# The Builder, LCL, Adirondak, Vermonter



## saxman (May 19, 2004)

Here is my Spring Break trip from 3/12 to 3/22.

Well just my luck to get delayed by the freight derailment west of Minot, ND. I was to board the Empire Builder at Grand Forks, ND at 12:54 AM but it was 5 hours late due to the derailment. I shouldn't complain because the previous days Empire was 17 hours late, and the one before was cancelled. So after sleeping in the Grand Forks station until 6:15 AM, train #8 finally arrived. I had a standard sleeper booked, and went right to sleep. Although I really wanted to see the scenery because this part of the ride you never get to see because it is dark. But I was so tired I went straight to sleep until Fargo. I didn't want to miss breakfast so I got up and had a breakfast in the diner. I talked with a lady while I ate my quiche. I didn't think it was very good though. I returned to my sleeper and slept until we reached St. Paul where my dad and sister were waiting.

They had flown up the night before from Dallas-Fort Worth. Not too many passengers boarded because most of them took a bus to Chicago to make their connections. But since they were with me, they needed to ride the train. My dad and sister joined me in the sleeper room next to mine. It was their first long distance train trip. My sister didnt' seem to excited though. Thats ok though. We went to lunch as we departed St. Paul. It was a quiet lunch as we were all tired. I like departing St. Paul as we go through downtown and follow the Mississippi all the way to La Crosse. It was still quite frozen, but we enjoyed sitting in the lounge watching numerous bald eagles on the river. My dad was quite impressed. He commented that he understood why I was so crazy about riding trains.

Since we would not arrive into Chicago until 9 PM, they served a limited dinner that evening. Since it was 3 months ago, I can't remember all the details of what I had. After dinner we retreated back to our sleeper for the rest of the journey. Apparently some Amtrak service representantives boarded in Columbus, WI, and were going to make accomodations for missed connections. I thought that was impressive. I went down to the diner where they were helping each passenger. Many had missed the Capitol to DC, and just simply were booked on the Three Rivers later that night. Other were going to Michigan and would wait until the next morning. We however would have to wait until the evening for our 7:00 PM Lake Shore Limited to Rochester. They put is in the Holiday Inn and gave us some money for food and taxi.

In Chicago we took full advantage of the city and went down to the museum of Science and Industry. I hadn't been there in a few years and wanted to go back. Soon the museum closed and we returned to Union Station for our 7 PM departure. We boarded into our two standard sleepers. This was my first time in a Viewliner. I liked it better then the Superliner sleeper, because of the video and other things. Our car attendant was very good bringing us towells and linens and anything we needed. I think my sister enjoyed her own room, although she didn't admit it. Soon after departure we had dinner. I sat next to the craziest, most bizare lady I have ever met. She was a little intoxicated too. But she kept saying that I had a heart of gold, my sister was not innocent at all, and my dad was an ****. She also told me how to hold my fork correctly, as I would not make it in the civilized world. (I know how to hold my fork). She asked me if I was ok with what was happening, but I didn't know what was happening, and she would not tell me! She was the most memorable part of the trip.

We returned to bed after dinner. I took the top as my dad took the bottom. It was the most rough ride as I did not sleep at all. Soon at about 7 AM we arrived into Rochester. For the next couple days we walked around my sisters school, the Eastman School of Music and drove to Niagara Falls for the day. It was pretty cool.

A couple days later me and my dad boarded the Lake Shore again and would ride to Schenectady, NY. I was afraid we would miss our connection to the Adirondak, but we made it plenty of time. The new schedule does not allow for a connection to the Adirondak, so we got lucky. About an hour in the small Schenectady station and the train number 69 arrived and we boarded for Montreal. It was a beautiful ride up the frozen Lake Champlain. I was impressed by the remoteness of the little towns we passed by. This was my first time in upstate NY. It was quite a long ride up to Montreal. Our scheduled arrival was 6:30 PM, but we were in our hotel room by that time! Apparently they add lots of time for customs.

Montreal was a very cool city. Our 4 star hotel for $80 wasn't bad either. We enjoyed touring the city on a tour bus and eating at expensive restaurants. We had sushi one night, and I had quail another night, with a $47 CD bottle of wine. hehe. I will definintly be back. Possibly by the VIA from Winnipeg, which is just 2 hours from Grand Forks.

