# Capitol Ltd, Empire Builder, and Cali Zephyr



## jb64 (Aug 3, 2011)

Here is a summary of my first long-distance Amtrak trip. Thanks to everyone here for all the information prior to my trip. I have never written a trip report before but enjoyed all the ones I had read here, so I thought I would try to write one. I apologize for the length.

This was a trip that was planned and booked last fall and we looked forward to for a long time. Then, this summer had lots of surprises in store for Amtrak. First, there was record-breaking flooding in Nebraska. Then, more flooding in the High Plains of North Dakota and eastern Montana threatened our trip. The Empire Builder’s route had been truncated for over a month due to this flooding and just resumed one week prior to our reservation. Just when it appeared that all would be well because the Empire Builder was resuming service, a freight train derailed and destroyed a bridge near Indianapolis which put a halt to our reservation on the Cardinal to get from Staunton, VA to Chicago, IL to catch the Empire Builder. After several calls to Amtrak, they finally got us rerouted via the Northeast Regional from Charlottesville to Washington, DC and then the Capitol Limited from Washington, D.C to Chicago. 

We would be traveling to Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National park as well as to Utah before heading back to Chicago and ultimately home. Packing light for 11 days is a real trick. It became even trickier when I checked the weather forecast for our destinations. We had temperature ranges from 100 degrees to 29 degrees, so layers were in order. 

The day of departure finally arrived after anticipating this trip for nine months. It was a hot and sunny morning we left around 7:00 a.m. and headed to the Amtrak station in Charlottesville. As usual, Charlottesville was a very busy station and our train arrived right on time at 8:50 a.m. We boarded the train and had plenty of storage for our luggage. The ride to Washington was nice and smooth and the boys enjoyed watching a movie and visiting the café car for a snack. We arrived in Washington at Union Station right on time and checked in at the Acela Lounge (first class lounge for first class and sleeper passengers). We stored our luggage in the lounge and headed out to the station to grab some lunch. Union station has a nice food court and we enjoyed our lunch. We then decided to venture out and explore D.C. since we had a few hours before our next train left at 4:05 p.m. We walked outside and were hit by the extreme heat. The city reached a record temperature of 105 degrees that day and would lend to some of our delays in getting to Chicago. With such high heat, we soon retreated back to the station and went shopping in some of the shops to pass more of the time and bought a couple of movies to watch en route. Closer to our departure time, we went back to the Acela lounge and enjoyed some complimentary snacks and beverages until boarding was called for our train, the Capitol Limited. 

We had known that this train was sold out and I actually was able to get the last two roomettes on the train. Since they were the last two roomettes, they were in different cars, but that was not a problem since we could visit in the Sightseer/Observation lounge and eat together in the Diner. We boarded our car, the Missouri which was an unrefurbished car but nice and clean and found our roomette and got settled. They board the coach passengers after the sleeper passengers and we could see them all streaming down the platform to their cars. It was going to be very crowded. Our sleeping car attendant, Arthur, soon came by and went through all the amenities on board. He provided us with bottled water, fresh coffee, and fruit juice in the car. We just needed to let him know when we would like to go to bed and he would convert the room to the sleeping configuration for us. Next, the dining car supervisor, Judith, came through and gave us a dinner reservation. I then headed to the Sightseer lounge as the train was pulling out of the station right on time. We passed through the city and into the suburbs until the first stop in Rockville MD. At this point, the train was running fairly slow because of heat advisories. When there is extreme heat, there is an increased risk of derailment because the heat can actually kink or bend the rails. This means “slow orders” or traveling around 15 miles per hour. Needless to say, we got behind schedule. 

