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Volunteers Needed! Click Here
Next Amtrak Depot Committee Board
Meeting: Thursday, April 10, 2 p.m., TwinStar Credit Union Headquarters conference room; 4501 Intelco Loop, Lacey
AMTRAK passengers
and depot visitors
are welcome to comment, compliment or ask questions to
volunteers by email, click below:
contactOLWstation@gmail.com |
Indications are that Amtrak 505 southbound will make its stop at OLW around 10:15 a.m.
Thursday with Amfleet replacement cars and then return around 4 p.m. as northbound Amtrak 518. Amtrak Cascades may have all its
trains back in service by Monday, April 7, officials told
the Washington State Senate Transportation Committee meeting
at the capitol Tuesday.
That would mean the 10 Cascades train routes Amtrak
has substituted with buses through April 1 will be trains
by Monday.
Amtrak's plan is to began by adding at least one train each
direction Thursday between
Portland and Seattle. The first of replacement "Amfleet"
rail cars were put into service Tuesday, April 1, between
Seattle and Vancouver B.C (Trains 516 & 519).
Through
April 2, only the Talgo train and Coast Starlight were be operating daily each direction from our station
(four trains: Amtrak 503, Amtrak 11, Amtrak 14 and Amtrak
508.) All other 10 Amtrak Cascades south of Seattle were
still impacted. New tickets for the bus routes replacing the
trains are limited and maximum seating next week is expected
to be reduced 50 percent.
This service disruption was
triggered by an abrupt decision by Amtrak to remove all 26
Cascades Bombardier "Horizon Cars" from service due to
corrosion damage.
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Operating since 1993 at 6600 Yelm Highway S.E. completely by community
volunteers who meet every passenger train, regardless of when each train
arrives. Volunteers are available twenty-four hours per day for 31 years, seven days per week,14 trains per
day. The depot, also known as "Centennial Station" to celebrate
1889-1989 statehood, was built with community volunteers, donated labor and
contributions from Olympia, Tumwater, Lacey, Thurston County, the Port
of Olympia, etc. It is now the fourth busiest passenger train depot in Washington state
(Mile Post 32.2 on the Burlington Northern Seattle Sub). The
building, designatd by Amtrak as "OLW", was sold to Intercity Transit which maintains the facility and
provides scheduled city bus connections and park/ride lots.

6600
Yelm Highway S.E. Olympia-Lacey, Washington
Phone: 360-923-4602 Updated
April 2, 2025
In its first month of operation, more than 138,600 persons viewed our Pan-Tilt-Zoom camera online
Visit our YouTube Steel Highway Site at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJoTKVaEJhw
That data was provided by our YouTube host, Steel Highway, that
hosts our station camera server. That's something like an
astounding 4,300 to 5,000 views per day in our first month of
operation for Olympia-Lacey, the second highest views for any
single location in the Steel Highway YouTube network. Our rail
cam continues to be one of the most appreciated. The average viewer is online each view for 13 minutes. Indications are that we had more than 34,000 distinct individuals viewing our camera in the first month with an overwhelming number returning for more views.
By March, the site collected more than 2,200 likes. After a
power outage forced a reset, we are up to 1,000 likes on March
22. |
2024 Annual Statistics for Main 1 and Main 2 at
the Station: 4,908 Amtrak Trains per year!
Compiled by nine
Chehalis Railfans, Here are some statistics on the
mainline track that runs in front of our station
Special thanks to David Norton.
Total Freight & Passenger Trains Recorded: 18,047 Total
Northbound: 10,697 Total Southbound:
7,350 Longest freight train (cars): 288
(About three miles!) Busiest Hour: 7 p.m. - 8
p.m. Slowest Hour: 7 a.m. - 8 a.m. Total
locomotives spotted: 50,147
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Average Daily Trains:
49.3 Average Car Count BNSF: 92.2 Average
Car Count UP: 100.8 |
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Santa Claus Arrives by Train
December 14, 2024
Olympia-Lacey Centennial Amtrak
Station
About 300
parents and kids attended Santa's arrival on Amtrak Cascades 502
A giving tree is at the station for
Feline Friends of America and Caring Hearts 4 Paws
Sponsored by Olympia-Lacey
Amtrak Centennial Station Volunteers |
Photos used by permission of their mothers. Summer is left. River is center |
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