I wrote last week about how we are never sure when we might be doing something for the last time. Since then, I realized I had a very narrow window of opportunity to ride Amtrak along the Puget Sound south of Tacoma before passenger rail service stops taking the long way around this Thursday. So I did, catching the 2:20 pm train from Seattle today for a quick round-trip to Centralia.
There was so much to love about this stretch of tracks: the brief glimpse of a waterside village that’s only accessible by boat. The soaring Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The stark beauty of Chambers Bay Golf Course, and of cormorants in shadow, sunning themselves on pilings along the Nisqually Reach. The ferry from Steilacoom to Anderson Island. Families strolling along the beach, waving at a train that won’t be by again after Wednesday.
Amtrak had planned to abandon these tracks four years ago. On December 18, 2017, trains were slated to begin using the Point Defiance Bypass, an inland route intended to shave a few miles and minutes off the schedule. But the very first train to attempt the new route that morning derailed at a high rate of speed, killing three people and injuring 62.
Given the thorough investigations and the pandemic, it has taken a while for everyone involved to ensure that the bypass is safe. I’ll actually be back on the train this Thursday, boarding one of the first trains scheduled to use the newly resurrected route as Amtrak tries again. I didn’t plan it that way, having booked a southbound ticket to California several months ago, but I guess I’ll help make some history.
Am I afraid? I am not. Am I happy I made time to take the train on one of its final trips along the Sound? Indeed I am. I’ll miss that run, and of course I will always question the wisdom of forsaking sublime beauty to save a little bit of time. Rest in peace, long way around.
