Route suggestion for the scenic Columbia River Gorge. You could avoid BNSF complications by doing only the south bank. Portland to The Dalles is about 100 miles, maybe a bit on the long side but the scenery is incredible and the running is pretty fast.
I tried thinking about this for TSW, but it may just end up being Portland Only with both yard and port switching, as there isn't very many destinations within reason to the east of Portland. Going from Union Pacific's Albina Yard to Cascade Locks on the shorter southern mainline is about 45 miles alone, but this doesn't factor in UP 2 other yards in the area. From the southern mainline wye to Brooklyn Yard is about 3 miles to the south. From Albina Yard to Barnes Yard to the north is about 7-8 miles. And Banes yard is located near all of the rail served industries in North Portland. And its about 18 miles from Barnes Yard via the Northern Mainline to Troutdale, where it connects to the southern mainline to run east thru the Gorge. I feel like it would be a very hard project to do the area well within a reasonable timeframe. However, if one was to do this route, it needs to be set Pre-1997. As then the route could be sold with the Amtrak Pioneer Train as well, as it had stops in Portland, Cascade Locks (81-88), Hood River, and The Dalles.
