Hey my grandpa and I are going to take the Empire Builder to Portland and the Cascade to Seatle, and the Empire Builder back.
The plan is
Capital Limited- Sandusky,Ohio-Chicago, IL
Empire Builder- Chicago, IL-Portland, OR
Cascade- Portland, OR-Seatle, WA
Empire Builder- Seatle, WA-Chicago, IL
Capitol Limited-Chicago, IL-Sandusky, Ohio
Here is my question, from the trip from Chicago to Portland and from Seatle to Chicago, does the train make any extended stops? Like where you get off at a major station and get back on the train later? Mike
The Empire Builder has some servicing stops, but nothing long enough to leave the station area and make it back to catch the train. For a longer layover at an intermediate point, you’d need to make separate reservations to that point, then on a later train from that point.
Well not to leave the station but get some food or drinks from the station (The dinner car aint really the best ha, we took the train to chicago and back already. Unless the food is better on the empire builder.) Mike
As a veteran of 2 Empire Builder Eastbound trips from Montana to Portage Wis, there isnt really a good amount of time to head off to get anything from a store. But both times while we were in Havre Montana and also Minot North Dakota, somebody ran to the nearest store and grab something from there. I know in Minot, there are some convience stores really close but Amtrak only stays there just enough to pick-up and let off people. If they are on time or even ahead (which was the last time i was on it, 10 minutes) then you have time to do so. You get a pretty good stop in the Twin Cities but I didn’t see anywhere you can get stuff. The depot there has vending machines just about every snack, soda, candy you can think of.
On the dining car, I thoroughly enjoyed the steak at dinner and you HAVE to try the french toast for breakfast. Make sure that you get in a observation seat when you get out of Shelby Montana (westbound) to see Glacier National Park and it’s also pretty neat coming from the other way. (I got on at Shelby the first time and East Glacier Park the second). Either way, it’s going to be a good trip, except when you get on the jointed rail in North Dakota, that sucks…rough, swaying and uncomfortable sleeping (eastbound)
Paul
ps. Always ask the conductor if this is a stop where they are going to make up time. But make sure you ask him how long the stay is, most of the time you will hear it over the PA system.
The train has a fairly extended stop in Spokane to seperate or join the Seattle and Portland sections but it’s in the middle of the night (both directions) and there’s nothing near by.
I’ve ridden the builder twice, including a year ago. The dining car food was very good. No complaints at all. Good variety and quality. The snack car also has a decent variety albeit, its more vending machine type food, though when I was on the train, they still had a person working the snack car. Pack a duffle bag w/ snacks and plan to eat on the train.
Unless there is unusual maintenance (i.e. we had a longer stop at Minot to thaw pipes), the stops there and Havre aren’t long enough that I’d be comfortable leaving the platform.
There’s nothing like the anticipation of waiting at the station for your train to arrive and it comes in w/ horns blowing, snow swirling, the shiny superliner cars rolling by, the flurry of activity boarding and settling in to your seat, starting a trip. I’m a little envious.
I rode the Empire Builder & got off at the Isiac Walton Inn??? Just out side of Glacier National Park. The Inn is an old RR Bunk house located at the east end of a small yard, where power is added to help push trains over the mountain. I stayed at the Inn for several days. Great food, RR themed, you can sit on the front porch & watch trains go by or take a motor coach tour of the Park. (they pick you up at the Inn). If you stay there ask for a room track side.
The Inn has its own platform for getting on or off the train.
If you don’t want to stay in the Inn, they have a 1/2 dozen cabooses that you can stay in.
Last few times I rode 27 and 28 between Spokane and Portland, they made a “smoker’s break” at Wishram, letting anyone off for about 5 or 10 minutes. You’ll have time to grab a decent head-end shot of your train (it’ll be a bit side- or back-lit for both trains), and at least once I was able to shoot a BNSF stack train approaching our Amtrak. As mentioned above, there is an extended pause at Spokane while they split the westbound consist or assemble the eastbound consist. If they do allow you off the train, you may be required to stay downstairs, away from the platform and all the train action, until the boarding call.
The ONLY places that you can do what you asked about is Chicago, Portland and Seattle. I don’t know about how long the wait is between the Capitol and The Builder, but you ought to plan to stay overnight in either Portland or Seattle. Your transfers at Portland and Seattle bertween the Builder and Cascade are across platforms and can be so quick that any checked luggage might not make it since you will have to go into the station to handle the chore at both places. No checked baggage on the Cascade. It is a TALGO tilt-train and flat streaks along. Even with the tilting mechanism tilting full tilt, you have to hang on around most curves.
Hey I got another one, how are the sleeping acomadations on these trains? I know how it is on the trip from sandusky to chicago but how about on the long trip? Mike
like all amtrack trains, the more you pay, the better you sleep…
If you pay the base fare, you go coach, and get to stretch out in the regular chair…which is much better than an airplane chair, but if you are 6’4" or so, you won’t sleep very well…if you upgrade to a roomette, you will at least get a bunk. Check out the accomodations on hte web, when you are making reservations or checking ticket prices you can click on the “Upgrade” and see what is available and how much each option costs…
The whole thing – both food and accomodations – depends on how stingy or broke you are. If you are ready to accept the notion that you are also getting a rolling first class hotel along with your trip, and willing to pay for it, the food is excellent (dining car), the service courteous and prompt, and the sleeping accomodations (deluxe bedroom) really wonderful. As you scale back the price, the bedrooms, while still very pleasant, aren’t quite as wonderful (although that’s the way I go – Economy bedroom). If you drop back to coach, though, as has been said you get to sleep in a chair, which I simply can’t do – and you have to pay for the dining car, which isn’t cheap, assuming you can get into it at all (as has been the case for as long as I’ve been riding trains – a long long time – ‘Pullman’ passengers get first whack at the diner). On the other hand, if you are determined to get the low cost, and can sleep in a chair, the trip is still wonderful – and the food in the lounge/snack cars isn’t any worse than you’d be able to get at a station.
Try to avoid the roomettes unless you’ve served in a submarine and can adjust to the extremely confined space. The deluxe bedroom is more comfortable but the toilet/shower is a joke in the rooms.
My advice is to get off the train in Essex and stay at least two nights at Izaak Walton Inn. Then spend one day out front train watching, bear watching or resting in the Alpine air. The second day take a jammer (open top bus) tour through Glacier National Park. The day long tour leaves from the Inn. This will take you along the lakes, and over the snow covered Rockies (Going to the sun highway) which you cannot see from the train. It would be an adventure remembered your entire life. This is truely rugged territory!
The train covers most of the best scenery in the dark. So why not stay a while in the best part of your journey and enjoy one of the most beautiful unspoiled lands in the world! You will come away with fabulous photos and memories.
good idea…if you are late enough in the spring/summer…last year the going to the sun road did not open till about 1 July. With so much snow this year, it may open late again. There was a lot of rebuilding going on also…
But definately worth the trip! The busses are open top and especially built for the tour…and I believe have all been rebuilt to run on Propane now.