Approaching the station

A Sounder commuter is on its afternoon run from Seattle to Tacoma about to make its first stop at the Tukwila Station near the Southcenter Mall on a beautiful spring day in 2015.

Waiting in the sun...

A Sounder commuter train sits in the afternoon sun  at King Street Station waiting to depart on its run from Seattle to Tacoma on a beautiful spring day in 2015 led by an EMD F59PHI.

On the way home...

A Sound Transit commuter train is departing the Tukwila station on its way to Tacoma on a clear spring day in Seattle.

Next stop the airport...

A Metro Light Rail Train is departing the American Blvd station with its next stop at terminal 2 at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport.

Meet up at the baseball stadium

Two Metro light rail trains meet alongside the baseball stadium of the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis. Currently both of Metro's light rail's terminate here but there is plans to extended both light rail routes beyond the stadium. The train in the right is about to depart for the Mall of America and the train on the left has just arrived from St. Paul.

Heading to the mall...

A Metro light rail train is just a couple of stops away from its final destination the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN.

Passing by in a blur

A Metro light rail train in Minneapolis, Minnesota leaves a station near the University of Minnesota.

Coming into the Station

A Metro Green Line Light Rail train is stopping at the Fairview station on its way from St. Paul to Minneapolis.

They meet...

Two light rail trains meet in downtown Minneapolis. A green line train is almost done with its run from downtown St. Paul while a blue line train is heading toward the Mall of America.

The Arrival

A Sounder Commuter train on a run from Tacoma to Seattle comes to a stop at the Sumner, Washington station on a beautiful spring day in 2015.

Abandoned Rails

Streetcar tracks that once were used by Seattle's Waterfront Streetcar before a sculpture garden replaced its car house and the line was shut down.

Portland Streetcar on 5th Street at PSU

Portland Streetcar on 5th Street at PSU, a photo by Dornoff Photography on Flickr.

Here is one of the first shots I took after arriving in Portland for my conference. I took the MAX red line from the Airport and then rode the Green Line since it was new since the last time I was here.

After a ride on the green line to Clackamas Town Center I rode it back to downtown and then took the streetcar to the South Waterfront area in order to ride the Ariel Tram.

Here is a shot of the Portland Streetcar that I would ride to the South Waterfront area. The MAX train I rode was on the tracks to the left of the streetcar.

Portland Street Car

Portland Street Car , a photo by Dornoff Photography on Flickr.

Portland has an excellent transit system including the first modern streetcar line in the United States.

Here is a shot of one of the Portland Streetcars arriving at a stop to pick up a load of passengers. This is part of Portland's Park Blvd that stretches across downtown.

MAX train leaving Rose Quarter station

MAX train leaving Rose Quarter station
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

Back in October I attended an event in Portland, Oregon. The event I attended was in downtown and the motel I stayed at was on the east side of downtown on Burnside Avenue.

One of the nice things was that I was able to use transit for my entire stay in the city so I did not have the added expense of renting a car.

This photo was taken of a MAX light rail train leaving the Rose Quarter Station for Clackamas. The line to Clackamas (the Green Line) is Portland's newest light rail line.

I wasn't sure how well this picture would come out considering the sun was starting to set and I was standing under Interstate 5 which passes over the Rose Quarter Station.

Sandy TRAX Crossing

Sandy TRAX Crossing
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

Here is another one of the pictures I took Thursday night. I put the camera on the tri-pod, metered off a couple of points to get a good idea on how long of an exposure and then used the car headlights to add a little more lighting.

Ghost TRAX

Ghost TRAX
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

Last night I drove my wife and a friend to a class they are attending and decided to do some photography while I was waiting for them to get out.

As you can tell, I have been practicing my night shots for the last few weeks so I figured last night would be another great opportunity. I went to the TRAX crossing at 8680 South in Sandy which is just a block from where we used to live and took some pictures.

The lights you see in the foreground belong to my car.

Miami MetroRail Ghost Platform

Miami MetroRail Ghost Platform Government Station
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

In downtown Miami the main transfer station between the MetroRail heavy rail system and the downtown people mover system called MetroMover is at Government Station.

The station is four stories however, the first one does not have any Metro activity. The second floor has the platforms for the Metromover along with Metro Dade Transit customers service and various shops and fast food places.

The MetroRail platforms are located on the fourth level.

The oddity is the third level of the station. While 99% of the people that ride the system everyday just ride the esculators pass the third level in order to reach the fourth, few venture to see this other MetroRail platform.

While the MetroRail line is generally a north-south affair with some east-west jogs, there was a plan to build a actually east-west line that would pass the airport and come into the Government station at this platform. The plans for that east-west line are long dead so it looks like this "ghost" platform may never see an actually passenger.

So if your travels every take you to Miami, be sure to check out this unusual sight.