My
sister and I were two of the 11 passengers to score the free bus ride
to Pasco after de-training the Coast Starlight in Klamath Falls due to
the earlier delay in Dunsmuir. This
happens occasionally (maybe too occasionally) on the northbound Coast
Starlight when the train is delayed enough to not make the connection
in Portland to the eastbound #28 Empire Builder. So,
after reluctantly leaving behind our cozy compartment on the Starlight,
we boarded the bus for the 9-hour ride to Pasco, WA, where we would
intercept the Empire Builder on its way to Spokane. After
we were all aboard the bus, it was obvious the bus driver was prepared
for the onslaught of grumbling from the passengers, and some of them
really delivered. He apologized for the change in plans and
calmly explained we would be making a couple of meal stops along the
way, and to be sure to save our meal receipts, as
he was
confident that Amtrak would reimburse us for the extra
expense.
In the meantime, he made available a large help-yourself
snack
basket containing items that were instantly recognizable as the same
sealed snack packs Amtrak offers their Business Class
passengers.
Each pack contained potato chips, assorted nuts, a cookie, and a
sweet. I wondered ahead what restaurants we would be stopping
at. Since there were only 11 of us on the bus, we each got a
row
practically to ourselves so there was plenty of room to stretch out. The
bus route took us straight up Oregon Highway 97, for a while
paralleling the Amtrak tracks. I kept craning my neck to see if I could
catch a glimpse of our train and wondering what our former comrades
aboard were up to. About an hour into it, the driver announced we would
be making a stop at the Chemult Amtrak station, to check for any
passengers de-training there that had forgotten to get off earlier with
us at Klamath Falls. As we pulled in to the Chemult station,
11
heads bobbed up and down, searching the platform for any more
lucky ones that might be joining us. It was obvious the
Starlight
had long come and gone, even the parking lot was drained of cars, and
there were no more takers for the bus. We
continued on, past farm fields and the rolling hills of dry eastern
Oregon, making two 20-minute meal stops each at the towns of LaPine (at
a McDonald's) and Biggs Junction (at a Subway). After our
meal
stop at Biggs Junction, we left Highway 97 and joined eastbound
Interstate 84, which closely parallels the south side of the gorgeous
Columbia River. From the bus we could see north across the
river
to the Washington State side and the BNSF and Amtrak tracks that
parallel the river on that side. We saw several BNSF freights
on
their way to and from the port of Seattle loaded with coal from the
Dakotas. This is also the route that BNSF uses to haul B-737
aircraft fuselages to the Boeing plant in Washington from their
manufacturer in Wichita, KS. After
about 80 miles of paralleling the river, we left I-84 and
crossed
over the river into Washington State at Umatilla, on I-82, just as the
sun was setting in the west, and continued on into the Tri-Cities
area. We pulled into the Pasco Amtrak station close to 9
pm. The Amtrak station agent there informed us that our
Empire
Builder was still about an hour away, which prompted another round of
eye-rolling from some of the passengers. I felt empathy
toward
the bus driver and the agent, and part of me wanted to remind ourselves
that it was the UP freight train in Dunsmuir that had done it. It
wasn't directly Amtrak's fault, but I thought it best to just listen to
them vent as needed. Through
it all, I was impressed with the bus driver's patience and
professionalism in dealing with an unfortunate situation. He
had
to have known from the get-go he would be inheriting an unhappy
group. He not only was able to placate us, he regaled us with
humorous stories about his job and got us laughing enough to take the
edge off. He had rightfully earned a good tip by the time we
got
to Pasco. As
for my sister and I, we were all set to wait for the Empire Builder
with the rest of our fellow passengers, which would have had us to our
Spokane destination by midnight or so. But as a surprise, my
sister's husband in Spokane must have assumed by now we had had enough
train and bus, and he called to say he was already on his way by car
from Spokane to pick us up! (I suspect the real reason was
that
he was missing her, as she had already been gone from home a
week.) So
although I was looking forward to getting to our destination and some
good sleep, I was a little melancholy that our train adventure was
ending. My sister rides the Coast Starlight round-trip regularly
between Los Angeles and Spokane, and she says she gets to partake of
the free bus ride more often than she deserves, but this Amtrak bus
re-route was my first. At first, I had been a little miffed because I
had always wanted to take the Empire Builder along the north shore of
the Columbia River from Portland. But, after all was done, I
realized I did get to travel alongside and see the river after all, it
was just from a different perspective - and different mode of
transport, that's all.
Click
here for a Google map of our route
to Pasco.
Last updated November 3rd, 2015
