# My Northwest Loop (no holes in this loop!) trip



## JayPea (Jun 26, 2010)

I just returned (a few hours ago, in fact) from a three-day Northwest Loop run (Spokane-Seattle-Portland-Spokane).

I left early on the morning of the 23rd. I spent the 22nd nervously checking the status for #7, which started out from Chicago 1 1/2 hrs down, and quickly became 3 hours down in Wisconsin. Gradually, however, I noticed it gradually making up time, and the last time I checked, at Whitefish, it was just over an hour late. I knew it had plenty of padding between Sandpoint and Spokane so knew I was good to go. I live an hour from Spokane, and left my home at 9:45 to catch a 2:15 train that was late! I do hate sitting around at home, besides, my car has a nasty habit of breaking down at most inopportune times. Thus I left that early. After a late leisurely dinner at Chez Denny's  I got to the station right after midnight. I found out from Duane, the very friendly and personable ticket agent, that the #7 was now only going to be 1/2 hour late. And right after that, another ticket agent said it would be in at 1:50, only 10 minutes late. And it indeed get in at that time. So it had made up almost all of that 3 hrs. Not bad at all. The eastbound #8 from Seattle was very late (in fact it didn't get to Spokane until after we'd boarded #7, making #8 2 hrs late or so. My understanding was there was some sort of minor derailment involved with it leaving Seattle.

At any rate, we left Spokane only 10 minutes down, which they made up and in fact we were early into Seattle. I tried to doze some, but that didn't work, as it never does in coach. Misty, our car attendant, and Mike, the conductor, were very efficient, very pleasant, and are a great advertisement for Amtrak. About 5:30, at Wenatchee, I wandered to the diner for breakfast. I was seated with a man from Bellingham, going home after a visit with his folks in Whitefish, a woman from Australia who had boarded in Chicago and was on her way to Seattle, and a woman who had boarded in Milwaukee (and rode coach that far) and who was eventually headed to San Francisco to her son and daughter-in-law. It was interesting to hear the Australian woman's reaction to her first Amtrak trip: she was very impressed by it all. I found out that #7 was late out of Chicago due to problems with the SSL; it was eventually taken off altogether, and also because #7 got caught in Metra commuter traffic. For breakfast I had the cheese, veggie, and mushroom omelette (very good) with potatoes, biscuit, sausage, and coffee. All were very good. I noticed the portion size of the potatoes was smaller, which is good for me. I wondered if the diner was beginning to run short of food. Seid was our server, and he and the dining car steward, whose name I didn't catch, were efficient at their jobs if not overly friendly. Unlike most of my forays into the Cascades, it was a beautiful day for sightseeing in the mountains.

After losing some more time in the mountains, we eventually gained that back and then some: we got into Seattle early. I must say again how efficient and friendly Misty, the car attendant, and Mike, the conductor were. At one point, when Misty was cleaning the car near the end of the run, she spilled water on my shoes and was so apologetic about it. Those shoes have stepped in more dog crap than I care to think about; a little water wasn't going to hurt! 

The consist was:

2 engines

baggage car

3 sleepers (one may have been a trans-dorm; I didn't get a good look)

diner

2 coaches

After detraining, I walked to my hotel, the Moore Hotel, which is a couple blocks north of the west edge of Pike Place Market.*

(*Disclaimer: I did a lot of walking even though I know I could ride the bus for free everywhere I wanted to go. I chose to walk because I'm diabetic and need the excercise).

As it was before 11 AM and check-in wasn't until 3PM, I left my bag there and went to the waterfront, where I would take one of the Argosy boat cruises, this one going from the waterfront at Elliot Bay through the locks at Lake Union and then back to the waterfront via a bus. I had lunch at Steamer's, then enjoyed a beautiful day on the waterfront until it was time for the boat ride.

The boat tour was very interesting, though it was my luck to sit on the side where there was little of scenic interest. Those on the opposite side got all the good sights, and all I got was an occasional glimpse of a tugboat or garbage scow.  Ah, well. It was a very informative and interesting tour, especially when our boat was in the locks, waiting for the water to rise so we could continue on the lake.

After returning to the waterfront, I went back to the hotel to check in and clean up, then headed to catch the monorail to the Seattle Center and the Space Needle. I'd never been in the Space Needle before and the views were everything I'd hoped for and then some. I was tired by this point so after thoroughly enjoying the views, I got back on the monorail, and went back to Westlake Center (the south terminus of the monorail) and had a healthy dinner at Mickey D's. :lol: After that, I went back to the hotel and turned in. It was only 6PM, and though I'm not usually that much of a wet blanket (OK, maybe I am!  )but at that point I'd been up 37 straight hours and was done in.

Speaking of done in, I'm done in now and will finish tomorrow.


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## Railroad Bill (Jun 26, 2010)

Sounds like a nice trip so far. Would like to spend some time in Seatttle on our next trip to the NW. My old college roommate has lived there for over 30 years and loves it. We met on our CS trip last year for a few hours of visiting but not long enough to see much of the city.

