Passenger Trains > Empire Builder 75th anniversary today

Today is the day!
The Empire Builder, flagship of the old GN is 75!
Time has changed the trains but it's still a GREAT route to travel. Happy Birthday!
Let's here some comments on those who have ridden the Old GN route!

Posted "a few moons ago" to another Forum:
http://web.archive.org/web/20020219200604/www.railroad.net/forums/load/travel/msg0422001022594.html

Just for info...Train 7(11) is planned to have AMTK 7 as the lead unit.

Time to have a goat roast. Get out the rotiserie. <g>

More appropriate, Mr. Poon, would have been P-42 #31.

That was the GN's traditional number for the Builder.

GBN

I had the honor of taking the Empire Builder in June of 1996. It was our "last big family vacation," as I had just graduated high school a couple of weeks before.

The first thing I remember of the trip was standing on the platform, awaiting the train's arrival into Chicago Union Terminal. I distinctly remember the roar of the two FP40's as it came through the tunnel, and it shook me to my bones. It was to be the first time I had been on an Amtrak train since I had ridden one from Williamsburg VA to Washington DC when I was 3 or 4 years old. 14 years is a long time to wait.

My parents had gotten us compartments, with them in a delux, and me with my own - a standard. Waiting for us in each of our compartments was a complimentary snack set of cheese, crackers, and salmon pate', along with two small bottles of wine and a pair of wine glasses. The glasses had green stems, and had the Empire Builder logo etched on them.

I spent the vast majority of the trip in one of three places: The lounge car, the dining car, and my own compartment. Most of that was in the dining car, making conversation and talking with other passengers - most of whom had coach tickets and were escaping to the lounge car. There was a family of Amish, as I recall - taking the train to a family wedding somewhere in Minnesota.

There was only one word to describe the food: excellent! I very distinctly remember the prime rib and the cherry cobbler as being among the best I have had in my entire lifetime. The service from the crew was spectacular, especially the old porter in our sleeping car.

However, there were a number of slow orders in North Dakota due to flooding (IIRC. On top of that, our lateness caused a couple of our crews to outlaw in the middle of North Dakota wheat fields, meaning we had to sit in the middle of nowhere waiting on a crew hauler to bring out a relief crew. Then we lost one unit, then the other (but I don't believe we ever lost HEP). In the end, a BN SD40-2 was pulled from a train waiting for us in a siding, and took over on our train. It carried us across Montana to my destination - East Glacier. We arrived somewhere around 10:30, about 6 or 7 hours late. Lucikly, we were booked in East Glacier Lodge, just across the street.

My parents and I spent the next week at East Glacier - fishing, hiking, enjoying the sights. Each night I spent the evening on a bench at the East Glacier depot doing what all foamers do best. Since LORAM was spending the days grinding the rails, BN had a backup of freights at night. This is when I fell in love with the SD40-2. Contemplate 8+ 40-'s pulling long COFC/TOFC freights west towards the pass a COFC/TOFC freight with 8 SD40-2's on the point and another 3 or 4 of them on the rear. The hoggers had them screaming in run 8, and just the rush of air as they roared past at every little bit of track speed as I stood on the platform still gives me goosebumps to this day.

But... I digress...

Our return trip was spent by me in a very similar fashion. The food was excellent, but our porter was not as friendly. We had the same power problems, and continued to lose time. Many of the passengers I remember talking to in the lounge car were very unhappy, and I remember hearing stories of the dining car running out of food (we were fed, but then again we were "first class."), and frustration that the train continued to lose time, meaning people would miss connections in Chicago. It did not faze myself or my folks, however, as we were simply on vacation and were enjoying the ride more than anything... plus we had a private place to go lay down ;). The last incident was in Minneapolis. I cannot say to this day what ACTUALLY happened, but the rumor among the passengers was that the car we had added came uncoupled. What I do remember was this: We were supposed to pick up an express car or two, and not long after we left Minneapolis, the train came to a stop (not an emergency stop, however), and we started moving again after about 10 minutes. Still... it made tensions among the coach passengers grow even more, and we finally arrived in Chicago about 8 or 9 hours late.

