Empire Builder West Bound 10/2 to 10/4/22 Updated Photos!

I have traveled the Empire Builder from Chicago to Whitefish, Montana.  The roomettes are terrible. The food is good unless Amtrak has changed the menu in the last year. It was more or less on time going west, but going east it was 4 hours late into Chicago. Have you priced the bedrooms? They are very expensive. We took them both ways. You have to make your reservations very early, They sell out of bedrooms very fast. We made our reservations almost a year early.

My wife and I have ridden the Builder a half dozen times over the past decade, all being in the fall. The first trip was in coach. While the seating is quite comfortable with good legroom and reclining backs, you do get some kinks from not lying out flat. Best seats for coach riding are two-thirds back from the front of the car. The very end seats are noisy from people going through the vestibules. The middle seats have people going up and down the staircase where the lights are on all night.

The roomettes are cramped, but private. Whoever gets the top bunk needs to be a bit of a contortionist. Once in place, the bed comfort is pretty decent. During the day, we would leave the door open for better air circulation if the roomette was on the sunny side of the train. Take along some safety pins for the curtains! They open and close horizontally so if you want to cut down some of the sun glare, you can use the pins to pin the curtains upward vertically. That way you can still see the whole panorama.

In the middle of the night, the train splits at Spokane where the rear half and lounge car becomes the Portland section while the front half and diner continue to Seattle. The Seattle section gets to ride through the Cascade tunnel while the Portland section gets the Columbia River Gorge views.

As Eddie said, the diner food was quite decent. If you get the roomette, your meals are included. You won't go hungry! Going coach, the lounge car has food service from 6AM to 10PM or so. The fare is the standard box lunch stuff; bagels, salads, hot dogs, hamburgers, etc., plus soft drinks, wine, beer, and coffee.

The scenery is gorgeous. Urban Chicago and Milwaukee changes to the north woods of Wisconsin. From Minneapolis the scenery goes flat through the Detroit Lakes. That stretch is usually done after dark. It is (or was) a stretch of jointed rail so the speed limit is lower and the ride is pretty rocky. If you are in the upper bunk, you will be glad you have the netting to keep you in place! 

On towards Minot, there are vast farmlands. Havre is a crew change spot where you can get off for a while to stretch your legs. West of Cut Bank and into East Glacier, the scenery becomes mountainous. When we travelled in the fall, it would be nearly dark then.

A few observances: In the summer, there will be children riding in the coaches - not all parents are attentive. There will be a number of smokers who will be standing by the doors when the train makes some of the longer station stops. Not everyone knows how to flush a toilet! I still think there is a contest between North Dakota and Montana to see who can stack the most scrap metal in their back yard!    

I would advocate anyone to take the trip if they can. It's an adventure!  

Neil 

We rode the Builder from St. Paul to Chicago and return a couple of years ago.  This is the former Milwaukee Road.  The scenery along the Mississippi River was quite nice and the track was smooth.  The Engineer on the eastward trip out of LaCrosse was awful  Among other things, she had to make a double stop at the short Wisconsin Dells station platform, a normal occurrence because of the train length.  It was two rough stops.  Other than poor train handling from LaCrosse to Chicago, it was a good trip.  We intend to ride it all the way this year.

East Glacier Depot.   Glacier National Park was a project of the Great Northern Railroad. 

Granite Park Chalet,   Highline Trail. 

Thanks everyone, that really helps. Neil the tips and detail much appreciated. 

I've traveled Amtrak extensively and the California Zephyr is always my top pick. Much preferred over the Empire Builder, no question!!!

You can go online and take the trip with people who have filmed most of it, so that's a good way to preview what to expect. The portion along the Mississippi from LaCrosse to St. Paul is nice. That's the old stomping ground of the CNW 400, the Milwaukee Road Hiawatha and the Burlington Zephyrs.  Western Minnesota through N. Dakota and the eastern 3/4 of Montana is not very scenic - mostly relatively flat prairie, it seemed like. Western Montana to the coast has a lot of scenery to offer.

Booked a roomette in early October! Headed west to Seattle out of Chicago, Starting in Champaign. Looking forward to getting away.  Just me this time. Gonna see a ballgame in Seattle and drive out to visit a friend’s grave in Yakima then fly home the next day. Got a reasonable rate since it’s later in the season. I’ll post my experiences here when I go. 👍🏻

Wow, sounds like a trip of a lifetime. I have a ham radio friend who rode a train out that way. I’ll have to ask him about his experience.