As the evening wore on the temperature dropped, the train increased speed as the slow orders were lifted. We went to the diner for dinner while stopped at Harper’s Ferry, WV. It is a very scenic town with lots of history. I had steak and mashed potatoes for dinner along with some mixed vegetables. For dessert, I had an awesome crème puff. The sun began to set and we were near Cumberland, MD. Some of Parker’s relatives had come to the station to see his train and we waved at them from the windows. We then turned in for the night after Cumberland, MD. I slept pretty well, awaking occasionally when we would stop at a station. I remember waking when we were pulling out from Pittsburgh and I remember waking while in Cleveland. I could the Cleveland Browns stadium from my window. All during the night, we could hear the rain hitting the windows and could see lightening light up the sky. I didn’t know this weather would put us even further behind, but it did. Because of the rain, many of the areas we traveled through were under flash flood warnings which meant more “slow orders” for us. When I woke up the next morning near Sandusky, OH, we were even more behind schedule. I had a shower, which can require a little balance on a moving train, but it felt great. We had breakfast after the time we were actually scheduled into Chicago but since we were running so late, we opted for a later breakfast. I had omelets with potatoes and biscuit with bacon. It was very good. We had slow orders all the way into Chicago and arrived four hours late, but with twenty minutes to catch our next train, the Empire Builder. While in Indiana, the crew brought out snack packs and bottled water and distributed to all passengers since the train was running late. The crew did a good job keeping us informed of the delays and expected arrivals. 

We raced down the platform once we arrived and headed into Union Station in Chicago. We were supposed to meet up with our tour director inside Union Station, but I knew we did not have time to find them so we headed to the Metropolitan Lounge, which is the first class/sleeper lounge in Chicago. Chicago has a very large and very busy station and the Metropolitan Lounge was very crowded with several trains all leaving within a couple of hours of each other. We found a couple of seats and had time to use the restroom and grab a beverage or snack when they announced boarding for our train. As before, they always board the sleeper passengers first. On the Empire Builder, the train splits in Spokane, WA and part goes to Seattle and the other part goes to Portland, OR. We were in the sleeper that goes to Portland and so we were in the last sleeper on the train with only one coach car behind us. That coach car gets removed in Minneapolis and our car becomes the last car. We had the family bedroom for this leg of our journey and it is a room that is the full width of the train with a bench that makes into a bed, a side seat that folds down to make another shorter bed and two bunks that fold down from above. It is one of the most spacious rooms on the train. Our sleeper car attendant, Stephanie, came and introduced herself and gave us information about the train. It was a refurbished car, but was very used and fabric looked really worn and frayed. It was clean, though. We were delayed about 20 minutes because they had over forty passengers connecting from a train from New York, the Lakeshore Limited, which also ran late for the same reasons we did. That train finally arrived and those passengers all boarded and we were on our way. Since we enjoyed passing time in the Sightseer Lounge, we headed back there as soon as we were settled. Unlike the Sightseer Lounge on the Capitol Limited, the lounge on the Empire Builder was very busy and very loud. We watched the Chicago suburbs as we passed through and made our first stop at the very pretty suburb of Glenview. Then we started out into the countryside of Northern Illinois and into Wisconsin where we passed lots of farms. We pulled into the Milwaukee station and saw some pretty private cars sitting in the station. They were the Imperial Leaf and the Golden Moon Lounge as well as a pretty dome car. Leaving Milwaukee, we passed Miller Park where the Brewers play. 



We traveled on into Wisconsin and saw some wild turkeys in a field. Soon, we came to a stop and stayed for a little while. I found out the next day that a tornado had gone through right before us near Tomah, WI and they had to clean the debris off the tracks before we would go on. We rolled on along and went to dinner near the pretty little town of Wisconsin Dells. We enjoyed eating our dinner while rolling along the Mississippi river near LaCrosse, WI. I had the steak again with mashed potatoes and Cheesecake for dessert. Winona, MN was a “fresh air break” or “smoke stop” depending on your habits and I stepped off for a bit. All aboard was called and I got back on and watched the paddlewheel boats going down the Mississippi before turning in for the night. 



