Rail Corridor Deal Gets Small Delay

From the Seattle Times this morning:

Rail-corridor deal is delayed a bit
Port of Seattle officials now expect to sign a final deal sometime next month to buy the Renton-to-Snohomish rail corridor from BNSF Railway, a Port spokeswoman said Friday.
The two sides had been expected to complete negotiations by Monday, the day that King County's exclusive right to negotiate with the railroad was set to expire. The Port took over the county's position as the prospective buyer under a preliminary agreement with BNSF and the county.
Port spokeswoman Charla Skaggs aid officials anticipate signing a purchase and sale agreement next month, with the deal closing several months later. BNSF had agreed to sell the 42-mile line to the Port for $103 million, but the price may be adjusted if the railroad leaves all the tracks in place for possible future passenger rail service.

Historic Little Diesel Heads Home to DuPont

City gets a piece of its history back – with a little help from the Army

Great article about the City of DuPont getting a narrow-gauge locomotive out of storage at Fort Lewis.

Railfan Jargon

Many people know that railroad has its own language. I found this page on Wikipedia that lists U.S. railfan jargon. It's not complete, but has a great batch of nicknames and lingo. Maybe you could add a few? I know I could!

Everett Streetcar Proposed

City of Everett is looking into an idea to put in actual streetcars on a line serviced by trolley-styled busses:

HeraldNet: Everett streetcar could work, but would be spendy

While the construction would be expensive, research in the article shows that it turns out to be a good investment in the future for the areas surrounding trolley lines. Both Tacoma and Seattle have seen upticks in development and ridership in neighborhoods around the rails.

Everett is just now discussing the opportunity; we'll be watching this closely.

Eastside Commuter Rail Option Emerges

This just keeps getting better and better...

A straight-shooting former railroad engineer has a simple plan to put commuter rail in place on the Eastside by next year, starting with six daily trains from Snohomish to Bellevue:

Eastside News | Entrepreneur wheels, deals for Eastside rail | Seattle Times Newspaper

When King County was buying the line, they were only mildly interested in his proposal. Now that Proposition 1 has failed, and the Port of Seattle will be the owner, the reaction has changed to something more engaged.

I like what this man is proposing, and hope that it can be worked out!

Merry Christmas from WARail

Happy Holidays! On this Christmas Day, so many are spending time with family and friends - or even just relaxing or working. No matter how you spend the day, make it a great day.

Best wishes to you and your family from the Washington Railblog.

Regards,

Kurt Clark