(The following story by Eric Mortenson appeared on the Oregonian website on December 27.)
PORTLAND, Ore. — Hundreds of Amtrak passengers had to ride buses Sunday and Monday after a Christmas Day mudslide blocked the tracks and severed rail service between Portland and Seattle.
An Amtrak spokeswoman, Vernae Graham, said train service was expected to resume this afternoon.
The slide, which happened about 2:30 p.m. Sunday between Olympia and Tacoma, caused no damage and was cleared by early evening. However, BNSF Railway Co., which owns the tracks, issued a 48-hour travel moratorium as a precaution, Graham said.
Graham had no additional details on the slide, besides it being weather-related. Northbound Amtrak trains stopped in Portland overnight instead of continuing to Seattle, and southbound trains stayed put in Seattle. Amtrak chartered buses to ferry passengers in both directions.
Passengers piling into the Amtrak station in Portland appeared to be taking the track closure in stride.
Barbara Downing of Corvallis, returning from visiting her son and his family in Seattle, arrived in Portland by bus and caught the southbound Coast Starlight train for the second leg of her trip.
“Sometimes it’s best to take the train. It’s easier — well, sometimes,” she said.
Patty Qualey of Everett, Wash., traveling with her 4-year-old son, Joseph, and 3-year-old daughter, Grace, caught a southbound bus and arrived in Portland four hours later than she’d planned. She and her children were on their way to Newberg to visit her parents.
“It’s been a long day,” Qualey said. “They were perfect angels.”
Judy Woods-Knight of Gig Harbor, Wash., acknowledged the mudslide put a kink in her holiday traveling.
“Oh, yeah, we’re not in favor of it,” she said with a laugh.
Woods-Knight was on her way to Salem to visit her 92-year-old mother. She said she’s made the trip by train perhaps 40 times and typically uses the five-hour journey to catch up on sewing, magazine reading or editing the manuscript of a biography she’s written.
“I’ve always loved the train, and I forgive it,” Woods-Knight said.
For Amtrak schedule information, visit www.amtrak.com or call 1-800-872-7245.