Going by Train: Home from the holidays

The Amtrak station in Vancouver is at the foot of 11th Street in downtown. It was built of stone in 1908 for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Remodeled in 1988 and again in 2008, it has been used as a site in movies.

In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 811,692 passengers rode the Amtrak Cascades route.

Amtrak total ridership for that fiscal year was 31.6 million, according to Amtrak officials.

Forget the strain, take the train.

That’s what the Schwadel family advises.

“It’s not like a car where you’re all crammed in and fighting with each other,” Karen Schwadel said, smiling in Vancouver’s Amtrak station. “You arrive in good spirits.”

The family of four was waiting Sunday for the 516 (Cascades) train that would take them to their home in Vancouver, B.C.

What were they doing in our Vancouver?

“We went to a big family wedding in Hood River. The Kaser wedding. People came from Australia, Colorado, San Francisco, Michigan, and we came from Canada.”

Husband Richard, a movie and TV film editor, son Austin, 20, a student at McGill University in Montreal, and son Zachary, 14, agreed the train is the way to go.

“The train sure as hell beats flying,” Austin said.

“It’s open. It’s peaceful,” Zachary explained.

Need another train enthusiast?

Bellevue’s Molly Mulroy, 47, who was in Vancouver to visit her grandmother, Elizabeth Foley, said, “I take the train all the time. I’m a regular.” She is a team manager for Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, a public relations firm, and also was waiting for the 516, which leaves Vancouver at 3:00 p.m.

“I come down for work and it’s so much easier than flying. I can work (on the train); it’s got wi-fi,” she said. Mulroy pays more and rides business class, she said.

How about the reputation that Amtrak is often late?

“I’ve never been late once,” Mulroy said. By contrast, she said she’s had problems flying, and flying is more expensive, she noted.

An Amtrak agent who asked her name not be used, said this has been by far the busiest holiday season in at least three years. She said the 516 was full.

Nearby in the historic station, Andrew Miller, 27, was checking the Seahawks game on his smartphone. He and Nicole Logan, 24, were also waiting for the Cascades train to Seattle. The couple live on Seattle’s Queen Anne hill and were returning from visiting Logan’s family in White Salmon.

Miller said riding Amtrak is “more relaxing, less tiring” than driving.

“I’ve been doing this since college,” Logan said. “It’s nice to sit and enjoy the ride.

The two are graduates of the University of Puget Sound.

As the southbound 513 train rolled into Vancouver, Robert Marsh, 35, of Vancouver embraced his son, Brandon, 13, in happy headlock.

Brandon was back from visiting his mom in Bellingham.

Count Brandon as another Amtrak fan.

“I do it all the time,” he said of train travel. “It’s much more spacious than the car. You get to walk around.”