It's been a while since we rode this, but here's what I remember.  We rode in a sleeper (not roomette) and had 2 rooms for 3 of us, so more space to stretch out.  Sleeping was easy the first night (Minneapolis through most of North Dakota), but sleeping the second night was more difficult because of "squealing" wheels as we went through the "curvy-route" Rockies and because of the train-shuffling at Spokane.  Food was fine, and, as we had to be willing to share our table, we met some interesting people with stories to trade.  You do see some nice Washington State scenery on the morning of your second day and some nice Montana scenery late in your first day.  Unfortunately, if running on time, you will sleep through all of Idaho and most of the Rocky Mountains.

Like one of the commenters above, we elected to fly back (cheaper, faster and wife's option!).

The last two times we traveled long-distance by Amtrak, the snack bar ran out of cheeseburger, pizza, deli sandwich and hot pocket items, as the train progressed, and was resupplied only once in 2200 miles.  Coach passengers were out of luck when asking to eat in the dining car.  So, if you intend to travel by coach and the train will be on its second day out from its originating terminal, I'd suggest that you take something to sustain your hunger if the snack bar runs out of food items.

Also, on this topic, the snack bar now has one employee instead of two, and no matter how many passengers are waiting in line, when it comes time for the employee's break, everything stops.  

One last thing about coach travel: Some of the passengers try to take two seats, and have other social behavior impediments.  In this matter, it is a spin of the wheel of fortune.

@Number 90 posted:

The last two times we traveled long-distance by Amtrak, the snack bar ran out of cheeseburger, pizza, deli sandwich and hot pocket items, as the train progressed, and was resupplied only once in 2200 miles.  Coach passengers were out of luck when asking to eat in the dining car.  So, if you intend to travel by coach and the train will be on its second day out from its originating terminal, I'd suggest that you take something to sustain your hunger if the snack bar runs out of food items.

Also, on this topic, the snack bar now has one employee instead of two, and no matter how many passengers are waiting in line, when it comes time for the employee's break, everything stops.  

One last thing about coach travel: Some of the passengers try to take two seats, and have other social behavior impediments.  In this matter, it is a spin of the wheel of fortune.

N&W booked a roomette (smart), so won’t be traveling that long journey by day coach. One thing the wife and I learned years ago was NEVER travel on Amtrak’s overland routes in coach. And yes, it’s best to take the train out, then fly back. You’ll be glad you did. 😉

The Builder takes the old Milwaukee Road mainline along the west bank of the Mississippi south of Hastings MN, so if possible you'd want to be on the east side of the train, facing the river. The view from the other side is mostly just steep bluffs - a bit like the old New York Central mainline along the Hudson river north of New York City.

I’m trying to check into which side I will be on. I’m in car 730 Room 14. Anyone have any info? I know 14 is on the lower level and car 730 will be in the front of the train but don’t know which way the car will be pointed???

The Builder left the station yesterday from Chicago and Seattle. Fingers crossed I might just get to go in 2 weeks!

Return trip to Pennsylvania:   Open plains, somewhat boring.  Eventually, I upset the GPS, and headed north to the Michigan peninsula. Point was to cross the Saginaw Bridge. Both Wisconsin and the upper Michigan peninsula were worth the extra time and effort.  IMO, Mike CT.   Most noted experience, was coming over a small rise, and seeing nothing but Sunflowers for ever. There was also Canola fields, something rare east of the Mississippi.

Thanks so much for posting the question and comments. One of our daughters and son-in-law moved to Portland in June, and we're looking at the Empire Builder through Glacier National Park to visit them in 2023 or 2024.

FWIW: 2 years ago my wife took the Empire Builder from Portland to Wisconsin and back in the dead of winter. Rode in coach...and LOVED the entire experience. 👍

Mark in Oregon

T - 4 Days 17 hours!!!! I guess I better start packing. Depending on how much connection I have during the trip I plan to post photos and video. Stay tuned😎

The “Saluki” arrived in Champaign-Urbana on time 10:14 am this morning. ETA in Chicago at 12.:30. 😎 The adventure has begun.

Arrived ahead of schedule in Chicago 😎 The Builder pulls out at 3:05. Here are some shots around Union Station.

BON VOYAGE!

I had dinner in the dining car at 6:45. I chose the last seating time slot. The food was delicious. I had the Shrimp appetizer, the Salmon main course, and the Carrot cake for desert. No Lemon cake option which worked out perfectly because Carrotcake is my favorite. 😎 Below is the menu and my selections plus the blueberry cheese cake and Panko chicken that a gentleman had sitting at my table.

Breakfast at 7:00. Minot, ND supply stop and fresh air break. I’m on the north side of the train which is supposed to be better for viewing but I guess darkness will come before mountains do. Oh well🤪

Looks like things are running well (in the dining car, they certainly are!).

How's the track -- smooth, so-so, or rough?  Is the sliding door on your roomette staying closed?

Thanks for the daily report. Very appreciated. What is the gravy on the eggs? Pretty good looking biscuit!

