrak to determine how to missing the point. Leap referred to Federal Railroad make this important intercity route feasi- Many components of America's trans- Administrator Joseph Szabo, who, ac- ble and sustainable and look forward to portation infrastructure with local and cording to the November 2009 issue of your responses to my questions and the regional, if not national, significance carry Trains , said “Amtrak and the states must completed study,” Crapo’s letter only a small percentage of regional trav- shake off assumptions of the past and concluded. elers or trips: move forcefully into a new era of pas- In October 2008 Senator Wyden led a • America's busiest airport (Atlanta) senger rail...it’s time to be bold.” bipartisan group of members of Congress handles only six percent of domes- Senator Wyden responded to the in urging then Amtrak Pres. Alex Kum- tic boardings. Dallas, and study by declaring that the issues of cost mant to expedite a study into reopening each handle less than and ridership need to be more fully ex- passenger service along the Pioneer three percent. plored before Congress can make a de- route. Wyden was joined by Crapo, Rep- • Interstate 494 in serves cision. In a letter to Amtrak Pres. Joseph resentatives Mike Simpson (R-ID), Earl popular destinations such as the Boardman, Wyden said, “It is apparent Blumenauer (D-OR) and Greg Walden Minneapolis-St. Paul International that the Pioneer has the potential to (R-OR). Airport, the Mall of America, and greatly benefit the state of Oregon by One possible source of funding to as- growing suburbs. Yet only seven providing an alternative means of pas- sist in the effort to bring passenger rail percent of all trips made in the senger transportation…however, the cur- service back to eastern Oregon and Twin Cities metro region utilize I- rent report does not fully explore several southern Idaho is the federal Build 494. important issues, thus preventing Con- America Bonds Act. The Act, introduced • The Capital Beltway, the busy cir- gress from making an educated decision by Wyden, is a major transportation in- cumferential highway dividing about the line.” frastructure initiative designed to create Washington, D.C., from reality, Wyden told Boardman that the projec- millions of jobs, generate billions in eco- carries less than 11 percent of tions for required infrastructure improve- nomic activity and save thousands of area commuters. Replacing a sin- ments on the Union Pacific corridor need lives by improving transportation safety. gle bridge along this road cost $2.5 to be obtained from “a trusted indepen- According to Wyden, “Build America billion. dent source.” (See Strength, page 6) page 5

All Aboard Washington Officers Important Addresses and Phone Numbers Loren Herrigstad, Centralia..President ...... 360 736-5783 .. [email protected] U. S. House of Representatives: Jim Hamre, Puyallup..Vice President ...... 253 848-2473 .. [email protected] Washington, DC 20515 Rocky Shay, Federal Way..Secretary ...... 253 925-2085 .. [email protected] U. S. Senate: Washington, DC 20510 Harvey Bowen, Seattle..Treasurer ...... 206 322-2729 .. [email protected] Capitol Switchboard (all members): 202 224-3121

State Legislature: State Capitol, Olympia 98504 Lloyd Flem, Olympia.. Hotline for leaving messages: 800 562-6000 Executive Director ...... 360 943-8333 .. [email protected] Office FAX ...... 360 943-0136 Amtrak Reservations/Information: 800 872-7245 Address ...... 3704 22 nd Ave SE, Olympia 98501 All Aboard Washington: AllAboardWashington.org Jim Hamre, Puyallup..Newsletter Editor ..... 253 848-2473 .. [email protected] NARP: www.narprail.org Warren Yee, Seattle..E-newsletter ...... 206 723-0259 .. [email protected] NARP Hotline: www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/hotline/ Zack Willhoite, Puyallup..Membership Director ...... [email protected] Amtrak: www.amtrak.com Amtrak Cascades: www.amtrakcascades.com All are evening numbers, except Lloyd's, which is available 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. daily. Sound Transit: www.soundtransit.org

