# The Empire Builder | Chicago to Seattle



## ColdRain&Snow (Jul 1, 2010)

Trip Pics.

Arrival into Chicago from Los Angeles was reasonably routine, and even the TSA wasn’t stealing the dignity of the LAX pax on this evening. My hotel wasn’t far from CUS, so I had an opportunity to take a morning walk along the river. After the compulsory java stop, I meandered along the riverbank with trains on my mind until I decided it was time to go see them.

After checking into the Metropolitan Lounge, I walked out to the platforms and checked out some of the idling trains. Each time I walk up to a Superliner or Genesis engine, I try to observe new details about them that I haven’t noticed before. On this day, I walked up to an idling P42DC and listened to the symphony of noises that it was emitting. Its diesel engine has a loud, powerful gurgle that, despite its decibels, always draws me closer. The clicks and pneumatic blasts are quite peculiar and manage to startle me more than once as I stare in awe at this muscular machine. Looking up at that locomotive, my reason for flying across the country last night quickly came into focus. And with that, I went back to the lounge and awaited the boarding of Train 7.

Boarding on the Empire Builder was on-time and took place right outside the glass doors. At Car 732, I met my SCA Chris, an energetic fellow with a fun, sarcastic sense of humor and a strong regard for his pax. Chris was attentive and struck a good balance between helping the newbies and not bothering the experienced riders yet not ignoring them either. My litmus test is pretty simple, “If given a choice, would I ride with him again?” I would, and appreciated his sense of humor that could be called upon throughout the trip.

My Sleeping Car was a refurbished Superliner I, in which I found my roomette, the bathrooms, and the shower room to all be in good condition. Illinois was hot and humid, and I don’t think the AC was set cool enough, but then again, it may have been struggling in its old age just to keep up. I hate stuffiness in general, so I hope that Amtrak can/will address the chronic problems with the AC on some of its trains. Cooler weather by the time we hit ND quashed the issue, so that was good, but had that car been on the SL crossing the Chihuahuan Desert, it would have been a sultry ride (yuk).

Motive power on this trip was P42s #100 on point trailed elephant by #50. Nice even numbers (yeah, I have a superstitious streak), and they would have a great run with no problems. Damn If I don’t take about fifty pictures of the locos during the trip. I am by no means a foamer and hate the term (just sounds bizarre), but I must be a railfan if indeed there’s a distinction between the two. What can I say, Amtrak trains are fascinating, impressive, and fun to be around!

The Dining Car service was fine, not great but not bad either, but one thing did happen that was irritating. Making it very clear through the tenor of their announcements, the staff asserted that clear instructions would be given for mealtimes, and pax were to faithfully adhere to them. Don’t come until we call you, and not to worry, we will be clear with our instructions. Wanting to eat a late lunch on Day 2, I intently listened to how it would be handled- no reservations today, and consider this to be First Call. Some time after, it was announced that the Dining Car was full and a waiting list was in full swing. So I patiently waited in my room for Last Call, assuming that since they used the First Call/Last Call convention for lunch on this day, that a Last Call would indeed be announced. As 2P passed, I decided to go down there and find out when Last Call might be made. When I walked into the Dining Car, the staff were all eating lunch and I was met with a terse proclamation that “Lunch is over!”

The train director, a woman named Meg, came into the picture at just the right moment as I was a bit irked. I asked them why, if you’re using the First Call/Last Call convention for lunch, would you not make a Last Call??? The same server that barked at me that lunch was over went on to say that she forgot to do it. To her credit, Meg immediately picked up on the unfairness of the situation- that is, that the very woman who [gleefully] told me I was screwed out of lunch was the same woman who forgot to make Last Call. And here I was, just trying to honor their instructions that pax should carefully listen for announcements at mealtimes. I ended up taking a lunch back to my room.