So you’re out one day and in ND, that’s a bit faster than we ride mcys and get there. When is arrival in Seattle?

Food looks great ! How is the taste ? Are you in a roomette?

I would guess that the "gravy" on the eggs is actually melted cheddar cheese.

Chuck

Cheddar cheese melted on top of the eggs. The food has been great! I ate blueberry cheesecake for dessert at lunchtime and I hate cheesecake. It was very good. (Photo Above) I like my scrambled eggs moist and they were moist and tasty.

They track hasn’t been bad. I’ve been very surprised on the schedule we’ve been able to maintain. Had to stop and wait on a BNSF freight once.

ETA in Seattle is tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at 11:30.

Shelby, Montana station stop. Got a chance to scrub my window before we get to Glacier National Park. Even though it will be dark at least I’ll get to see the dark. 🤪

L to R - Robin, Me, Karen. Our sleeping car attendants. Karen is in training. The platform in Shelby looked brand new, very nice!

One of the greatest parts of this trip is meeting all of the people. My neighbor is a former Las Vegas slot machine tech who now lives in Milwaukee. The folks on our end of the car are from Scotland, Mother/Son. Mum drives a bus shuttling old folks around and son drives a taxi shuttling people to St. Andrews golf course. I met a very nice couple from Ohio who met in West Virginia. They have been married 63 years and he’s a train nut, she just gets that he’s a train nut and tags along. They’re getting off at Essex and staying at the Izaak Walton Inn. They get a room overlooking the tracks and he spends 4 days watching trains. Ooops gotta go I got dinner reservations at 6:45. 😎

Speaking of 6:45, what time does the train go by? Change with the time zone…and you have to be alert?

WooHoo!  The dining looks incredibly improved. Since 2008, I have been on the Empire Builder for 11 round trips, and I had to watch the service go downhill. This looks much improved. On the 13th, I am heading out to Sacramento on the California Zephyr, hoping the menu is equally fine. If you happen to see any money whirling about in the Cascades, that's my pension spent on Amtrak. (So who needs underwear?)

Ed, I had the Signature Amtrak Flat Iron Steak with baked potato this evening and it was cooked as I ordered it, Medium, very tasty. Have fun on the Zephyr 👍🏻 Oh, and I couldn’t pass it up I had another slice of that blueberry cheesecake! Mmmmmmm

Chuck we switched to Mountain time at the east end of Montana and we’ll switch again before breakfast which starts at 6:00 Pacific time. 😎

We’re due in Whitefish just before 10:00, 10 minutes early. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 That’s a fresh air stop (smoke break) you can de train on the platform for a few minutes.

Lastly, there’s that great couple that got off at Essex. Here’s to trains running all night long Jim!!!

Fun Fact: Robin said that the platform at Whitefish is always clear year round because it’s heated😎 They get a lot of skiers in the winter time and the platform stays free of snow and ice.

It’s bedtime for this Railrodenut 💤

Thanks for the updates, Kevin.  Glad you are enjoying the trip.

That’s what I was wondering. You have to be aware of the time zones if you don’t want to be an hour early for breakfast.

i always liked riding the mcy west because daylight never seemed to end.

It looks like you're having a grand time on this version of the Empire Builder.  The dining car fare looks wonderful has to be better than box meals from the lounge car.  Chicago Union Station looks beautiful.

Love the panoramic view.

Where's Ness and the bookkeeper?

Whatever it's called now it will always be Sears Tower to me.  My brother lost his job with Sears when they moved headquarters fromNew York to the Tower in Chicago.

Shot this video just outside of Seattle. Beautiful scenery. What an adventure, I’d definitely do it again. The love of my life is coming with me next time. This was a personal trip.

Back in 2003 I lost a very good friend, Cary Bassani. He was an O gauger and a forum member. He passed away suddenly and was buried back in Yakima Washington where he grew up. His wife asked me to design something for his grave stone and you’ll see it below. Cary was a huge Big Boy Union Pacific guy. He would have loved to see the 4014 and I like to think he did. 😎 With the Big Boy series being 4000 numbers I decided on 4603. He was 46 and died in ‘03. The small brick at the lower left corner is a replica of a brick that is at the National Toy Train Museum in Strasburg, PA. Cary and I attend York in 2000 and 2002. The brick lists all the members in our small model train club here in East Central Illinois. Cary came up with the club name (CIT) Central Illinois Tinners. Tinners for the track we ran on and it was also a play on words because he was a professional Opera singer that sang Tenor. 😎 It was great to see Cary’s final resting place with Mt. Rainier off in the distance. I was also able to visit and tour where he grew up. His Dad owned apple ground and his brother Alan still does.

Cary’s Gravestone