comotive. The Cascades need a locomo- the end of 2009. There were five candi- tive specifically designed for the Talgo dates for the five seats and all were Coran, from page 1 trainsets to take full advantage of in- elected on a unanimous voice vote. ARRA stimulus funding to purchase ad- creased speeds through curves. The ex- Reelected to the board are: ditional tilting trainsets for the Northwest isting EMD F59PHI locomotives put too • Harvey Bowen, Seattle Corridor (though the purchase of new much forces on the rails to allow the full • Loren Herrigstad, Centralia equipment will require a competitive bid amount of tilting that the trainsets are • Robert Lawrence, Mill Creek process). Wisconsin does have options authorized for. for two more trainsets if the long-pro- New member of the board are: Coran was asked about the continuing • posed service between Milwaukee and Kathy Davis, Des Moines refurbishment of the Talgo trainsets. He • Madison finally moves ahead. Michael Skehan, Lummi Island noted that the coaches have gone Congratulations to both the new Just this past spring, our existing through an overhaul. New and improved trainsets received their final permanent members and the returning members of seats were installed. They are covered in the All Aboard Washington board. equipment design waiver from the Fed- leather, which provides better durability eral Railroad Administration. It took ten that cloth. New carpeting and wall co- Record day at King St. Station! years. Though testing has shown this verings have also been installed. Amtrak’s Gay Banks Olson was inter- generation of Talgo equipment to be at Next up is refurbishment of the Bistro viewed on the KIRO 7 TV news on least as safe as conventional U.S. food service cars. This will happen in Thanksgiving Eve from King St. Station. equipment, it does not achieve its crash- 2010. Each car will be reconfigured to She told the reporter that this was the worthiness in the manner prescribed by make it more user friendly for both the busiest day at the station in Amtrak’s decades-old FRA standards. Coran passengers and the food service crews. history and that passenger boardings and noted that in the U.S. the emphasis is on Other improvements will include up- arrivals surpassed the previous busiest how the equipment survives a crash, grade of the GPS system on the trains. day by about 500 people. This previous where in Europe there is much more em- The movie system may be removed, but record was set one year ago on the day phasis on crash avoidance. The U.S. has that is still being studied. The monitors before Thanksgiving. Even with the 10 long had its 800,000 pound buff strength are wearing out, the system is old VCR extra trips Amtrak added between Seattle (end-to-end crushing of a rail car) stan- technology and fewer people are watch- and Portland for the Thanksgiving holi- dard. However, there is no consideration ing the movies, as many passenger now day, virtually all trains we’re sold out on of what happens if the 800,000 pound carry on laptops and other personal Wednesday, Thursday morning and crushing limit is reached: severe failure of movie devices. They would like to imple- Sunday of the long holiday weekend. And the car. European passenger rail equip- ment WI-FI on the trains but there are still almost all the trains were on time. ment (including the Talgos) incorporates coverage issues in some of the more ru- energy absorbing crush zones into the ral segments of the runs. design, much like modern automobiles. Cusick, from page 3 Talgo’s new Series VIII trainsets are Two resolutions were proposed at the There are many excellent, non- compliant with FRA crashworthiness meeting. They stated All Aboard Wash- freeway alignments. So now is the time standards. The Obama Administration ington’s complete support for restoration to figure things out. has made it clear to FRA that it is not to of both the Pioneer (Seattle-Portland- And then there is my old favorite, the stand in the way of importing safe high- Boise-Salt Lake, with connections to the Woodinville Subdivision. quality high speed rail equipment into the ) and the North Coast So, Santa, my request is simple. Not U.S. As our country moves to Positive Hiawatha (Seattle-Spokane-Missoula- for more trains, more railcars, more Train Control on major corridors, includ- Billings-Bismarck-Twin Cities-Chicago). routes, more stations, more light rail, ing all lines hosting passenger train ser- Both resolutions were adopted on a un- more commuter rail. We seem to be on vice, the U.S. will hopefully start moving animous voice vote of the members the right track with that, what you can more toward the European model of present at the meeting. bring us is Gumption! making crash avoidance a higher priority. There was also an election to fill the The Boldness , the Initiative to keep Wabtec Industries and Talgo have five seats on the All Aboard Washington these ideas rolling forward! begun discussions on designing and board of directors whose terms expire at I’m looking forward to the New Year! building a new high speed passenger lo- All Aboard Washington NONPROFIT P. O. Box 70381 ORGANIZATION Seattle, WA 98127 U. S. POSTAGE PAID PUYALLUP WA 98371 Return Service Requested PERMIT NO. 468

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are tax deductible as allowed by federal Francisco Bay trips through the All Aboard News law. Bay Bridge Corridor, across the San Mateo Howard Bridge and January 28: Transportation Education All Aboard Washington members contri- over the Dumbarton Bridge com- Day in Olympia with Transportation buting to this newsletter include: Lloyd prise only four percent of all re- Choices Coalition and other balanced Flem, Warren Yee, Jim Cusick, Dan gional trips. transportation groups. Gather at United McFarling, Zack Willhoite, Mark Meyer th Nobody would seriously suggest that Churches, 11 and Capitol Way starting and Bob Lawrence. about 9:00 a.m. before meeting our leg- any of these pieces of transportation in- islators. Travel on the Cascades and All Aboard Washington is on Facebook frastructure is "wasteful" because it we’ll provide transportation to downtown. and Twitter. Go to our website to sign serves such a small portion of its poten- Contact Lloyd Flem for more details. up: www.allaboardwashington.org. tial users. Let's not let critics go unchal- March 13: Annual joint spring rail confe- lenged in saying the same about rail All Aboard Washington can now accept rence with Northwest NARP and the investments. on-line donations via credit card Assoc. of Oregon Rail Transit Advocates through PayPal. A link to PayPal for this in Seattle. The luncheon and meeting will Sandpoint Station update service is available on our website. If you be at the Red Lion Hotel on Fifth Avenue. On Nov. 18, the Sandpoint, ID city use PayPal to renew or start a member- Our theme will be High Speed Rail for the council voted to enter into negotiations ship be sure to specify in the “Add spe- Northwest. A registration flyer will be in with BNSF Railway to purchase the cial instructions to the seller” box that it’s the next newsletter. Mark the date on Sandpoint Amtrak station, and to seek a for your annual membership fee so that your calendar and plan to attend what will commitment from Amtrak to continue we can distinguish that payment from surely be a great meeting. using the station as a stop for the Empire extra donations you may make payments Builder. Construction of a highway by- All Aboard Washington welcomed the for throughout the year. pass crammed against the west side of following new member in October: Karen the station and deterioration of the build- Keller of Lacey. Help AAWA boost our Strength, from page 4 ing had prompted Amtrak to consider membership by giving friends and family • On a typical business day, only moving its stop out of town. When local an annual membership. Send their two percent of people entering citizens learned of the plan, they were names and addresses, along with your Manhattan's Central Business moved to action, led by Aric Spence of check, to us and we’ll take care of noti- District drive over the Brooklyn the Sandpoint Historic Preservation fying the recipients of your generosity. Bridge. Commission. For more information visit Remember, all contributions to AAWA • And on the West Coast, trans-San www.sandpointtrainstation.com.