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Our traveller boards the Empire Builder for the journey from Portland to Chicago. The sixth episode of US Rail Journeys describes the part of the journey from Portland to Pasco.
After leaving his hotel he travels to Portland Union station. When he gets to the station he waits in the Metropolitan Lounge for the train to be ready for boarding. It is a grey, wet day as the train leaves Portland. Very quickly our traveller has travelled from Oregon to Washington State.
During the first afternoon / evening the Empire Builder reaches the Columbia River and follows its path for many miles.
The first station after Portland is Vancouver – Washington, not Canada! The station first opened in 1908. The station is a unique, two sided station, because it is shaped in a Y (wye). For more information click here.
The next stop is at the unstaffed Bingen – White Salmon station which opened in 1992. For more information click here. This if followed by Wishram, an important gateway to the Columbia River. In 2017 it was used by 1,577 passengers. For more information click here.
This episode closes with our traveller reaching Pasco station which serves the ‘Tri cities’ of Kennewick, Richland and Pasco. Opened 20 years ago in 1998 it was used by 24,245 passengers in 2017. For more information click here.
Click on any of the ‘thumbnails’ below to open the photograph gallery..
Join us at the end of next week for the next episode where our traveller continues his journey from Portland to Chicago aboard the Empire Builder.
Full size copies of the photographs taken by MrT are available from Flickr, Facebook and some through Instagram.
The music Steam Railway is used under licence from AKM Music.
The musical excerpt from The Chrysanthemum by Scott Joplin, played by Gerlutz, is rights free from the Musopen library.
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© The MrT Podcast Studio 2017 to 2018
