Passenger Trains > See America First, Riding Empire Builder 28/8 Oct 9 - 11

My wife and I rode the eastbound Empire Builder from Portland, Oregon to Chicago on October 9 through 11 to visit our daughter at college.  We rode coach (did I mention our daughter is in college?).  The Portland section was P42 153, lounge car, coach, coach, sleeper.  We were in car 2715, the second coach in the Portland section.  Our car was Amtrak 31009, a first series Superliner coach/baggage built in 1979.  It dawned on me that these first series Superliner cars are older now than the equipment they replaced were in 1979.  Our car was in good shape.  Everything was clean and functioned properly.  There are signs of wear, especially in the restrooms, but nothing major.

We boarded at about 4:20am and departed Portland on time at 4:45pm.  We were within a few minutes of the timetable at all of the scheduled stops from Portland to Spokane.  Between Pasco and Spokane we stopped or slowed a couple of times and the conductor announced we were waiting for freight trains.  I was periodically monitoring on my scanner and the BNSF dispatchers along this part of the route as well as the rest of our journey were definitely working to keep our train on time.  We arrived in Spokane at 12:09am, four minutes ahead of schedule.  Number 8, the Seattle section, arrived shortly after we did.  Our motive power, #153, pulled away.  The entire Seattle section was added to the front of our section.  Amtrak P42 #6 led the Seattle section.  #153 was added back in front of the Seattle section and led the rest of the journey.  We departed Spokane on time at 1:25am.

We learned the next morning that a gentleman who was seated in front of us detrained at Spokane and failed to be back on board when we departed.  He was last seen walking to a convenience store near the Spokane station.  Our car attendant said he would take care of the guy's bag in Chicago.  

The weather was overcast for most of the trip.  We were ten minutes late into Whitefish, Montana, but departed on time at 7:41am.  It was 34 degrees there and a BNSF business train was parked east of the depot.  East of Essex there was a dusting of snow.  There were several inches of snow over Marias Pass and the Continental Divide.  We saw a moose in a lake.  The station at East Glacier had closed on October 6 so we made the off season stop at Browning.  It was snowing with several inches on the ground.  By Cut Bank the snow was only a light dusting.  We pulled into Shelby 14 minutes early and departed on time at 11:33am.  

West of Havre we had slow orders for track work.  We arrived in Havre 24 minutes late and departed at 1:40pm, 18 minutes late.  We were about 10 to 15 minutes late at each stop east of Havre to Williston.  The track east of Williston seemed rougher.  We made up time east of Williston and arrived in Minot 18 minutes early.  A mechanical crew got on at Minot to deal with an issue in one of the sleepers.  We departed Minot on time at 9:47pm.

Throughout the trip the PA announcements for station stops and dining information were clear.  We did not eat in the dining car.  We brought our own food on in a small cooler and purchased a few items from the club car.  The club car burger and hot dog with two drinks was $20 with tip.  The burger and hot dog were pretty good.

We were into Rugby, ND at 10:47pm, four minutes late.  When we woke up at 7:05am in St. Cloud, MN, we were 1 hour 45 minutes late.  The conductor announced we had been delayed between Grand Forks and Fargo due to snow and switches having to be dug out.  They announced there was a slight delay leaving St. Cloud to initiate a safety system.

Prior to arriving at St. Paul the conductor announced that three private cars would be added to our train.  We stopped in Midway Yard and Minnesota Commercial added the cars to our rear.  I later determined they were the Nokomis, Winona and Lake Pepin.  We arrived at St. Paul at 9:11am, 1 hour 28 minutes late.  Our car had been between one half and two thirds full up to this point.  At St. Paul the car filled up.

For the rest of the trip we were right around an hour and a half late.  The roughest track of the trip was between LaCrosse and Tomah, WI.  We made up time between Glenview, IL and Chicago, arriving at track 19 in Chicago Union Station at 4:58pm, 1 hour 3 minutes late.

Overall we really enjoyed the trip.  The crew was friendly and helpful.  The announcements were timely and informative.  The scenery is outstanding in the Columbia Gorge and through western Montana.  Two nights sleeping in coach is a little rough though.

Photo 1: Amtrak 153 with train 28, Portland Union Station, October 9, 2018.
Photo 2: Train 8 being joined to Train 28, Spokane, WA.
Photo 3: A moose in Glacier National Park as seen from the train.

Joe





      

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Photo 4: Station stop at Havre, MT.  I could not get a shot from the front of the the train.  Amtrak 153 leading Amtrak 6.
Photo 5: Minot, ND. 31 degrees, 18 minutes early.
Photo 6: Winona, MN.  Private cars Nokomis, Winona and Lake Pepin on the rear of Amtrak 8/28.

Joe
 

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Thank you for the trip report.  All in all, pretty positive.

Oh yes, enjoyed the moose picture.  Don't see many of those in Florida.

Thank you for the detailed report. Glad you had a good trip!

Posted from iPhone

Great report, hope your trip if you're taking no, 7/27 goes well too!

Excellent trip report  and pictures ! Thank you for sharing !!! :):):)

Agreed...great trip report....understand the finances.....post high school education funding is certainly an issue.  And yes, this Hood River native also loves the Gorge.   Arklen