Since our sleeper was on the rear of the train, I did not hear the horn all night like on the Capitol Limited, so I slept much better. I enjoyed another shower as the sun was coming up over the prairies near Fargo, ND. There was lots of freight traffic in ND because of the service disruptions due to the flooding. When I woke up, I found out that we were now two hours down. I’m not sure what happened during the night, but we had lost another hour. During the morning, I spotted several deer, ducks, and geese as well as herons. I had French toast for breakfast and it was very good, too. As we approached the Devil’s Lake area, our train slowed and the flooding became apparent. Because of the flooding, we had more “slow orders” and would have them all through this part of North Dakota through Towner and into Minot. There were lots of submerged roads, submerged farms and houses. As we pulled into Minot, the devastation there was immediately apparent. There were cars sitting in the middle of yards and fields where they had been washed away and deposited. Water levels were apparent on structures and water still standing in and around the train station in Minot. We sat in Minot for a long time because the existing crew had gone “illegal” meaning they had exceeded the hours allowed for them to work and we had to wait for a new crew which was flown into the airport in Minot and then bussed to the train. Passengers were not happy about having to sit there for so long and it put us really behind. Passengers were not allowed to get off the train because only a conductor can authorize that and because the current conductor was illegal and the new one had not arrived yet, no one could authorize the passengers getting off the train. The smokers were getting antsy since smoking is not allowed on the train and some were caught smoking out the window of our car. We finally began moving again once the new crew finally arrived and we were able to pick up to normal speed. We went to lunch and I had the Angus burger, also good, and a berry-pear crumble for dessert. The boys had their lunch brought to their room since they were watching a movie. Throughout western North Dakota and eastern Montana were many oil derricks and oil rigs. Because we were so late at this point, we had lost our “slot” and the dispatchers kept putting us in the “sidings” to let some of the freight trains through which continued to put us very behind. One of our waits became very long because of a disabled freight which had to be moved. 



We travel into Eastern Montana and see the landscape changing from the beautiful prairies to the Missouri River Breaks and Buttes of Montana. Buttes are small hills which seem to erupt out of the prairie. That afternoon, there was a wine and cheese tasting for sleeping car passengers in the dining car. I won a bottle of wine by answering a trivia question correctly. I enjoyed the cheeses and the wines. After the tasting, it was soon time for dinner and I had the catfish, which was also very good. For dessert, I had Tiramisu. Later that evening, we had another fresh air break at Havre, MT so I stepped off and enjoyed the fresh air. This was a longer stop because they restock and refuel here. After leaving Havre, we turned in for the second night on the train that we were supposed to only be on for one. I was really glad we had a sleeper. Around 3:30 our car attendant knocked on our door to let us know we would be arriving at our stop soon. We got up and got our bags together and finally departed the train at 3:45 a.m. around 8 hours late.

We spent the next several days visiting Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park as well as a few other places and had a fantastic time. Montana is my favorite state.

On the day of our departure, we were in Price, Utah and had reservations for the California Zephyr from Helper Utah to Chicago. After I woke, I checked the train status and sure enough, number 6 California Zephyr was right on time and scheduled to arrive by 6:37. We packed our bags and ate a quick breakfast before heading the few miles to Helper. The train station at Helper is small and unstaffed, but there is a freight office there with lots of freight engines and cars around. The cliffs in the background made a dramatic backdrop to the trains. Right on time, the California Zephyr rolled into the station and we boarded the train. We had tickets for Coach on this portion of the trip but as soon as we met the car attendant, we let her know that we were interested in upgrading to a sleeper. She said that they had only one bedroom left, which was designed for 2 to 3 passengers, but she would sell it to all four of us because coach was oversold and they needed our seats. The assistant conductor, Lexie, was very nice and handled the transaction and agreed that we would move at the next station stop. Meanwhile, we stayed stopped at Helper far longer than we should have. The conductor finally came on and announced that we were waiting for them to remove some debris from the tracks just outside of town but would be on our way as soon as we could. We dwelled there for a while and word circulated that the debris was actually two dead bodies. A man and his wife had been riding a motorcycle, helmetless like most out there, and had gotten into a high speed chase with the police. They were reported to have been going around 134 mph when the police gave up the chase. The couple had not been spotted since until they got a call from a freight dispatcher that the couple had apparently crashed and ended up on the rails and not spotted until a freight train ran over them. This caused us to lose an hour right off the start.

