Your own example of how long it took to travel short distances (presumably between Portland and Eugene) is exactly why people don't like taking the train. It's not particularly cost effective either in most cases. I can almost certainly fly from Seattle to Los Angeles for less than it would cost to take the train, and it would only take 10% of the time even accounting for airport delays. I'm willing to be convinced otherwise, but it seems to me that medium to long distance rail travel is nearly worthless in the American West.