Well I will the report to this and make a separate return trip report from Burlington, VT on the Vermonter, to Springfield and all the way back to Grand Forks. Stay tuned


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## PRR 60 (May 19, 2004)

Saxman66:

Nice report. And I agree about the Viewliners. For sleeper travel, I feel they are more comfortable than Superliners. That top bunk in the Superliner is really tight with headroom, and with no window, it is a bit claustrophobic. The Viewliner, with just a few more inches of height and that great window, makes the “upper” person (always me) much more comfortable.

By the way, since you are the “saxman”, maybe you should be at Eastman as well! 

Bill


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## Bill Haithcoat (May 25, 2004)

Saxman66, I really enjoyed reading your report. Sounds like things really went well, inasmuch as Amtrak was not responsible for the freight derailment.

Seems like Amtrak did a good job of taking care of people inconvenienced by the wreck and the delay. Of course they get a lot of experiece with helping badly delayed passengers with some other trains, such as the Sunset limited.

I, too, have ridden through the Twin Ciites and know what you mean about the scenery.

Anyway, great report, sounds encouraging.

You will note in another post on this forum that the Empire Builder will soon be celebrating its 75th birthday.

I bet your sister enjoyed things more than she would admit.


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## Guest (May 31, 2004)

Alright, here's part two of my return trip. Essex Junction, VT to Grand Forks, ND.

Train #57, The Vermonter arrived about 5 minutes late which was no big deal. My dad and I quickly boarded and we were off to Springfield. At 7:05 in the morning, there weren't too many people on board. We took a seat right up front on one of the coaches. This train was the favorite part of the trip. We passed by little towns and went along many mountain streams just melting. The ground was still white from a recent snow. If I had to live up north, (I'm from Texas) New England is where I would want to be. You feel like you're out in the country, yet you're still close to the big cities. We arrived in Springfield not too late in time for a connection to #449 to Albany. I checked my bag there all the way to Grand Forks, then I went out on the platform to take pictures. There was a big frieght waiting on the platform. I could see the entire train down the hill as I watched it leave. In another few minutes, the Lake Shore arrived from Boston and we boarded for a quick trip to Albany.

Since this was a main line we stopped in Pittsfield to wait for two frieghts. It did not delay us too much. We would have a good two hours in Albany to wait for the New York section of the Lake Shore, #49. Since Amtrak had done away with the sleepers on the Boston section after we bought our tickets, we got a small refund which I took care of in Albany. As we stood in line at the ticket counter, guess who we saw!? Yup, crazy lady, from the outbound trip. She must have been to Boston, and now was returning to Portland, OR. We somehow knew she would be on our train as luck would have it. Well we avoided her and I quickly got my refund and I set out to explore the brand new station. I sat in the area right above the platforms and watched #49 pull in from New York. They soon called us for boarding for our standard sleeper, and we were soon on our way to Chicago. It was dark by the time we pulled out at 6:00 pm. We had a pleasent dinner with a guy who was going to Buffulo. Another lady was going clear to San Diego. She did the trip a few times a year to see family. It was nice to have dinner with normal people. As we traveled through the night, we got a much better nights sleep. We were awaken by a 6 AM breakfast which my dad so eagerly requested. Soon we were in Chicago not too late. My dad would fly out to Dallas that afternoon, so I walked with him to the Quincy el station to catch the Orange line to Midway.

I had lots of time to kill I though I would climb the Sears Tower. Visibility was low but I went up anyways. I could see out but I could see the city streets right below us. I could also spot all four stations in Chicago as well as the Amtrak yard. I watched our consist for the Empire Builder pull in to Union Station 1500 feet above. I knew it was the Builder because its the only Superliner train the leaves to the North. I decided to head back down the tower and grab some food. I ate at the cafe near the great hall at Union Station. Then it was time to head to lounge. I found a seat and read my Flying Magazine. (yes I'm a pilot who likes to ride trains more than flying) The room was getting crowded but I had my seat. I heard they will start on a bigger lounge this summer. They made the boarding announcment for train #7, and I got on to room number 12 on the lower level. We rolled out right on time. This trip was farely uneventfull. We sped through Wisconsin and soon got dark at dinner. I went to bed at St. Paul. I did not like how I would have to get up at 4:30 when we arrived in Grand Forks at 5:04 AM. I had an awful nights sleep as I started to get a little sick. We arriived in Grand Forks, and a couple I met at dinner offered to give me a ride back to the UND campus where I would sleep some more before class that day at 10 AM.

Over all a very fun trip. I have another trip report to give to Glacier National Park and the Coast Starlight and Sunset Lmtd. Watch for that in the next few days.

Chris


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