Despite the lateness of the trains, I THOROUGHLY enjoyed the entire trip - from the accomidations, to the food, and the scenery. I would go again in a heartbeat. :)

-Eric Shock

GBNorman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> More appropriate, Mr. Poon, would have been P-42
> #31.
>
> That was the GN's traditional number for the
> Builder.
==============================

In its later years, yes.

But when the Empire Builder first ran, 75 years ago, it had the ultimate train numbers: #1 and #2.

Today, however, Amtrak paid homage to those later years...the SECOND unit was the AMTK 31.

I'm not certain, Mr. Poon, if Train #1 on the Amtrak system today can be considered the "ultimate number"

Nuff said?

GBNorman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm not certain, Mr. Poon, if Train #1 on the
> Amtrak system today can be considered the
> "ultimate number"

Maybe David Gunn puts up with what happens to #1. James J. Hill and his successors certainly would NOT have. But, then, it was all their railroad!

-GP

The anniversary Train 7 (11) passed MP 25.5 thirty-six minutes after departing Chicago Union Station. The photo below shows units 7 and 31 in the lead. Four of the ten Superliners appeared to be recent rebuilds with the simpler decals and red reflective stripe low on the car.

The photo is captured from a video clip of the entire train.

---

Great Dome 10031 and another car brought up the rear. [I'm not sure of the identity of the rear car, which seems to be a converted Metroliner or Amfleet car. Can anyone provide more information about it?]

---

That last car is Beech Grove 10001 which David Gunn uses.

Friday, in Illinois along the BNSF C&I Aurora-LaCrosse sub, original route of the Builder on the former CB&Q mostly passenger main, there was a silent tribute to the Builder. "Where nature smiles for 400 miles"!

The Beech Grove, AMTK 10001, is the company's office car. It was rebuilt by the forces at Beech Grove from a wreck-damaged Amfleet car. I believe it was Claytor who named it, as a testament to the craftsmanship of the folks at Beech Grove.

It is by no means restricted to Mr. Gunn's use. In fact, Mr. Gunn rarely uses it, preferring to ride regularly-scheduled trains just like any other passenger.

10001 doesn't get off the NEC a whole lot, and is usually seen (on the NEC, anyway) in tandem with 10002, Corridor Clipper. The 10002 is another converted Amfleet car, filled with equipment to measure and assess track geometry and overhead wire alignment.

In that role, 10001 provides quarters for the engineers and technicians that run Corridor Clipper, and also provides an excellent view of the right-of-way!

Both cars will occasionally come to CHI for Engineering to inspect the Amtrak-owned track in Michigan.

They also venture off-corridor to inspect a route for potential detour/reroute or to gather data for pricing track upgrades, as they did for the nine-state Midwest High-Speed coalition a few years ago.

BTW, It rides real nice! :-)

NZ
Guest aboard 10001 CHI-MKE Friday

The two most beautiful experiences I have had in tens of thousands of miles of train riding over the years occurred on Amtrak's Empire Builder in the 1970's. The first occurred in June, 1974 as I was riding eastbound from Spokane to East Glacier. I was in the long Great Dome, in the early morning hours a few minutes after leaving Belton, just beyond Nyack, the sun was shining over the mountain peaks with a low fog hanging over the bogs and river, with the stunning snow capped mountains in the background. It was surreal.

The other experience in the winter of 1977 or 1978 was a westbound trip on a clear, moonlit night. The long Great Dome lights were off, the train sound was very muffled as it moved slowly through the deep, calm snow that coated phone pole, wires, and trees, glimmered in the moonlight. Surreal experience number two.

I rode the Builder last July from Chicago to Seattle and back. Doing the same this year, early July, to go home as well as sttend the NMRA convention....

Kennedy

After reading that Trains Article about 7 and 8 a few months back I for one will get a chance to ride him soon, and I mean soon! Anyway I'm late, but Happy Belated 75 for the Builder, may it last another 75 years! Also, I noticed for this Amtrak decided not to run the M and E just for the occasion and nice clip on shooting 7! How'd he do gettin into Seattle and Portland?