Traintime at Eugene

Eugene anchors the south end of the Cascade Corridor, one of the designated high speed passenger rail routes in the US. These corridors feature multiple trips in each direction, "high" speed running, and in the case of the Cascades, custom equipment. We get to experience the comfort and speed of the Spanish designed Talgo trainsets.

The south end of the corridor, Eugene to Portland, features two round trips daily. The trains are Portland bound in the morning, returning to Eugene in the evening. This is in addition to the long distance Coast Starlight that travels between Los Angeles and Seattle, stopping in Eugene mid day.

I took this shot in May of 2008. It was one of those days where it had rained and stormed all day, but as dusk approached the skies began to clear. I went down to the Amtrak station to catch the early evening arrival, and see what I could shoot. Because of train times, physical layout of the tracks and station, and position of the sun (or lack thereof) it can be difficult to get good shots of Amtrak in Eugene. I think this one overcame those limitations.