Looking forward to the remainder of your report.


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## Jeff P. (Jun 26, 2010)

Day 2: Seattle

Day 2 was spent in Seattle. First, a few words about the Moore Hotel: It's an old hotel, definitely not fancy nor in the greatest area of town. It was inexpensive, however, and you get what you pay for: decent accomodations with none of the frills: air conditioning in the rooms, for instance. It was beautiful there most of the time and warm. There was a small fan in the room but it was inadequte plus it vibrated badly and was far too noisy. I resorted to opening the windows, which worked great. A breeze through the room was just fine. One major complaint: the TV remote had no numbers on it! When you wanted to find a certain channel, you had to keep hitting the + or - button in order to get to the station of your choice!!! Oh, the humanity!!! :lol:

Anyway, I wandered down to Pike Place Market, without really knowing what eateries where there and which ones were open for breakfast, and happened upon Lowell's, located within the Public Market itself. Excellent food, and extraordinary service: by the time I'd gotten sat down with my drink (self-service fountain), my order was there. Unsurpassed for speed! And very good, I might add, and highly recommended. I wandered around Pike Place Market for a bit, but as nothing was open, went back to the hotel for a bit. I went back down to Pike Place, but as the Seattle Aquarium was right there, I decided at the last second to take in the aquarium, intending to spend more time in Pike Place later. If aquariums are your thing, I also highly recommend the Seattle Aquarium. Well worth the price of admission, even if the seals didn't hold still long enough to get good pictures of them!! :angry:  

After a thorough perusing of the aquarium, it was time to take myself out to the old ball game, a rare afternoon weekday game between the Flubs and Marginals Cubs and Mariners. My first time at Safeco, and hopefully not the last. I got a quick lunch at Ivar's in the ballpark, and watched a great game, as Chicago won in 13 innings 3-2. Unfortunately, that also rearranged my plans, as I had planned to walk back to Pike Place Market after the game, spend time there, and grab a bite to eat. The game went so long, and I was hungry by then, so I stopped at Ivar's on the waterfront for dinner instead. Between the game and dinner, I was too late for Pike Place, as most of it was closed by then. Ah, well. I then retired to my hotel for the night.


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## JayPea (Jun 26, 2010)

Agghhh!! Don't know why I had to post that as a guest!!!


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## the_traveler (Jun 26, 2010)

A trip without loopholes?




I'd never do that!



(Although I must now!



)

I did do the PDX-SEA-SPK-PDX loop in 22 hours though!


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## Bob Dylan (Jun 26, 2010)

Sounds like a nice trip, Seattle can be great when the weather is also!  We stayed last summer(EB/CS), did alot of what you did but stayed up on the hill by the Needle (Inn @ Queen Anne,very enjoyable stay,shuttle downtown,breakfast, friendly folks, great price on Orbitz),

took the Bambridge Island Ferry instead of the Lake Cruise! Didnt get to see the Stadium (they were on the road), the market and old part of town were great, only bad thing was the waterfront trolley had turned into a bus!The International District around King Street Station was interesting, also Union Station is pretty nice!  (What being a Billionaire can do for you! :lol: )Theres a new Hostel There by the train station (American Hotel?), looks interesting, recommended by one of our members!

Glad the EB made up so much time, especially with the bad calling times in SPK!The lady riding coach WI-SEA from Australia sounds like a trooper, that's a looooong ride in coach! BTW-The reference to the two teams is perfect, down here ours are called the Strangers (but they are in first place right now!  ) and the Lastros! :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## JayPea (Jun 26, 2010)

And I don't know why this was a double post. Double Arrghhh!


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## JayPea (Jun 26, 2010)

Day 3: The Journey home.

Yesterday, I came home. I went to Lowell's again for breakfast and had a dungeness crab omelette (Superb!) The weather wasn't, however, as it was gloomy and rainy in the morning. I went back to the hotel, packed, and after I checked out, this time did spend a bit of time in Pike Place Market, long enough to see the famous flying fish exhibition. I walked down to the station, and found my train, 513 to Portland, was running on time. At least I thought so. As it turned out, it was running a little late, and the westbound Empire Builder was running late, too, almost an hour, as it turned out. When it finally showed up, #7 was oddly configured, with the coaches on the front, diner in the middle, sleepers at the end, and baggage car the last car in the consist. #513 was held up to let #7 in first, so we were about 20 minutes late boarding and leaving. This was a Cascades Talgo train, with this consist:

Engine

Power unit

2 business class coaches

dining car

bistro

5 or 6 (I didn't have time to make an accurate count) coaches.

I was in first class, though it really isn't worth it. I took it mainly because I could afford to. Service on this train was nonexistant. I never heard the conductor utter a word, either in the station or onboard. The car attendants were about the same, though the car attendant in the business class car was forced to speak as he took our tickets. I rarely saw and never heard any attendant at all on the way down to Portland. The rain, gloom, and drizzle had lifted by the time #513 got to Kelso-Longview, and it turned out to be another great afternoon. We had started out about 20 minutes late and lost more time into Portland, as we were about half an hour late. I had lunch from the bistro car which included a cheeseburger, chips, garden salad, an orange, and diet Pepsi. Hardly gourmet fare, but it was good, and about what you'd expect from a bistro car. I heard no announcements whatsoever until right at Portland, when the car attendant did mention in passing we were in Portland and to watch our step detraining. Nahh, I'd rather trip and fall off the stool. 

