# Empire Builder Trip



## frank (Jan 12, 2003)

Just another trip report.

http://communities.prodigy.net/trains/ttrip247.htm

Happy rails,

Frank


----------



## EmpireBuilderFan (Jan 13, 2003)

Hey, now! As a proud Montanan, and Nort Dahota born (that's North Dakota spelled close to how a North Dakotan pronounces the state's name), there's more to North Dakota and Eastern Montana than beige and white...occasionally, there's even green!  To tell you the truth, I live in an area you'd probably call "civilized," and I rather have the "beige" of Montana. Life is so much simpler there. The bland view is just a screen to keep outsiders from moving in and screwing up our way of life. 

Great report. Thanks for posting it!


----------



## frank (Jan 13, 2003)

Cory,

You wrote:

"The bland view is just a screen to keep outsiders from moving in and screwing up our way of life. "

That's amazing! Do you mean to tell me that just beyond the horizon from the train's view there's something...uh...something going on? Something cool to look at?

I'm just joking with you Cory. I too love wide open spaces and black star-filled skies at night. I'm glad you saw the humor and didn't take offense. It's all in jest.

May the Empire never fail. Ride on brother.

Frank


----------



## EmpireBuilderFan (Jan 14, 2003)

Actually, the route that the Empire Builder runs on was carefully landscaped to look bland and boring so no one riding the train would actually be tempted to get off of the train and stay. The rest of North Dakota and Eastern Montana actually look like the Garden of Eden. (And if you believe that, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell to you, dirt cheap!) :lol:

Actually, I'm glad that you saw that I was joking as well. I love North Dakota and Montana, and can't wait to get back there full time, but it can get a bit...beige.


----------



## battalion51 (Jan 14, 2003)

Wow, Frank I don't believe I'e ever read a trip report that is so descriptive, and with a mild hint of scarcasm, that's me all over (sarcastic that is). I do agree that not many people view train travel as a mode of transportation. I get odd looks every time I wear my Amtrak jacket to school, but what else is too be expected. Train travel is one of the very few links that we have to the past. In todays society the world is focused on getting somewhere in as little time as possible, I'd rather take my time and enjoy the scenery that you don't get at 30,000 feet. If Amtrak were to dissolve the nation would be losing a treasure, and I would be missing a piece of me. Then again I'd probably just make friends at CSX and get my satisfaction there  .


----------



## frank (Feb 3, 2003)

Cory,

You wrote:

"Actually, the route that the Empire Builder runs on was carefully landscaped to look bland and boring so no one riding the train would actually be tempted to get off of the train and stay. The rest of North Dakota and Eastern Montana actually look like the Garden of Eden."

That would be hilarious except for the fact that it single-handedly explains Amtrak's serious cash crisis. We are talking about billions of square feet of beige prairie grasses hand planted by train crews at considerable expense. Is that what brakeman and firemen do these days?

I'm sure you're right. Just off in the distance, out of sight of Amtrak's glare in the bleak bleakness, there is the largest ball of barbed wire tourist attraction, or a pretty tree grove. If that news were to slip out, to say....rueters or some other news wire, your neck of the woods would be over-run with the second wave of land hungry folk who thought that this area was just an antelope litter box.

Frank


----------



## frank (Jul 21, 2003)

Prodigy pulled the plug on their train site. :-(

Harry Sutton tells me that this Empire Builder trip report will be reposted at his new site....along with several others. Check it out.

Frank


----------



## seajay (Jul 21, 2003)

frank said:


> Prodigy pulled the plug on their train site.  :-(
> Harry Sutton tells me that this Empire Builder trip report will be reposted at his new site....along with several others.  Check it out.
> 
> Frank


What's the address for Harry Hutton's site?


----------



## Bill Haithcoat (Jul 21, 2003)

I think they mean this http://on-track-on-line.com/


----------



## battalion51 (Jul 21, 2003)

His name is actually HaRRy Sutton.


----------



## frank (Nov 24, 2003)

If anyone is still interested in reading this rather lengthy and dated Empire Builder trip report, our rail friend haRRy Sutton has reposted it at his very fine website. Here's the link:

http://on-track-on-line.com/trips/trip-200...00-kaylor.shtml

May the Empire ride forever.

Frank


----------



## frank (Jan 11, 2004)

Hey Empire Builder Fan,

I just saw the pics from our new Mars rover.....and I'm convinced that Nasa made a mistake. Instead of landing on Mars, it's obvious, at least to me, that they put down just east of Cut Bank, or maybe Williston. Nothing but red rocks as far as the eye can see. A total wasteland.

The clincher for me was seeing what I believe to be a bingo hall way out on the distant horizon. I'm pretty sure there's a pawn shop on the edge of the rover photo as well.

Is it just me? Or has science been sent back 100 years due to a rocket malfunction?

Yours truly,

Frank


----------



## EmpireBuilderFan (Jan 11, 2004)

frank said:


> Hey Empire Builder Fan,
> I just saw the pics from our new Mars rover.....and I'm convinced that Nasa made a mistake. Instead of landing on Mars, it's obvious, at least to me, that they put down just east of Cut Bank, or maybe Williston. Nothing but red rocks as far as the eye can see. A total wasteland.
> 
> The clincher for me was seeing what I believe to be a bingo hall way out on the distant horizon. I'm pretty sure there's a pawn shop on the edge of the rover photo as well.
> ...


