Tag Archives: train

Be Safe: Look Both Ways at South Tacoma Station

8729684473_520ff11002_c(1)End of the Line by Ilan Averbuch represents the golden spike at the end of the railroad tracks and indeed the South Tacoma Station at South 54th and Washington Streets was the end of the Sounder line for a while. The artwork stands 6′ tall. While I was there, the Sounder came by, so I took that photo too 🙂

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Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, in Wales has one of the longest place names in the world. The village/train station originally had a shorter name, but in the 1800s they were renamed in an effort to increase tourism. The picture below shows the gift store.

Tacoma Dome Station

The Tacoma Dome Station at 610 Puyallup Avenue, Tacoma is a major hub with the buses, Link and Sounder all right there. The station includes two seven story buildings and contains 2,500 parking spaces. It cost $10,500,000 to build in 1999.

http://www.piercetransit.org/tds2.htm

Transpire

Lakewood Transit Center has this dramatic piece of public art known as Transpire by Mark Calderon. The website for the center http://projects.soundtransit.org/Projects-Home/STart-Public-Art-Program/Public-Art-Projects/Lakewood-Station.xml states the following:

Three intertwining spires create a radiant and elegant design inspired by the early history of settlement in the Lakewood area. Speaking of his inspiration, artist Mark Calderon said, “To me [the campfire] represents the center for food, warmth and community – in a way, the hub of the settler’s existence. I want my sculpture to be attractive in the same way—a place that is comfortable and enlivening where people may gather and where community forms.”

Big Lemon

Wednesday’s new place is the City of Fife’s bright yellow ALCO C-415 Engine, which is housed adjacent to the Fife History Museum in the Dacca Park.  The engine is one of 26 sold and 4 still remaining.  Apparently they were considered “lemons” because of a design flaw. To read more, go to:

http://www.cityoffife.org/?p=online_guide&a=visitors&b=things_to_do&c=fife_engine_and_caboose


Camp 6 Logging Camp, another victim of the economy

 


When we first moved to Tacoma over 20 years ago I remember visiting the Camp 6 Logging Exhibit in Point Defiance Park. Then, as in now, I love that this little slice of history had been preserved. Since that first time, I’ve gone back a couple of times a year, often seeing deer and once a fox. Once we took my young daughter on the Santa Train, which basically went into the forest a ways and then out again with, of course, Santa. It is an interesting, peaceful place. So it saddened me to learn that the exhibit might not reopen from its winter hiatus this year.

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_wa_logging_museum.html

The Camp 6 Logging Camp’s website states “Our mission is to preserve and present to the public a portion of Washington State’s history from the 1880’s through the 1940’s as it pertains to the “Steam Era of Logging”. With photographs, paintings, artifacts and equipment displays, Camp 6 takes the visitor back in time from when horse and ox teams hauled out the timber up through the last days that steam powered “Donkeys” and Railroads worked the woods. Visitors will see first hand what life in the logging camps and woods of Western Washington was like.”

Update 5/9/2011http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/05/09/1658977/point-defiance-parks-camp-6-closed.html  Looks like they are closing for good.  It’s a shame.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/05/09/1658977/point-defiance-parks-camp-6-closed.html