I didn't have time, especially with #513 late, to go to Powell's Bookstore or anywhere else, so I thought, so I just stayed put at the station. As it turned out, the EB was late getting started as they were delayed getting it put back together for its run eastward. I was told it would be just a few minutes late in boarding. "A few minutes" turned out to be 50 minutes. However, once the boarding process began, it was very orderly and we left Portland only 30 minutes down. The consist of the #28 EB was:

3 engines

1 cafe car (no Sightseer Lounge, for some reason)

two coaches

sleeper

With no Sightseer, I took advantage of having stood in line to board the entire time and thus was one of the first to board the coach and of the fact there were several geographically challenged newbies on board and grabbed a window seat on the right side of the train, for viewing the Columbia River Gorge. And a beautiful day in the Gorge it was!

Johnson was our conductor, a very efficent, if not overly friendly person. Lawrence was our car attendant and was also very good and very personable. You got the idea with him that you were his lifelong friend five minutes after boarding. Johnson apologized profusely when we got started late and gave a very thorough explanation as to why. And we were held up, for less than a minute, waiting for a signal light to change; he apologized for that, too. Quite a change from the crew of the Cascades. Our toilets in our car didn't work, so we had to use the ones in the coach ahead of us. Lawrence explained that he tried to reset them several times, with no luck, and that they would have to be repaired in Spokane. He aplogized up and down and backwards and forwards for that. I don't know, but to me it wasn't a big thing, having to use the other car's bathroom. Maybe I should request a voucher for that. Johnson also explained about the rock slide near Libby and that he would let everyone know as soon as possible whether the track was cleared or not.

At any rate, I grabbed dinner in the cafe car as soon as it opened: a couple of hot dogs, chips, and diet Sierra Mist, and thoroughly enjoyed the scenery in the gorge. It was a great late afternoon and early evening, one of the best I've ever seen in the gorge. Great day for viewing! We made up some time on our run, so that we had a short smoke break at Wishram, and a longer one at Pasco. At Pasco came the good news from Johnson that the rock slide had indeed been cleared away and that no bus would be needed between Spokane and Whitefish. We made up most of the time to Spokane and was just a few minutes late.

All in all, a great trip! The Empire Builder staff were excellent all the way through. The Cascades staff was nonexistant. Air conditioning in all three trains was perfect all the way through, and other than the toilets in our car from Portland not working, everything was in good working order. And they did try to solve that problem as best they could. I could complain, I guess, about the dirty windows on the Cascades, but yelling about that on here would do no good.

A great trip, and am ready to go again: The Texas Eagle-Coast Starlight from Bloomington, IL to Seattle, this in mid-August, and an Amtrak thruway bus back to my hometown, which couldn't be more convient: our town's bus stop is about 50 feet from my front door. Very much looking forward to it! I bought a new camera for Christmas and will post pictures ASAP. I have a lot of them to wade through and a lot of editing to do so I can look like I'm a better photographer than I am. :lol:


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## the_traveler (Jun 26, 2010)

JayPea said:


> And I don't know why this was a double post. Double Arrghhh!


Because it was good enough to mention twice?


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## JayPea (Jun 28, 2010)

Here are my pictures from the first day of my trip: http://jeffsjourneys.multiply.com/photos/album/38


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## Rail Freak (Jun 28, 2010)

Nice!!!

RF


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## Guest (Jun 28, 2010)

JayPea said:


> Here are my pictures from the first day of my trip: http://jeffsjourneys.multiply.com/photos/album/38


Nice pics, thanks!  Seattle can be spectactular on clear days and miserable on cold,wet ones!


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## JayPea (Jun 29, 2010)

More pictures here: http://jeffsjourneys.multiply.com/photos/album/39

I spent this day for the most part at the Seattle Aquarium and the Mariners game at Safeco Field.


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## Guest (Jun 29, 2010)

JayPea said:


> More pictures here: http://jeffsjourneys.multiply.com/photos/album/39
> 
> I spent this day for the most part at the Seattle Aquarium and the Mariners game at Safeco Field.


Nice pictures! And had to laugh @ the Lastro drama! Theyve blown alot this year and the season isnt half over! At least the Mariners star is still a star, the Lastors are all hitting less than their weight and the pitching is worse!


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## JayPea (Jun 29, 2010)

Pictures of my third and last day here: http://jeffsjourneys.multiply.com/photos/album/42

It was a great day in the Columbia River Gorge so I took full advantage!!!


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## Guest (Jun 29, 2010)

Really nice pictures of a great route! I need to ride the EB to see the Columbia Gorge in the daylight, it was dark the only time I rode this route!


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