Riding the train Monday, October 29, 2007

This weekend I took a trip up to Seattle to visit Kim. But rather than drive, I decided to take the train. It was the first time I'd taken the train in a few years, and it reminded me of how much there is to love about riding the train.

For a single traveler, the cost of the train ($76 round-trip, + $8 parking in Portland) isn't much more than the cost of gas these days, let alone the wear and tear on the car. The seats are wider than an airplane or bus, and you can wander around the train as much as you please. They have plugs for your laptop.

You do have to travel on Amtrak's schedule instead of your own, but you can sleep or work or whatever while you ride. And for me, at least, the stations are in very convenient locations at both ends of the trip.

As I rode up on Saturday morning I spent time processing some photos from Friday's work. It was a gorgeous day, and the scenery for much of the trip is beautiful. It is particularly nice between Olympia and Tacoma as the train runs alongside Puget Sound; the fall foliage across the water was radiant in the cool autumn sunshine.

Just as I finished my work and reached for my camera, though, we arrived in Tacoma where it was somewhat foggy and we promptly headed a ways inland. Sunday, too, was nice, but I took the evening train back to Portland in the dark.

Nathan spent most of the trip to Seattle walking up and down the train with his mother.

The land of make-believe Sunday, June 03, 2007

A self-described "rivet counter," Gary Lee shows off his garden railroad May 28 at his home in Corbett, Ore. Built to "G scale," where 1/2" equals about a foot, the fictitious Baker & Grande Ronde Railroad is set circa 1890 in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon. Lee has been working on the model for four years.

Like SimCity in real life, over the past four years Gary Lee has been building a world of his own in his backyard. Starting with several dump truck loads of rock, he has literally moved mountains for his subjects, albeit on a 1/2" scale. The Baker & Grande Ronde Railway now covers a plot some 110 feet by 30 feet, with more to come.

A passenger waits for the train at Whiskey Creek Station.

Of course, he hasn't been alone. His father, Odell Lee (who runs the Odell & Hazel line in his backyard) helps with the buildings and other details. Gary's wife, Jonette, and mother, Hazel are railway gardeners, taking care of the miniature plants and trees that make the landscape look real.

The Baker & Grande Ronde and the Odell & Hazel railways will both be featured in the Rose City Garden Railway Society's 2007 summer tour on June 16.

The Baker & Grande Ronde Railway runs through tunnels, and over trestles in Gary's back yard. Every little tie was laid by hand.

You can read more about the model railroads in the June 2 edition of the Gresham Outlook, and on the RCGRS website.