:lol:

Well, now you know where North Dakota got their inspiration for the "Beige project." I saw a picture on another train bulletin board of a BNSF freight train running on the surface of Mars, or at least they said it was on the surface of Mars. It might actually have been a picture taken of a freight in North Dakota with some photo editing to make the beige ground look Mars red.


----------



## panamaclipper (Jan 14, 2004)

So which is the best direction to take the Empire Builder for scenery given the schedule? Leaving Seattle eastward or from Chicago west? I'll be traveling in mid March so still not light too late at night? Looking at the sked, it appears that you would get into Glacier early in the a.m. if traveling eastward?


----------



## AMTRAK-P42 (Jan 14, 2004)

I would have to say Chicago west. From personel experience, as well as feedback I have heard in various places.


----------



## EmpireBuilderFan (Jan 15, 2004)

It really depends on what scenery you want to see. If you go from Chicago west, you might not see much of Glacier Nat'l Park, but you should be able to see quite a bit of Stevens Pass in Washington. From Seattle heading east, you won't see much (if any) of Stevens Pass, but you should get to see quite a bit of the Rockies and Glacier Park. Personally, I've found the east bound trip to have the better scenery.

Either way you'll see Frank's favorite area: the "beige" lands of Eastern Montana and North Dakota.


----------



## panamaclipper (Jan 16, 2004)

Well, because of the way my trip laid out, I'll go from Seattle to Chicago, then spend the nite and head on south on the Texas Eagle to Dallas. Should be a nice long trip.


----------



## AlanB (Jan 16, 2004)

panamaclipper said:


> Well, because of the way my trip laid out, I'll go from Seattle to Chicago, then spend the nite and head on south on the Texas Eagle to Dallas. Should be a nice long trip.


Sounds like a great trip. 

And it is a long one, about 3,201 miles long.  According to

MileTrak that is.


----------



## frank (Apr 2, 2004)

Hey Panama,

You wrote:

"So which is the best direction to take the Empire Builder for scenery given the schedule?"

This is truly an impossible question to answer. The Empire Builder runs through terrain that changes from day to day, much less season to season.

The sweet, grassy plains running off to the North to Canada, seemingly for hundreds of miles at a slightly upward tilt are a pleasure to behold, in any season (from the north side of the train). And yet, the view from the south side of the train tells of derelict houses from long ago and a better view of the up and coming Marias Pass, which is the only way through these mountains.

One thing that I think is so cool about this train trip...which not many people realize, is that Lewis and Clark found this path west in early 1800, I think 1805. It wasn't until something like 90 years later that Maria's pass was refound. I think it was 1895. Whoa! And here we are just a little over a hundered years later being able to not only cross this pass, but in extreme luxery, if you ask me.

This is an extremely well done rail excursion. I've never had a bad experience on this route. And I've done it many a times. James J. Hill had a vision, and it lives.

Good luck to you.

Frank


----------



## frank (Apr 30, 2004)

Hey Folks,

I just got back from yet another Empire Builder roundtrip. Way too cool. I'd be willing to bet that this train will soon come to be known as Amtrak's finest, as the service is always way above the norm.

Lost an engine in Havre MT. , no big thing. I heard the engineer rev it up while we were stopped, as this is a service stop for the Empire Builder. Bam! A white smoke ring shot out of the lead engine. They replaced it with BNSF freight engine which guided us all the way to Spokane.

We were already 1 hour late into St. Paul due to massive heavy weather and tornadic stuff sending switching into convulsions. That's life, especially in the midwest this time of year.

The crew could not have been friendlier. On the way out, George Olson, my sleeper car attendant, actually tapped on my curtain on a couple of occasions to ask if there was anything he could get for me.

On the return, Sheryl...Cheryl? the sleeping car attendant was extremely attentive to the needs of the clients on board. She announced every single one of her breaks, and asked if anyone needed anything before she left.

Both of these folks, as well as numerous other EB train folks I've encountered over the last few years make me believe that this train deserves a spot at the top of Amtrak's best list. This coming from someone who's done somewhere around 20 to 30 thousand miles with this bunch.

I'm heading out pretty soon once again. Why? Why not?

Frank


----------



## bmlock (May 2, 2004)

I agree with you on the Empire Builder becoming one of the better trips. I'm glad it hasn't suffered the same fate as the Pioneer.


----------



## frank (Jan 1, 2009)

If you're considering the Empire Builder, read my trip report from back in 2002. Why? Why the hell not? No, I don't get anything like a toaster or napkin rings or Amtrak playing cards, or free wine enroute during samplings, it's simply because I've been aboard this train almost as many times as most of it's staff and have come to love it as a route worthy of mention.

http://on-track-on-line.com/trips/trip-200...00-kaylor.shtml

The only reason I bring this up is that I receive a few e-mails a month from people who have read the trip report I posted here years ago and are excited about doing the EB. Please folks, go for it! Book your Empire Builder trip now. You don't know what you're missing. Go back and forth as many times as you can. You won't regret it!

Frank


----------



## trainfan (Jan 7, 2009)

frank said:


> If you're considering the Empire Builder, read my trip report from back in 2002. Why? Why the hell not? No, I don't get anything like a toaster or napkin rings or Amtrak playing cards, or free wine enroute during samplings, it's simply because I've been aboard this train almost as many times as most of it's staff and have come to love it as a route worthy of mention.
> 
> http://on-track-on-line.com/trips/trip-200...00-kaylor.shtml
> 
> ...


You talked me into It!!!! Out and back CHI-Sea inMarch

Thanks

Trainfan


----------



## hello (Jan 29, 2009)

What a great review -- I'm still laughing!! Thank you!


----------

