Proposal: The Icicle Run
A Train Town From the Start
Trains created Leavenworth, Washington. It became a major rail head for the Great Northern Railroad in the mid-1890s, just a decade after its birth as the settlement of Icicle. The railroad helped build Leavenworth's lumber fortune-until the 1920s, when the railroad moved its offices to Wenatchee and its trains from Stevens Pass to a less dangerous route. The railroad bypass looked like the beginning of the end, and Leavenworth's fortunes declined for nearly 40 years. Then, beginning in 1965, local business owners took a now-famous new approach: using their own capital, they brought a classic Alpine look and feel to the Cascades.
Today Leavenworth, Washington State's Bavarian Village, hosts more than 1.8 million day-visitors and overnight guests each year. Vacationing families, outdoor enthusiasts, avid shoppers-they come from around the world to Leavenworth every day of the year, whether for one or more of the city's half-dozen festivals, for a getaway, or on business. And virtually all of them come by car or bus. The Washington State Department of Transportation reports that, every day, more than 1100 cars cross Stevens Pass to Leavenworth. The city welcomes and urgently needs its visitors to support its economy. Still, automobile congestion will increasingly make the city less attractive to guests, create environmental problems, and add to highway maintenance and public safety costs.
It's time for Leavenworth to be a train town again.
Hasn't Leavenworth Tried Before to Bring Back Passenger Trains?
Yes - in limited ways, with limited success. Excursion trains have been around for special events since the 1970s, but there's no comparable service for the day-visitors or overnight guests who come year-round. From 1991 to 1993, some members of the community explored the possibility of privatized rail service to Leavenworth, but such service would have meant additional rail traffic on an already saturated route. That train never left the station.
But there is a train passing through Leavenworth every day: Amtrak's Empire Builder. We propose to draw on that existing Amtrak service, simply adding a daily stop in Leavenworth on a new Icicle Run.
Is Leavenworth Ready to Attract Riders?
The City of Leavenworth and the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce have an extensive marketing plan that promotes Leavenworth and the upper Wenatchee Valley throughout the Puget Sound region and the Pacific Northwest. Both the City and the Chamber would use daily rail service as a basis for aggressively promoting the Icicle Run in a range of markets - not just in the region and state, but in points east along the Empire Builder corridor as far as Chicago. The cruise ship industry offers another tie-in: A possibility of add-on train excursions for weekends in Leavenworth both before and after Seattle-based cruises. In addition, local marketing efforts would encourage Leavenworth residents to use the Amtrak option for day or weekend trips to Seattle or Spokane. Campaigns might focus on events (Leavenworth Day at the Mariners game), sister destinations (overnights in Victoria), school field trips to museums and performances, and so on.
Would Riders Be Interested?
In two market studies - the first in 1992, a more recent one in 2002 - nearly 30% of all respondents in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties said they would be "very likely" to use direct rail service to Leavenworth if it were available. Another one-third said they would be "somewhat likely" to take a train to Leavenworth. Altogether, three out of five people surveyed - of all ages and walks of life, regardless of how long they might stay in Leavenworth or what they might do while visiting - said they would probably rather ride Amtrak to Leavenworth than drive.
Many of the reasons are obvious. Why pay rising gas costs, sit in traffic in the city or at the Pass, risk bad weather in winter, and start a weekend with three or four hours of stressful driving - when instead, a train ride (costing perhaps $54 per round trip for a full-fare adult) could offer a leisurely ride down beautiful Icicle Canyon, stress-free, with plenty of time to talk, read, or sightsee? And, for eco-conscious travelers, what better alternative to automobile travel than bringing the backpack and mountain bike on the train?
Would Stakeholders Benefit?
If the attraction to guests is easy to imagine, the benefits to Amtrak, the local Leavenworth community, and in fact Washington State as a whole are also clear.
For Amtrak, new riders from Puget Sound or from points east to Leavenworth, as well as new trips west and east originating in Leavenworth, would increase revenue at the margins with little marginal cost. Even conservative estimates, based on the previous marketing surveys, would point to at least 4,000 new round-trip riders annually - from the Puget Sound area alone. If these visitors brought friends and family or made repeated trips, the number would quickly increase. At a round-trip fare of approximately $54, Amtrak stands to gain at least $215,000 each year, with that number rising as visits from points east, or originating in Leavenworth are factored in.
For the state, the Icicle Run would offer a new opportunity to promote in-state tourism, keeping Washington State dollars in Washington. It would also support statewide efforts to protect the environment. And, of course, the reduced wear-and-tear on SR 2 and other state-maintained roads, as well as the lessened demand on state road crews and public safety personnel, would ultimately help to hold down the cost to taxpayers of public services and infrastructure around Stevens Pass.
For residents of Leavenworth and the surrounding area, the Icicle Run would provide exposure to some new markets, and to potential visitors who might be intrigued by the new ease of a weekend trip to the area. Retailers and services at Stevens Pass and throughout the upper Wenatchee Valley would benefit from an additional influx of tourists, guests, and shoppers. What's more, a reduction in automobile traffic - one that doesn't diminish visitors' contributions to the local economy - will help to ensure Leavenworth's continued economic viability by preserving the city's beautiful natural surroundings and decreasing congestion, parking problems, and automobile exhaust in the city's streets. Reduced wear on local roads will also benefit local and county taxpayers. And an appropriately designed Icicle Station, perhaps something like the 1992 rendering shown here, will enhance and extend the charm of the Bavarian Village.
Even farther-reaching is the greater quality of life that the Icicle Run could offer the people of the upper Wenatchee Valley. In addition to better air quality, less traffic noise, and less congestion, daily rail service would also make it far more attractive for area residents to spend a day in Seattle - whether on pleasure or in business meetings. The Empire Builder also offers new speed and convenience for Leavenworth families and business people traveling to points east - whether to meetings in Spokane, hiking trips in Glacier National Park, even family reunions in places like Minneapolis and Chicago.