Izaak Walton Inn in Montana.

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

I am think about take a trip next summer to the inn on Amtrak 7&8. I would like to know.

  1. Which month is better Weather June or July? Should I bring Shorts and Long pants, and a Coat?

  2. Should I bring my own fold up Lawn Chair to the Inn or do they have chairs or bench to watch to the action.

  3. Does your Cellphone work here?

2
  1. July will normally give you a better chance than June for sunshine and pleasant temperatures. Still should be plenty of green on the lower elevations and snow on the mountain tops. Brings clothes for any and all weather conditions, though. When the highs are in the 80s you can still have lows in the 40s or below, in extreme cases. Check local weather forecasts just before you begin your trip. 2. Izaak Walton has chairs and benches on their back porch. 3. Verizon service gets pretty spotty on the west side of Marias Pass and down in the canyons either side of the hotel, but with a good phone and a rooftop antenna you should be able to communicate where others can’t. If you’ll have enough time and a rental car, I strongly recommend the drive through Glacier National Park via the Going to the Sun Road. Scenery inside the park is 20 times more spectacular than anything you’ll see along the railroad and U.S. 2. The park celebrates its centennial next year, so roads may be more crowded than usual. Leave the hotel at first light, spend a few hours photographing trains, use the middle of the day to drive through the park, and be back at trackside when the sunlight gets good again in late afternoon. You won’t be sorry.
3

If you’re serious about going, it’s not too early to look into booking a spot. I guess it can fill up with group and individual reservations pretty fast. I know the GNRHS convention in Sept 2010 there has been sold out for many months.

4

Van services at the Inn or Taxi services to go places?

5

Bruce is pretty much spot on, except for the Glacier tour I would leave the car parked and book a ride on the guided tour bus ride that follows the same route. The Going-To-The-Sun Road is being reworked, and between the construction and the lack of parking at Logan Pass, our drive around the loop was not that enjoyable. Riding the tour bus, you don’t have to worry about parking. My wife and I spent two nights there back in late August, and our Verizon phones were useless there. The inn, however, provided free Wi-Fi in the basement lounge. Also, don’t plan on watching any TV during railroad activity lulls- there aren’t any in the hotel.

EDIT: Just realized you indicated that you’ll

6

Never know, about our weather. I live about 80 miles east of Essex, in Shelby. Bring long- and short-pants. Leave your “Tank-tops” and “Fanny Pack” at home. They are frowned upon, in Montana! White socks are worn with loafers/moccasins. I went over to Whitefish on 04 July, spent the night in “NYC 3” and returned on the ex-SP #4449 steam train. Super! There were about 200 people at Isaac Walton Inn, welcoming us as we went by. Dunno about the cellphone, as I don’t have/need one. Vacationing with a cellphone? That doesn’t compute. Apparently there are plenty of chairs at the Inn. I think the Injuns invented them (the men, that is).

More later, perhaps…

Hays

7

What are the train counts on the Hi-Line in Summer Time 50?80? trains a Day?

8

  1. July without a doubt, I have seen Going to the Sun not open in June. (If you were to go into Glacier as suggested) I would highly recommend taking that drive.

  2. Should I bring Shorts and Long pants, and a Coat? - Yes!

  3. AT&T is spotty around Essex, and one both sides of the pass. Sprint/Nextel service did not exist for me.

9

Based on my experience, I would guesstimate somewhere around 30 trains a day, but then again while we were there there was alot of track work going on.

10

I would like to see more trains than 30 day, What the Train counts in Winslow, AZ on Amtrak 3&4 route? I would like stay at that inn too.

11

Rail traffic throughout the U.S. is very low because of current economic conditions. I don’t know what BNSF is up to through Glacier National Park, but the Union Pacific is using the lull in traffic to carry out a lot of track maintenance and rebuilding/double tracking of the Sunset Route between Colton, California and Tucson, Arizona. Most trains are being ran only at night an on weekends when track construction crews aren’t working on the line.

12

But I don’t want to waste my Money if am not going to see alot trains.

13

We stayed at the Inn this last June. Don’t expect cell phones to work. You will have enough to do without having to use your phone. As an acclimated Montanan, bring all types of dress. Montana had 90 degree temps 10 days ago and we are scheduled for 10 degree lows this week. While it will not be that extreme during the times you are thinking about staying, it will be chilly during the nites and possibly during the days especially if there is rain.

You can rent a car at the Inn. There were 2 or 3 cars on hand there from one of the major car rental firms.

Train numbers were down then. More trains during the night. It was fantastic to walk around the corner from the Inn and meet the Empire Builder trains at the gravel ramp. I don’t think you will find many Amtrak stops nestled in the timber with no depot structure in sight.That alone made the stay worth it. I look on my wife’s face was unbelievable when the eastbound Builder pulled to a stop and the conductor that hopped off to load passengers turned out to be her nephew.

The food was good. The hummingbirds feeding at the feeders five feet away was quite a sight. And the serenity of it all was great. The only noise being that of the passing trains.

Make sure you book a room on the side of the Inn overlooking the tracks. My wife would argue that thought as she was getting rather upset with me getting up during the night to see what was rumbling by.

I would love to go back to the Inn and see the SP Daylight head back to Portland but work isn’t going to permit that. You’ll enjoy it.