The Empire Builder has been a staple of rail travel between Chicago and Seattle. The Empire Builder was originally ran by Great Northern and also the Milwaukee Road which ran the Olympic Hiawatha. The train used to travel a different route with the Milwaukee Road, the train would travel through Bozeman and have connection services to Yellowstone National Park. The previous route was electrified through parts of Montana and was able to travel at high speeds. The current Empire Builder run by Amtrak runs through Milwaukee to St. Paul, then onto Fargo and a few other stops in North Dakota, then as the train enters Montana it starts its journey through the great scenery and stops in Glacier Park for passengers to get off and enjoy the park during the Summer and also in the winter for the great skiing access that it offers. After exiting Montana the train enters the northern most point in Idaho before the train enters Washington state around 1 in the morning were the the train splits up into two different trains from Spokane, one train goes to Seattle and travels through the Stevens Pass and Everett before ending the journey in Seattle. The other part of the train continues onto Portland and the lower section of the state of Washington and also gives you great views of the numerous apple groves that the state offers and ends the journey in Portland around 10 in the morning which offers passengers enough time to connect to the Coast Starlight. The train is one that is also a must take if you ever decide to take Amtrak across America. One of the problems that the train encounters while it is traveling to Seattle/Portland is the many freight trains coming out of Williston, North Dakota, the train is sometimes an hour to two hours behind schedule since the train has to wait for the numerous coal freight trains go through there. I will be taking this train when I travel home and also have a Sleeper car which is going to give me the chance to see the many amenities that Amtrak offers to its Sleeper car guest. A perk of traveling through the Chicago is that if you have a Sleeper car reservation is that you are given access to the Metropolitan Lounge. Most of the route of the Olympian Hiawatha and the Great Northern Empire Builder has been changed due to the fact that the old tracks it used to travel have been turned over to the Montana Rail Link and BNSF. The summer months are one of the most busiest for the Empire Builder, due to the fact that most of the passengers are going on vacations to either Glacier, Chicago, Milwaukee, Seattle, Portland and St. Paul. The Empire Builder is the only link for travelers between St. Paul and Chicago. The total distance between Chicago and Seattle is 2,206 miles and the total distance between Chicago and Portland is 2,257 miles. There are two different numbers for the train for the Chicago to Seattle trains it is the number 7 train and the Chicago to Portland train is the number 27.
3 Comments
4/5/2015 03:07:36 am
Wish I was going with you Ricky! Thanks for the letter, and may your travels bring you wisdom and bliss : )
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Lyn Wright
8/25/2022 10:21:41 am
My parents met on this train in 1948. She had graduated high school and her parents took her to Bellingham, Washington to see her uncle. My Dad was a cook's assistant. He got off the train to get her a coke. Married a year later.
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