A Portland warehouse fire that occurred more than a week ago — and left behind a towering, structurally unsound building near the railroad — is sending ripples through passenger train routes in Kelso and across southwest Washington.

Searches Monday for trains destined for Portland and Seattle departing the Kelso/ Longview train station showed that multiple Amtrak routes were converted to bus routes in response to a closure of the railroad north of Portland's Union Station, while some trains are still running.

The Amtrak Cascades route, which connects 18 cities between Eugene, Oregon, and Vancouver, British Columbia, is cut off between Portland and Vancouver, Washington, due to an Aug. 2 building fire that left a 116-year-old structure close to the railroad in danger of collapsing.

The railroad's indefinite closure forces train travelers to find another way to travel between Portland and Vancouver, or likely to take a bus for the leg of their journey between Portland and Seattle.

Two train routes have been canceled completely, routes 500 and 511, but several other routes are being offered with bus replacements instead of trains for Washington legs, according to the Amtrak advisory.

The Pacific Northwest route is managed by Washington and Oregon's departments of transportation using trains owned by Amtrak and railroads owned by BNSF in Washington and Union Pacific in Oregon.

According to WSDOT spokeswoman Janet Matkin, who serves as the state agency's communications manager for rail, freight and ports, several trains were still departing from the Kelso station as of Monday morning.

Southbound trains 506, 505, 518 and 517 were each still serving Kelso, but they now only go as far as the Vancouver, Washington station, according to an email from Matkin Monday morning, with buses serving Kelso for other trips both north and south.

According to the available options on the Amtrak Cascades website, the only bus option on Monday to Seattle — scheduled to depart the station before noon — was sold out as of 10 a.m.

The 506 and 518 trains departing Monday afternoon and evening for Seattle were still online, although fares varied widely. A coach ticket for the 518 train departing at 3:03 p.m. Monday was $60, while the 506 train departing at 6:48 p.m. had a coach ticket of only $23.

A connecting bus route from Kelso to Seattle departing at 8:18 p.m. had a fare of only $17, and a similar two-hour, 32-minute travel time as the 506 train.

To reach the Portland station, two buses were available Monday morning: one departing the station at 3:40 p.m. and another at 8 p.m.

According to Amtrak Cascades, the buses replacing trains between Portland and Seattle stop at all stations: Vancouver, Kelso, Centralia, Olympia, Tacoma and Tukwila.

Customers can rebook to other trains at no additional charge or cancel their ticket for a full refund, according to the company's advisory. For more information, call Amtrak at 1-800- USA-RAIL or 1-800-872-7245.

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