We finally got moving and moved to our sleeper, named Illinois, at the next station stop. Our car attendant this time was Ralph. He saw us settled in and as usual, we headed to the sightseer lounge. At this point, we were heading into the very scenic Ruby Canyon. The river runs through the canyon here in Eastern Utah and is very popular with rafters. The landscape starts to change as you enter into Colorado and looks less like a desert. We stopped at Grand Junction, CO which is another fresh air stop and we stepped off to stretch our legs. As we did, we saw the rescue squad come and take an elderly lady off the train what was having some medical problem. We reboarded when the engineer sounded the horn and the conductor announced all aboard and off we went. We went by the Grand Mesa flat topped mountains and then entered the Glenwood Springs area. Glenwood Springs is a very beautiful resort area and a large group of people both got off and boarded the train here. We then went on through the Gore Canyon which is also beautiful as the Colorado River roars through. This is also very popular with the rafters and a popular tradition is to moon the train as it goes by. We saw lots of traditionalists today as many moons were presented to us along the way.

We had some slow orders from Glenwood Springs until Granby due to some trackwork which continued to put us behind. Traveling through the Colorado Rockies is beautiful and we went through the Moffat Tunnel which is about 6 miles long and traverses the Continental Divide. Once out of the tunnel, you descend into Denver. We were about two hours late getting into Denver which is a longer stop. At Denver, I was tired and was ready to turn in for the night. As I was headed back to our bedroom, I noticed lots of flashing lights and looked out the window to see two ambulances, lots of police cars and the police standing over a man lying on the platform handcuffed. We watched the drama before us and stayed in Denver for a long time while they sorted things out. Apparently, the man became very drunk on the train (they sell beer and wine onboard) and became unruly. He evidently attacked the conductor who was trying to deal with him and caused the conductor to have to be taken to the hospital. We sat there until all the police reports were filed and a new conductor brought on board. Needless to say, this put us very behind. I finally went on to bed and shared the upper bunk with Alex. This bunk was made for only one person, so it was very cramped. One thing I noticed about the upper bunk is that you feel a lot more sway from the train and a couple of times during the night it felt like we were going to fall right over. We didn’t and I awoke near Lincoln, NE. We were now four hours behind schedule and detoured around Omaha due to the flooding there. Since we were so far behind again, we once again lost our “slot” and BNSF put us in sidings to let freight trains go through. While sitting in the Sightseer Lounge, I saw a young lady walk through with a Yorkie dog. Dogs are not allowed on trains but she not only brought him aboard, but carried him through the diner and the lounge car. I was very surprised.

We finally pulled into Chicago 7 hours late and caught a cab to take us to our hotel. We had planned to do some things in Chicago such as going to the Navy Pier. All of our plans for Chicago were thwarted, though, since we were very late. Our taxi driver had a great personality and pointed out all the sights as we zoomed through town. We stayed at the Residence Inn on the Magnificent Mile in Downtown Chicago. It was a great hotel and we walked out on Michigan Avenue to find some supper around 10 p.m. local time. We found the recommended pizza place, Gino’s East and ordered Chicago-style deep dish pizza. It takes about an hour to cook so it was after 11 pm before we ate dinner. The pizza was good and we walked back to our hotel enjoying the sights along Michigan Avenue. This area of Chicago is much like Times Square in New York with the shops, hotels, and restaurants.

We slept in a little and enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel. We stored our bags at the hotel and took a cab to U. S. Cellular Field for the Red Sox White Sox game. We were there early and saw the statue dedication for Frank Thomas. We enjoyed a good game which included a homerun by Jason Varitek. It was 96 degrees and very humid.. We got fairly sunburned despite sunscreen and drank lots of liquids. We left at the end of the 7th inning so that we could catch a cab back to our hotel to pick up our bags and head back to Union Station.

