David writes.....
I traveled to Salt Lake City this past week to join Katy in looking for a place for us to live. Moving day is fast approaching. Katy was already out there, at meetings with her employer. After arrival, I pretty much had Friday to myself, so I decided to tour Salt Lake City the way IRM's Tom Hunter recommended, via light rail and commuter train.
Salt Lake City's light rail system is called TRAX and is operated by the Utah Transit Authority. Currently, there are three lines in operation, with the addition of a single track "streetcar" line to the Sugarhouse neighborhood in the final stages of construction. All three lines converge into a single trunk line just south of downtown. Salt Lake City is different from St. Louis or Chicago in that there is a lot more outdoor activity, from mountain biking to skiing. It seems every car has a roof rack. People seem to be a bit more fitness-conscious. While waiting for the train, this passenger decided to get some exercise in.
Downtown Salt Lake City has very wide streets, originally intended to aid in the turning of wagons pulled by 8 or more horses. When Brigham Young laid out the street grid for Salt Lake City in the 1840s, he unwittingly made it easy to run light rail down the middle of the streets. Some TRAX lines run with three car trains, not a problem for the street trackage, as seen here.
I rode to Salt Lake Central station, the end of the Green line, and a true multi-modal facility. It is located about a block behind the old Rio Grande Depot and contains a Greyhound bus station, a TRAX terminal, stops for UTA's intra-city busses and is a stop on the Front Runner heavy rail line. Front runner runs from Ogden in the north to Provo in the south. I took a quick ride from downtown Salt Lake to Murray, just south of downtown, where I could connect back to TRAX. The cars are fairly new, with the addition of some rebuilt Jersey Arrow cars added to each consist.
Finally and most importantly, we managed to get a house rented. We wanted to get a better feel for the area before we bought. It's a little more suburban than I wanted, being located in Sandy, but it's only 2 miles away from a TRAX stop with ample parking.
Well, I need to get back to packing. North American shows up August 12. There's a lot to do!
