Not to take anything away from Spokane's birthday, but it's hardly a hub anymore, in the classic sense. Most UP and BNSF trains just run through Spokane, and relatively few do any work there. Surely, the Tri-Cities/Hermiston area of Southern Washington/Northern Oregon with the yard facilities at Pasco and Hinkle make them a better "hub" candidate....after all, whenever you have a humpyard, you're more likely to be the "hub." Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA is probably the most obvious hub in the Northwest, given the number of rail lines running from the cities (moreso than Spokane and more heavily trafficked). Tacoma is more of a hub than Spokane by virtue of the amount of terminating grain trains and stack trains (and their originating counterparts). And then there's Seattle, that is not only the termination and origination point for intermodal, grain, and freight trains, but is the busiest station in the Northwest for passenger trains because of the Amtrak Cascades and Sounder service.

Spokane does have one claim to fame: It's the only point in the United States (anymore) where a regularly scheduled long distance Amtrak passenger is switched (the Seattle and Portland sections of the Empire Builder split and join there daily).