We arrived at Union Station and it was an absolute madhouse. Two of the transcontinental trains that leave Chicago, the Empire Builder and California Zephyr, were both delayed and all those passengers were still there when we boarded the Capital Limited back to Washington at 4:50 p.m. We boarded our coach headed to Washington and settled in. Unfortunately, we were in an unrefurbished coach which meant that there were no electrical outlets at our seat. We left the station right on time only to stop less than a mile later. There was a broken switch on the tracks ahead and we had to wait for that to be repaired. We stayed in that spot for over an hour and we became a little anxious because we had been advised that if the train was more than 90 minutes late into Cleveland, then we would have to get off the train and on a bus in Pittsburgh due to some scheduled trackwork near Cumberland Maryland. We ate dinner in the lounge car and played more cards until bedtime. We slept in coach. I slept okay as I had ear plugs, eye mask, and Motrin P.M. but Tracey did not sleep as well. I woke up briefly when we stopped in Waterloo IN and saw lots of Amish folk at the station. I awoke slightly in Cleveland and checked my watch. We were 75 minutes late at that point which meant we would stay on the train all the way to Washington. Whew. Woke up the next morning and lounged around in my seat until I got up to change clothes and find some coffee. Both Parker and Alex slept a long time in their seats until they got up before lunchtime. We arrived back in Washington about an hour late and went to find some lunch in the food court. After lunch we waited in the station until our train to Charlottesville was finally called for boarding. We went out and got on and started on the final leg of our journey. Of course, soon after Manassas, we came to a stop. Apparently a severe storm had just blown through and a track inspector was inspecting the tracks before we could move on. We stayed there about 45 minutes. We finally started again the remaining trip was uneventful as we rolled through the Virginia countryside. We arrived in Charlottesville about 45 minutes late and that concluded our journey.


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## jb64 (Aug 3, 2011)

I'm not a very good photographer and have a very standard camera, but my pictures are here if you are interested.

And I forgot to mention that I met mp44 and his grandson in the Acela Lounge and we traveled on the same trains all the way to Essex. I appreciated all his information and train stories and enjoyed talking to him.


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## rrdude (Aug 3, 2011)

Well written, enjoyed reading it.

One question, would you do it again?


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## jb64 (Aug 3, 2011)

rrdude said:


> Well written, enjoyed reading it.
> 
> One question, would you do it again?


Yes, and already have a trip booked to California in March. The delays were frustrating but when you evaluate them, most were out of the control of Amtrak and really, most of the crew were very nice and took great care of us including keeping us informed. As I told someone else who asked me about taking the train, I said it was great but you just can't be in a hurry to get there. I have had delayed flights and found that much more stressful.


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## GG-1 (Aug 3, 2011)

jb64 said:


> I'm not a very good photographer and have a very standard camera, but my pictures are here if you are interested.


Aloha

Most of the pictures were very good mahalo for shareing them with us.


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## mp-44 (Aug 3, 2011)

good to have you back glad you enjoyed your trip. that 3:20am at Essex was little much but oh well.I never made it back to Chi by train had to get off at the Twin Cities and take a bus to Toledo OH. and get a ride home. Had to be home by Monday Morning. Glad we got to meet you.


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## Everydaymatters (Aug 3, 2011)

This is one of the best trip reports I've read. The pictures were great as well. Thank you for sharing this with us.


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## Railroad Bill (Aug 3, 2011)

Excellent trip report. Enjoyed all of your adventures. 

Glad to hear you weren't frustrated by all of the delays. They are unfortunately a part of Amtrak's everyday events this summer. 

Hope to make that trip to Essex someday!


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## jb64 (Aug 3, 2011)

mp-44 said:


> good to have you back glad you enjoyed your trip. that 3:20am at Essex was little much but oh well.I never made it back to Chi by train had to get off at the Twin Cities and take a bus to Toledo OH. and get a ride home. Had to be home by Monday Morning. Glad we got to meet you.


Oh, sorry about the bus. We narrowly missed the bus on the east-bound Cap and I was happy to not have to get off. Hope your time in Essex was good. We went to a rodeo in West Yellowstone and I thought about you and your grandson since you all were going to be horseback riding.


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## henryj (Aug 4, 2011)

Great report. It really gives us a good look at the problems besetting Amtrak and the railroads this year.


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## TraneMan (Aug 4, 2011)

Thanks for a great story! Our trip isn't too far away, and I got time if we do get delayed on our way out or home.


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