Later, Meg came by and we spoke about my frustration with how things were handled. She was receptive, and we talked about the handling of lunch in general. She mentioned that they considered making lunch by reservation only, but that the distance of the Portland sleeping pax might have become an impediment to running an efficient meal. I appreciated her visit and just asked her if she could do her part in helping to instill a culture of consistency on the trains that she directed. She very graciously agreed, and I thanked her for her leadership.

Overall, it was a fun trip that like every other one, was special for its own reasons. I had dinner while we traversed across Glacier, enjoying the diversity that an Amtrak dinner affords. One of my dinner companions was a geologist, and she was teaching us about the different strata of the mountains passing us by. I have come to love these opportunities to meet new people and learn new things. I even had walleyed pike for the first time and loved it.

I awoke early to photograph the Cascades crossing, and it did not disappoint. God’s country to be sure. When we got to Seattle, I took a look back at the Empire Builder, gave her a fond wave, and immediately began thinking about my next trip. That trip will be this weekend when I will ride the Coast Starlight from Seattle to LA, feeding the soul with what is becoming one of my very favorite pastimes! I’m glad to have found something that brings me so much happiness…I love riding these Amtrak trains!


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## emmy (Jul 1, 2010)

Really enjoyed your report on your Empire train trip and your pictures.Really interested as hubby and I are taking the Empire back Portland to Chicago next April.You really gave us an insight of what we have to look forward to.

Thank You so much


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## Guest (Jul 2, 2010)

Great trip report and pix, thanks! :hi: Makes me nostalgic for our trip last year on this fantastic route! I'm really envious!


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## Cristobal (Jul 2, 2010)

Thanks for that trip report. You echo my sentiments about Amtrak almost exactly. 

I'll be doing almost the same itinerary in September (EB, CHI-SEA and then after a few days CS, TAC-SJC) and I'm really looking forward to it. I've already spent some time on the CS (TAC-SJC in May, and then SJC-SBA, SBA-SJC just a few weeks ago) and I've had 2 different OBS crews (the crew on my SBA-SJC train was the same as the crew from my May trip  ). Both crews seemed above-average to great and really enjoying what they do.

Have a great trip and I'm anxious to read your report from that one as well.


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## ColdRain&Snow (Jul 2, 2010)

Thanks y'all for the kind encouragements. I am really interested to hear from folks about what they like to read about in trip reports. The more I can learn about that, the more tailored my notetaking can be during the trip. My own predisposition seems to lean towards the train's hardware, but I hope some members will chime in about what they most enjoy reading about. In my photos to date, I've tried to tell the basic narrative of the routes so my trip reports can focus on other things. But I am still working out what those things should be? :wacko:

Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated!


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## Cristobal (Jul 2, 2010)

ColdRain&Snow said:


> Thanks y'all for the kind encouragements. I am really interested to hear from folks about what they like to read about in trip reports. The more I can learn about that, the more tailored my notetaking can be during the trip. My own predisposition seems to lean towards the train's hardware, but I hope some members will chime in about what they most enjoy reading about. In my photos to date, I've tried to tell the basic narrative of the routes so my trip reports can focus on other things. But I am still working out what those things should be? :wacko:
> 
> Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated!


I usually find personal experiences with fellow pax, crew, accommodations, scenery, etc to be more interesting than hardware details (unless it's something extraordinary to note).

But hey...

That's just me.


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## Rail Freak (Jul 2, 2010)

Thanx,

Really enjoyed that!!!

RF


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## Rail Freak (Jul 2, 2010)

ColdRain&Snow said:


> Thanks y'all for the kind encouragements. I am really interested to hear from folks about what they like to read about in trip reports. The more I can learn about that, the more tailored my notetaking can be during the trip. My own predisposition seems to lean towards the train's hardware, but I hope some members will chime in about what they most enjoy reading about. In my photos to date, I've tried to tell the basic narrative of the routes so my trip reports can focus on other things. But I am still working out what those things should be?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You did just fine!

RF


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