Amtrak Station at Pasco Washington
 In Pasco WA Amtrak's Coastal Starlight coming out of California, is just a few cars long The train had split in two parts in Portland Oregon. One part heads Northeast and the other part heads North for Seattle WA. The Seattle part will arrive in Pasco on time but my ticket is for the Portland half. This means that Amtrak has to put us on a bus for an 8 hour express ride to Pasco to catch up with the other half of the train that headed farther north and still will arrive in Pasco faster.
Here it tows two freight cars, raising the ire of the freight carriers who do not want any competition – as if a couple of cars make a difference in the massive amount of freight carried on the rails. Freight trains have the right–of–way on the rails and the passenger trains have to wait as the freight trains speed by. The Empire Builder does not seem to be as heavily affected by delays as the Coastal Starlight in California.
Soon the train stops again in Spokane WA, where we hook up with the section from Seattle, giving us back the dining car
On to Glacier park Back to the introduction to Glacier
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