Next stop Stanwood

Martha Rose, director of Island Transit, called last Monday to see if it was too late to get a message in the NEWS. She said that buses would be shuttling passengers from Terry’s Corner on Camano Island to Everett Station so community members could ride into history aboard Amtrak Cascades for its stop at Stanwood Station’s grand opening. We were about to go to press – but it was a change I was happy to make.

In fact, I was inspired to take part in the maiden bus-to-rail adventure.

There were 83 of us that rode from Camano Island to Everett Saturday morning, loaded into three

buses. I expected to pay a fare, but Island Transit stuck to its policy of being a fare-free ride. Arriving at Everett’s Art Deco

styled transit station with its huge stained glass east wall designed and installed by islander Jack Archibald, extended a sense of a community beyond Stanwood/Camano.

The station’s grandiose feel set a tone for the form of travel that had once ushered in a glamorous alternative to dusty and unsafe stagecoaches. The station quickly filled with local residents, some dressed the part in period costumes. The hustle and excitement of boarding the train began to build and four residents from Josephine care facility reminisced about when they had last taken the train from Stanwood some 40 to 50 years earlier. Three had ridden it with their families to Bellingham and a former Post Intelligencer reporter rode from Seattle to Stanwood. They were all excited to board the “iron horse” to the town where a few had never left.

At last our train arrived, albeit 20 minutes behind schedule.

My co-worker, Janae Brown, and I were impressed how much legroom the coach seats had and how luxurious the car was compared to an airplane cabin. The oversized windows allowed the scenery to dominate while being framed by warm interiors. Lively conversation within the car lent a party-like atmosphere.

Passengers freely walked about and visited amongst themselves and before you knew it we heard “next stop Stanwood.” Hundreds of people lined the platform to greet the first train to arrive here in 38 years, while others climbed aboard with suitcases in tow to begin their journey.

For the past 13 years working for the NEWS, I’ve heard the “Amtrak” blast through town twice each morning, always with a slight envy at what venture I might be missing.

Now it’s possible to climb aboard and see what lies ahead.

–Kelly Ruhoff

Editor