July 10, 2026

Opportunities for getting together to share information about rail issues

AORTA hosts a regional meeting on the first Tuesday of every month, 6:15 Pacific Time, via Zoom (and occasionally hybrid, with some members Zooming from the AORTA office). Anyone with an interest in rail within the Pacific Northwest area (roughly Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana) is welcome to attend, even if they don’t live within that area. We often have visitors from other states—California, North and South Dakota, Utah, and even farther afield). The Zoom link is available on the AORTA website, aortarail.org, under Events.

AAWA and AORTA turn 50 

Now is celebration time, to honor our accomplishment, but also to plan for the next fifty years. All Aboard Washington and AORTA are almost the same age, so we will work together to plan a joint celebration, which will probably take place in Portland, in November 2026.

If you would like to help plan this event, please join the planning committee. Details on planning meetings will be sent out via email and posted on the AORTA and AAWA websites.

New Airo train sets! 

[CORRECTION] The first Airo corridor test will occur on July 21, 2026, and will make a roundtrip between Seattle, and Vancouver, BC. The second test will be on July 23, 2026, and will make a round trip between Seattle and Eugene.

No riders will be on board, but if you are lucky you may see the train as it travels from Seattle all the way to Eugene and back. The trains are planned to be put into service sometime in September.

Join us at the Northern Pacific Railway Museum

All Aboard Washington invites you to join us on Saturday, August 8, for a fun event at the Northern Pacific Railway Museum at Toppenish, WA, south of Yakima, on the route of the proposed revival of the Pioneer. We’ll have private use of the museum’s Northern Pacific dining car, guided tours, a boxed lunch, opportunities for rides on a speeder and/or push car, and a diesel-powered train trip to the “City of Nowhere,” the museum’s destination at the end of their trackage. Register no later than July 31 at the AAWA website.

Also included is an opportunity to view the recently-restored NP 1364 steam locomotive. For additional donations of about $700, the Toppenish museum staff will fire up NP 1364 and take us on a steam train ride to "Nowhere". Here's a direct link for specifying that the preferred use of your donation is the NP 1364 steam train ride.

We’re working on carpooling from the Seattle area. Let us know if you are interested.

A vision for rail in the Northwest

We have been working with our friends at AORTA to update our vision for improved rail options in our region. Central to these improvements are increased frequencies along the Eugene- Portland- Seattle- Vancouver BC corridor, plus revitalization of service along these corridors:

• Seattle- Stampede Pass- Yakima- Pasco- Spokane and points east to Chicago via southern Montana, along the Big Sky North Coast Corridor.
• Seattle- Stampede Pass- Yakima- Pasco- Hermiston (OR) and points east to Boise (ID) and Denver, along the Pioneer Corridor.

Similar to the Empire Builder, we anticipate that the Pioneer would split at Hermiston, with one leg going to Portland and the other leg going to Seattle via Stampede Pass.

Both routes (Seattle- Chicago and Seattle- Denver) have been recommended by the Federal Railroad Administration's Long-Distance Service Study.

See the descriptions and maps of these improvements at AAWA’s Vision page.

Reminder to ask for support for S. 3728

As we mentioned in our last email, we still need you to ask your Congressional representatives to support S. 3728, the Long-Distance Corridor Relief Enhancement Act, is bipartisan legislation introduced by Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT). Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) has co-sponsored the bill, but please ask your representatives to join Senators Sheehy and Merkley. 

The bill clarifies that a non-federal match is not required for long-distance corridors participating in the Federal Railroad Administration's Corridor Identification and Development Program. This is a program clarity issue, not special treatment for any one corridor.

Contact your representatives online.

Upcoming Events

August 25 - 27
Greater Northwest Rail Summit, Helena, MT

October 2 - 4
RailNation: Toledo

Your Support is Needed

Please make generous donations to AORTA and AAWA to support expanding rail in the Pacific Northwest. Thank you!